I was gifted a 2015 MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015) and it has some funky looking ports that look like USB Micro B! But I cannot identify them online, all but for the official literature that only says "Thunderbolt 2" All things related to Thunderbolt 2 are Type-C ports. Were these something that didn't pan out and they never had much documentation online?
See the following: https://www.macworld.com/article/222636/what-you-need-to-know-about-thunderbolt-2.html
and
this, including the ThunderBolt 2 section: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_(interface)
Also note the following from that Wikipedia article:
Thunderbolt 1 and 2 use the same connector as Mini DisplayPort (MDP), whereas Thunderbolt 3, 4, and 5 reuse the USB-C connector from USB.
See the following: https://www.macworld.com/article/222636/what-you-need-to-know-about-thunderbolt-2.html
and
this, including the ThunderBolt 2 section: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_(interface)
Also note the following from that Wikipedia article:
Thunderbolt 1 and 2 use the same connector as Mini DisplayPort (MDP), whereas Thunderbolt 3, 4, and 5 reuse the USB-C connector from USB.
ThunderBolt-2 worked great for displays. Other uses did not pan out so well.
You can connect ThunderBolt-2 ports to some genuine Thunderbolt-3 ports and some devices using the Apple Thunderbolt-2 <-> Thunderbolt-3 adapter, US$50 plus cables. Most disk drive enclosures are not on the list.
Thanks so much guys, between the two of you that makes it crystal clear. I think I was getting tired and frustrated therefore my searches were not good. I did land on the macworld article but didn't read it. I could see it was something to do with Displays but for some reason didn't think of MDP. Pretty nice, but I wished they had put one more Type-A on the machine. I guess you can't ask for too much on a 13" laptop. I assume all the mac Monitors back then had MDP haha! Otherwise people would be buying windows displays, Dell had lots of monitors with DP to work with the Optiplex business machines.
Mini DisplayPort <-> DisplayPort converter is 'just wires'. Cheap and easy.
What are Thunderbolt 2 Ports
