I am looking to buy the latest Mac book and I have a lot of stuff on the old USB-A hard drive with movies / photos etc. I would like any answers in plain simple language. The new Mac books are all thunderbolt and I don’t want to lose my stuff. Thank you
Hopefully to clear things up, there are two things to consider about Thunderbolt or USB computer ports:
For USB, the former is identified by a letter. For example: USB-A, USB-B, or USB-C. Thunderbolt is a bit more confusing, as Thunderbolt & Thunderbolt 2, use mini DisplayPort type ports, whereas, Thunderbolt 3 & 4, use USB-C type ports.
Protocol standards are typically identified with a number. For example: USB 1.0-4.0 or Thunderbolt 1-4. These standards define what the port's characteristics for both power and data throughput.
World-wide manufacturers are moving to using USB-C type ports on their products. Apple is doing so as well as you already know with their desktop and laptop devices.
The key here is that the Apple USB-C ports can support multiple protocol standards as pointed out by the others. Going back to your concern about your USB-A peripherals, using a simple USB-A to USB-C adapter should solve how you get them connected.
Note: For USB-A devices, there is no need to pay extra for Thunderbolt cables/adapters, as they will not provide any performance advantage ... that is already set by the device's protocol standard(s) that it supports.
Using an example: If you have a USB-A device that supports the USB 2.0 standard, it should work with any of the USB-C ports on the Mac. However, it will not perform any better than at USB 2.0 speeds. Just having a more capable port on the computer, will not improve its performance.
Hopefully to clear things up, there are two things to consider about Thunderbolt or USB computer ports:
For USB, the former is identified by a letter. For example: USB-A, USB-B, or USB-C. Thunderbolt is a bit more confusing, as Thunderbolt & Thunderbolt 2, use mini DisplayPort type ports, whereas, Thunderbolt 3 & 4, use USB-C type ports.
Protocol standards are typically identified with a number. For example: USB 1.0-4.0 or Thunderbolt 1-4. These standards define what the port's characteristics for both power and data throughput.
World-wide manufacturers are moving to using USB-C type ports on their products. Apple is doing so as well as you already know with their desktop and laptop devices.
The key here is that the Apple USB-C ports can support multiple protocol standards as pointed out by the others. Going back to your concern about your USB-A peripherals, using a simple USB-A to USB-C adapter should solve how you get them connected.
Note: For USB-A devices, there is no need to pay extra for Thunderbolt cables/adapters, as they will not provide any performance advantage ... that is already set by the device's protocol standard(s) that it supports.
Using an example: If you have a USB-A device that supports the USB 2.0 standard, it should work with any of the USB-C ports on the Mac. However, it will not perform any better than at USB 2.0 speeds. Just having a more capable port on the computer, will not improve its performance.
All of the current MacBook Airs and Pros have multi-purpose USB-C ports that support traditional USB (up to USB 3.1 Gen 2 speeds), USB4 20 and 40 Gbps, DisplayPort, and Thunderbolt (of some variety).
it is easy to go between USB-A (USB 3) and USE-C (USB 3) in either direction, and there are many ways (adapters, hubs, replacement cables) of connecting USB-A devices to new Macs.
Apple likes to emphasize Thunderbolt because it is a high-end protocol and because it is an optional feature that USB-C ports do not always have.
The ports on new Macs are backwards compatible. You will need an appropriate cable or adapter to connect your old external hard drive, but it will work just fine.
Thank you
Is Thunderbolt and USB-C the same?
