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What’s the Difference between Thunderbolt and USB on the Mac?

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Apple recently announced Thunderbolt, a new way of connecting devices and transferring data. New Macs now have a Thunderbolt port as well as USB ports. How is Thunderbolt different from USB 2.0 (which is what most computers have these days)?

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Thunderbolt

  • can transfer data at speeds of up to 10 GB per second
  • can transfer 10 GB out of the Mac and 8 GB into the Mac at the same time
  • can deliver high-definition video (1080p) to a monitor or display
  • can deliver up to 8 audio channels simultaneously with video
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USB port on a Mac laptop.

USB 2.0

  • can transfer data at speeds of up to 480 MB per second
  • cannot deliver audio or video

So Thunderbolt is up to 20 times faster for transferring data than USB 2.0.

Read more about Thunderbolt on Apple’s Thunderbolt page.

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