USB, is the longest life in the history of the computer, but also the most type/rate standard of the most chaotic interface (perhaps not one), and Type-C with high bandwidth, data/graphics/high power fast charging and other multi-channel, reversible plugging and high versatility and other advantages, it has become the current PC digital data, audio and video and charging standard interface, especially the Apple iPhone15 listing, Type-C interface finally removed the last "nail household", in a real sense of the unification of the PC digital rivers and lakes.
However, USB Type-C is only an interface form, and on different devices, their functions and applications are also fundamentally different, such as USB2.0, USB3.2 Gen1/2/2*2, USB4.0 in data transmission, DP1.4 and HDMI2.0 in display signal transmission, and fast charging of various protocols. Therefore, people have updated the name and symbol of USB again, and the function of the Type-C interface can be judged according to these logos.
The secret lies in the number of gold fingers and cables inside the Type-C interface, the following figure is a full-featured Type-C interface structure diagram, you can see that it distinguishes low-speed data (USB2.0), high-speed data (USB3.2 Gen1 and above, DP video signal) and charging protocol. Therefore, the equipment manufacturer can subtract on this interface according to the actual needs.
Speaking of which, we have to talk about the super "rich and handsome" in the Type-C interface - Thunderbolt (Thunderbolt), which is a common interface standard on Apple's MAC and MacBook, is the product of Intel's cooperation with Apple, and was officially released by Intel in 2011. It combines PCI Express data transmission technology and Display Port display technology, allowing data and video signals to be transmitted simultaneously through a single interface, which not only speeds up data transfer compared to USB, but also greatly improves the convenience of device connection.
But Thunderbolt and USB have always been "bitter enemies" and are fighting to the death over who is the future standard for universal interfaces. The first and second generation Thunderbolt interfaces are in the form of MiniDisplayPort, and the PCIex4 interface is released to the outside of the fuselage, which is unimaginable for PC manufacturers at the time, so the Thunderbolt interface can not only connect to the display, but also the transmission speed is as high as 10Gbps (bidirectional 20Gbps), which is a symbol of high-end when it comes out, and the USB at that time was only 3.0 standard, with a speed of only 5Gbps, but it has a strong user base, and the price of equipment equipped with USB interface is relatively low.
Fortunately, Intel has a say in the formulation of USB and Thunderbolt technology standards, and finally announced in 2015 that Thunderbolt 3 abandoned the previous Mini Display Port, changed to USB Type-C and compatible with USB3.1 (that is, the current USB3.2 Gen2) standard, and increased the bandwidth to 40Gbps bidirectional, with a "lightning" logo next to the interface for everyone to distinguish. Although the interface was eventually unified, Thunderbolt-enabled devices required an expensive dedicated license chip to be fully compatible with USB, which is an important reason for their high price.
The latest Thunderbolt 4 standard, which was released by Intel in 2020 with the 10th generation Core processor, continues to use the USB Type-C interface, but standardizes the minimum performance requirements, such as supporting at least 40Gbps bandwidth, It supports at least two 4K displays or one 8K display, and also provides compatibility with the USB 4.0 standard, which means that you can experience up to 40Gbps of performance whether you use USB 4.0 or Thunderbolt 4, while also greatly increasing the power of fast charging.
In actual use, if you want to experience the strongest performance of Thunderbolt 4 intuitively, you must either connect an 8k resolution display or use a portable SSD PSSD with the Thunderbolt 4 protocol. However, the peripheral products of the finished Thunderbolt 4, whether it is a docking station or a mobile SSD, PSSD are more expensive, but if you have an idle PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD on hand, you can consider using a USB4.0 hard disk enclosure like Maiwo K1695 to form a PSSD, and you can also experience 40Gbps powerful data transmission capabilities.
The assembly of this kind of hard disk enclosure is very simple, and the price of more than 200 yuan is very cost-effective, and the capacity is more collocation, for example, we stuffed this McWo K1695 USB4.0 hard disk enclosure into a 4TB "super large cup" PCIe4.0 NVMe M.2 solid state drive, both performance and capacity fully meet the needs of use.
Connected to the M3 processor version of the MacBook Air, which was launched this spring, the test software AJA System test set 4GB of 4K 10-bit YUV encoding, achieving a read speed of 3146MB/s and a write speed of 2697MB/s. In addition to the video signal bandwidth retention of the interface, as well as the compatibility problems of different SSDs, it can be said that USB4.0 plays normally, and even can tie with PCIe3.0 SSDs.
Most of the mainstream full-featured Type-C interfaces on PCs support USB3.2 Gen2*2, with an interface bandwidth of 20Gbps, which is half of USB4.0. The read and write speeds of the AJA System test are 1880MB/s and 1885MB/s respectively, which shows that USB4.0 has incomparable advantages in ultra-high-speed file transfer.
The ease of use and compatibility of the Type-C interface have long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, especially the Type-C interface that supports Thunderbolt 4 integrates high-speed data transmission, video output, power supply and other functions, and is also compatible with the latest USB4.0, which can realize almost all the functions of Type-C, providing users with simple, fast, Efficient connection solutions, and USB4.0 devices such as McVo K1695, allow people to experience 40GBps powerful performance at a lower cost, which not only becomes an ideal expansion solution for MacBook Air and other devices, but also provides a reference direction for Thunderbolt 4 application expansion.
(8683622)