Summary :
- If you have a Mac built in the last few years, you have a Thunderbolt port. Chances are you use it for only a fraction of its potential, connected to your monitor - and that's it.
- Thunderbolt disk drives Best Buy customers often prefer the following products when searching for Thunderbolt Disk Drives. Browse the top-ranked list of Thunderbolt Disk Drives below along with associated reviews and opinions.
Thunderbolt interface is very popular these days. Some people may want to know the differences between Thunderbolt 2 vs 3. In this post, MiniTool Partition Wizard will show you their differences.
Thunderbolt target disk mode using the Apple Thunderbolt cable is an effective, simple way to help a small- or medium-size team deploy MacBook Air computers a few times a year, allowing easy scaling as needed, depending on the imaging project. External Thunderbolt disk imaging Hardware required. Eight Apple Thunderbolt cables ($392). If you want to make use of your Mac's Thunderbolt port, then this is the best external hard drive for Macs. It provides twice the speeds of standard USB 3.0 drives.
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Introduction to Thunderbolt
Thunderbolt interface is the brand name of an external interface developed by Intel in collaboration with Apple. This interface combines PCI Express data transmission technology with DisplayPort display technology, so that it can transmit data and video signals at the same time.
Thunderbolt has the following features:
- It uses PCIe bus. Therefore, its speed is very fast.
- It is compatible with a variety of transmission protocols on the market, including USB protocols, Display Port protocol, Power Delivery, HDMI, etc.
- It supports hot swapping and Daisy Chain Topology.
With these features, you can do the following things:
- Use it as a USB port to connect external drives.
- Use it as a DP port or HDMI port to connect one or more display devices at the same time. You can also use it to connect an external GPU.
- Use it to connect a Docking station device, expanding external ports. Also due to this point, some Ultrabooks may be equipped with only one external port — Thunderbolt.
This post explains to you what a Thunderbolt hard drive is and recommends 3 best Thunderbolt external hard drives to you.
Thunderbolt 2 vs 3
So far, Thunderbolt interface has developed 4 generations: Thunderbolt 1 (10Gbps), Thunderbolt 2 (20Gbps), Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps), and latest Thunderbolt 4 (40Gbps). Thunderbolt interface is very fast and useful. But the Thunderbolt 1 and 2 interfaces are not so famous. Not until Thunderbolt 3, does the Thunderbolt interface become popular suddenly. Why?
Some people may want to know the differences between Thunderbolt 2 vs Thunderbolt 3. Then, please keep reading to get answers.
Thunderbolt Development: Why Is Thunderbolt 3 So Popular?
Back in 2011, Thunderbolt 1 was released. Its bandwidth is 10Gbps and it uses Mini DP port. In 2013, Thunderbolt 2 was released. Like Thunderbolt 1, it also uses Mini DP port, but its speed increases up to 20Gbps.
Both Thunderbolt 1 and Thunderbolt 2 are much faster than USB 3.0. However, at that time, only Macbooks and a few laptop models used Thunderbolt interface. The reason is that Intel will charge huge copyright fees if other computer manufacturers want to use this interface. In addition, Thunderbolt devices are also expensive.
Note: Although the Thunderbolt interface is an interface jointly developed by Apple and Intel, its copyright has always been owned by Intel. If Apple wants to use the Thunderbolt interface, it also has to pay a lot of licensing fees to Intel.
In 2015, Thunderbolt 3 was released. Its speed increases up to 40Gbps and it uses USB Type-C port. Then, in 2017, Intel announced the cancellation of the licensing fee for the Thunderbolt 3 interface and decided to integrate the function into the processor chip.
Due to the above reasons, equipment manufacturers can save a large amount of money and therefore many computer manufacturers, such as Lenovo, HP, Dell, etc., started to produce computers with equipped with Thunderbolt 3 interface. From then on, Thunderbolt becomes more and more popular.
This post explains the differences between Mini DisplayPort and Thunderbolt to you.
Thunderbolt 2 vs 3: Details
In this part, I will show you the detailed differences between Thunderbolt 2 vs Thunderbolt 3.
1. Speed
Thunderbolt 2 uses PCI-E 2.0 X4 bus and Thunderbolt 2 speed is 20Gbps, while Thunderbolt 3 uses PCI-E 3.0 X4 bus and Thunderbolt 3 speed is 40Gbps.
However, if a computer is equipped with Thunderbolt 3 interface, it has the following choices (models):
- Double Port (DP): It uses a PCIe 3.0 ×4 link to provide two Thunderbolt 3 ports.
- Single Port (SP): It uses a PCIe 3.0 ×4 link to provide one Thunderbolt 3 port.
- Low Power (LP): It uses a PCIe 3.0 ×2 link to provide one Thunderbolt 3 port.
2. Port Shape
Thunderbolt 2 uses Mini DP port while Thunderbolt 3 uses USB Type-C port.
3. Display
Thunderbolt 2 incorporates DisplayPort 1.2 support, which allows for video streaming to a single 4K video monitor or dual QHD monitors.
Thunderbolt 3 incorporates 8-lane DisplayPort 1.2 support (in 2018, Intel upgraded it to DisplayPort 1.4), which can simultaneously drive two external 4K displays at 60 Hz, or a single external 4K display at 120 Hz, or a 5K display at 60 Hz when using Apple's implementation for the late-2016 MacBook Pros.
4. Power Consumption
Comparing to Thunderbolt 2, Thunderbolt 3 saves half of the electricity, and offers power supply to external devices up to 100W. This eliminates the need for a separate power supply from some devices.
5. Compatibility
Thunderbolt 2 is compatible with Thunderbolt 1 devices, DisplayPort devices (need an adapter). Thunderbolt 3 is compatible with Thunderbolt 1 and 2 devices (need an adapter), DisplayPort devices (need an adapter), and USB drives.
Tip: So many devices need adapters to connect to Thunderbolt interface, so a Thunderbolt docking station device is very useful.
This post introduces Thunderbolt 4 and the difference between it and Thnderbolt 3 as well as USB4.
Thunderbolt 3 External SSDs
Because Thunderbolt 2 is not so popular and a Thunderbolt 3 drive can be connected to Thunderbolt 2 port via a Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 adapter, in this part, I only recommend some Thunderbolt 3 external SSDs.
1. SAMSUNG X5 Portable SSD
- Capacity:500 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB.
- R/W speeds:2,800 MB/s and 2,100 MB/s for 500GB, 2,800MB/s and 2,300MB/s for other models.
- Warranty:3 years
- Price: $199.99 for 500GB, $399.99 for 1TB, $699.99 for 2TB.
Samsung takes the lead in SSD field and its SSDs are widely praised. The SAMSUNG X5 Portable SSD has an all-metal body design. The glossy top and non-slip bottom mat can withstand drops of up to 2 meters. Shock resistant internal design features Dynamic Thermal Guard technology to help maintain optimal performance and temperature.
In addition, this drive offers optional password protection and AES 256-bit hardware encryption to keep your personal and private data more secure.
This post compares SanDisk vs Samsung SSD and tells you which brand SSD is more worth buying.
2. LaCie Rugged SSD Pro
- Capacity: 1 TB, 2 TB.
- Speed:2,800 MB/s.
- Warranty:5 years
- Price: $410.99 for 1TB, $712.09 for 2TB.
This drive can tackle any terrain with extreme IP67-rated water resistance, three-meter drop tolerance, two-ton car crush resistance, and dust resistance in a palm-sized external SSD Drive. It also includes Rescue Data Recovery services and you can enjoy long-term peace of mind. In addition, it gives you one-month complimentary membership to Adobe creative cloud.
3. Plugable Thunderbolt 3 External SSD
- Capacity: 512GB, 1 TB, 2 TB.
- R/W Speeds:2400+ MB/s and 1800+ MB/s.
- Warranty:3 years
- TBW: 800TB for 512GB, 700TB for 1TB, 1900TB for 2TB.
- Price: $199 for 512GB, $299 for 1TB, $499 for 2TB.
This drive has a full metal body designed to keep the SSD cool while also protecting your data on the go. In addition, this drive is pre-formatted in exFAT for Windows, Linux, and Mac. No drivers required.
4. Sabrent Rocket XTRM-Q
- Capacity: 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB.
- R/W Speeds:2700 MB/s if you choose QLC SSDs, 2400+ MB/s if you choose TLC SSDs.
This drive uses solid aluminum construction for durability and maximum heat dissipation and it integrates temperature and health monitoring system. In addition, this drive allows you choose whether to QLC or TLC NAND flash and its capacity is up to 8TB.
5. MyDigitalSSD Pocket Vault Express
- Capacity: 256GB, 512GB.
- R/W Speeds:1600 MB/s and 1000 MB/s.
- Warranty:5 years
- TBW:
- Price: $139.99 for 256GB, $199.99 for 512GB.
This drive uses Phison PS5008-E8 controller and 3D TLC NAND flash memory chip. The PVX's crush-resistant aluminum exterior offers a sleek and professional look that fits in the palm of your hand with two rubber grip pads that prevent sliding on flat surfaces. In addition, this drive comes with an 8' Thunderbolt 3 USB Type-C cable attached.
Tip: Apart from Thunderbolt SSDs, there are some Thunderbolt HDD RAID products on Amazon. You can choose one Thunderbolt product according to your needs.
This post explains SSD vs RAID, especially SSD vs RAID 0 performance.
Manage Thunderbolt Drives
After buying the Thunderbolt drives, you can connect it to your computer for use. However, to make the drive performs well, you may need a SSD management program. MiniTool Partition Wizard is such a program.
With this software, you can make the drive 4K aligned. You can also run surface test to see whether the drive has bad block. In addition, if you want to back up your computer, MiniTool Partition Wizard's clone disk feature can help you. If you delete important file mistakenly or lose data suddenly, this software can help you to retrieve them back.
MiniTool Partition Wizard is a professional disk management program and it offers many useful but free features. It's worth trying.
Bottom Line
Is this post helpful to you? Do you have other opinions about Thunderbolt 2 vs 3? Or do you have other recommendations about Thunderbolt 3 drives? Please leave a comment in the following zone. In addition, if you encounter problems when managing drives, please contact us via [email protected]. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
Thunderbolt 2 vs 3 FAQ
Although both they are Thunderbolt interface, they have many different points, for example, Thunderbolt 2 uses Mini DP port while Thunderbolt 3 uses USB Type-C port; Thunderbolt 2 speed is 20Gbps while Thunderbolt 3 speed is 40Gbps; and other differences.
Yes. You can connect Thunderbolt 3 devices to a Thunderbolt 2 port or connect Thunderbolt 2 devices to a Thunderbolt 3 port, but you need to use a Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 cable.
USB 3 speed is 5Gbps while Thunderbolt 2 speed is up to 20Gbps. Therefore, Thunderbolt 2 is faster than USB 3.
Is there a difference between Thunderbolt and Thunderbolt 2?
Does your first 'Thunderbolt' mean Thunderbolt 1? If so, there are differences between Thunderbolt and Thunderbolt 2 indeed. The key difference is that Thunderbolt 1 speed is 10Gbps while Thunderbolt 2 speed is 20 Gbps.
When Apple revealed its own ARM-based M1 processor, it changed everything. You see, Apple Silicon performance didn't just meet consumer expectations, it exceeded it by far. Yes, the M1 processor is a magic-like chip that is shockingly capable while sipping electricity -- battery life on M1 MacBook laptops is impressive. Apple deserves major props for its willingness to cut ties with Intel and forge its own path.
With all of the hype surrounding the M1 processor, I decided to buy my own Mac mini powered by the chip. It was quite inexpensive, priced under $700, so I felt comfortable diving into this new Apple Silicon world. After all, I am primarily a desktop Linux user -- I wasn't interested in spending thousands of dollars on my own curiosity.
Guess what? I love my little Mac mini! It has a fan, but I have never heard it spin up, even when working with Final Cut Pro. In other words, it is totally silent. Believe it or not, it is shockingly peppy -- even though it only has 8GB RAM. I chose not to go with 16GB, because Apple wanted $200 to add an extra 8GB and I am not playing that game. This was a risky gamble, as you cannot upgrade the memory later. Thankfully, I have yet to regret that decision; 8GB is totally fine.
For the most part, the M1 is nearly perfect -- nearly. Unfortunately, it is very limited as far as ports. In addition to HDMI, Ethernet, and 3.5mm audio, you get just two Thunderbolt ports and two USB-A ports. In other words, if you plug in a USB-A mouse and keyboard, you now have no place to plug in a USB-A webcam -- unless you use up a TB port with an adapter. Plug in an external storage drive into the other TB port, and you now have zero expandability. Pardon my crudeness, but that sucks.
Sure, you can use Bluetooth mice and keyboards to partially alleviate these woes, but you shouldn't have to. Not to mention, there are reports of M1 Mac computers having buggy Bluetooth, so you might want to avoid that possible pain point.
You can, of course, plug in Thunderbolt docks and/or USB hubs, but then you are getting into a possibly pricey -- and messy -- situation. Instead, I was intrigued by the OWC Thunderbolt 4 Hub. This product plugs into one of the TB ports on your M1 Mac and turns it into three TB ports and a single USB-A port. In other words, after plugging it in, your Mac mini now has four TB ports and three USB-A ports. Now that's more like it.
Best of all, the OWC Thunderbolt 4 Hub is rather affordable -- just $150. Hell, that is less than what Apple charges for an additional 8GB of RAM. Sigh. But yeah, a hundred fifty bucks is totally reasonable for a cutting-edge product from a premium brand like OWC. Not to mention, it is not limited to M1 Mac computers -- it is also compatible with Windows machines with TB4 ports.
Unboxing
Testing
Of course, while the OWC Thunderbolt 4 Hub looks great on paper, I'd have to test it with my own Mac mini to see if it performed well. I wanted to be sure it could handle many types of devices. I successfully connected a 4K display to the hub via USB-C and it worked perfectly at 60Hz. I then connected a USB-C DAC and music played as expected from Apple Music. I also plugged a USB-A webcam into the front of the hub, and that worked flawlessly as well.
So now it was time for the big question -- how would external storage perform? I had two types of drives to use -- both are NVMe, but one is Thunderbolt 3 and the other is USB. I decided I would first connect them directly to the Mac and use Blackmagic Disk Speed Test to benchmark the speeds. The Thunderbolt 3 SSD has an integrated cable and the USB SSD has a removable cable. For the latter, the same cable was used for both tests.
![Thunderbolt Thunderbolt](https://mbsdirect.com/images/blog/art_images/2019-12-02-a0158/Target-Disk-Mode-Startup-Disk-1024x617.png)
USB SSD to Mac
USB SSD to OWC Thunderbolt 4 Hub
Thunderbolt 3 SSD to Mac
Thunderbolt 3 SSD to OWC Thunderbolt 4 Hub
Thunderbolt Disk Mac Pro
So, these results were a bit surprising to me. As you can see, the USB-A ports on the Mac are shockingly slow even though they are reportedly USB 3.1 Gen 2. The USB SSD connected to the OWC Thunderbolt 4 Hub is significantly faster. If you are using USB storage, the hub will give you a big performance boost.
![Thunderbolt disk mac download Thunderbolt disk mac download](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rQh3gYMokrU/maxresdefault.jpg)
On the other hand, in multiple tests, the Thunderbolt 3 SSD has better write speeds when connected directly to the Mac compared to the hub. With that said, in some cases, the read speeds were higher when connected to the hub, but not by much -- I'd call it a draw.
Conclusion
Is the OWC Thunderbolt 4 Hub perfect? No. It has a very nice design in that the bright light on the top can be dimmed or turned off entirely, but at the same time, the Thunderbolt host port is on the front, so you will always have an unsightly wire hanging off of it. That's the biggest downside to the hub, which is saying a lot, as it has no impact on performance.
Ultimately, the OWC Thunderbolt 4 Hub works as advertised, working with all Thunderbolt and USB devices I plugged into it. The dramatically better USB speeds compared to the Mac mini's integrated ports is a wonderful surprise, while the decreased write speeds with the Thunderbolt SSD were disappointing (but absolutely not a deal-breaker).
Thunderbolt Disk Macbook Pro
At an affordable $150, I enthusiastically recommend the OWC Thunderbolt 4 Hub to all M1 Mac owners. It looks nice, works well, and feels built to last. You can pre-order it here now.
Thunderbolt Storage Mac
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