Macbooks have had Thunderbolt 3 (the protocol) over USB-C (the physical form factor) since about 2015. The Thunderbolt 3 protocol became incorporated into the USB 4 standard in 2019 (and is implemented on the physical USB-C port).
Earlier versions of Thunderbolt were proprietary standards jointly controlled by Apple and Intel, but implemented over Mini-DisplayPort connectors. They were phased out in new devices starting in around 2015.
Footer1998@crazypeople.online 2 weeks ago
used to be, not anymore though, thunderbolt uses the same ports as USB C and is compatible with USB C, you can think of thunderbolt as enhanced USB C
tetris11@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
is it thunderbolt emulated through software on the USB pin stack? or is it really thunderbolt pins offering a USB conmector, emultating USB protocols on the thunderbolt stack?
Footer1998@crazypeople.online 2 weeks ago
i’m sorry, i don’t know the details of how it’s implemented exactly
autriyo@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
Its capable of some pretty high bandwidths, there’s some extra hardware required to make the ports work for thunderbolt. But I think it just runs through the normal USB-C pins.
Its more like an internal switch, rather than emulation. At least the Wikipedia page mentions different pin configurations per usage mode…
tetris11@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
I asked a slop machine and it said that Thunderbolt is implemented in the PCIe/Displayport hardware mode of the USB. I then checked the wikipedia and it more or less aligned with that interpretation
resipsaloquitur@lemmy.cafe 2 weeks ago
No. Some pins in USB can be used for non-USB protocols. If your monitor takes USB-C, likely the video signal is transmitted using DisplayPort on those pins.
Ditto thunderbolt.