9 ms·

I don't know, the flipside is that Thunderbolt delivers genuinely cutting-edge interconnect capabilities. I can run two 4K60 displays and a dozen peripheral dev

by ak217 5y ago

I don't know, the flipside is that Thunderbolt delivers genuinely cutting-edge interconnect capabilities. I can run two 4K60 displays and a dozen peripheral devices, and charge my laptop, all via a single cable off of my $100 Thunderbolt 3 dock. There is no other technology that comes close to this capability at this price point.

asdff 5y ago
At the same time, I have no idea if the cable I have is a thunderbolt or usb-c cable. There is no standard marking.
- lajamerr 5y ago
  You might not know in advance which is a problem but it seems pretty trivial issue. Just test it and see if it works, if it doesn't return it and get a different one. Then repeat the process until you get the one you need.
  - asdff 5y ago
    Or you could look at the cable from the getgo and read a simple marking and not have to do this song and dance.
- polutropos 5y ago
  Your Thunderbolt cables don't have the lightening bolt logo on them? I didn't think it was a 'requirement' but every TB cable I've seen always has the thunderbolt icon.
  - asdff 5y ago
    Not my apple one.
    - djrogers 5y ago
      Then it's either not genuine Apple or it's not Thunderbolt. This is what an Apple Thunderbolt cable looks like: https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MD862LL/A/apple-thunderbolt-cable-05-m https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MD862LL/A/apple-thunderbo...
      - pix64 5y ago
        That's not a USB-C cable. The discussion is about USB-C cables capable of thunderbolt. Not the older, dedicated thunderbolt cables. Correct link: https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MQ4H2AM/A/thunderbolt-3-usb%E2%80%91c-cable-08-m https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MQ4H2AM/A/thunderbolt-3-u...
        djrogers 5y ago
        Good catch - still has a lightning bolt on it though.
        monocularvision 5y ago
        So…. with a lightning bolt then.
        notSupplied 5y ago
        Which made me realize…a lightning bolt symbol could just as easily be interpreted by laymen as “charging only”! What a mess…
    - SamBam 5y ago
      The standard MacBook charger that comes with any Apple laptop is not thunderbolt.
- the_pwner224 5y ago
  Thunderbolt cables generally have a lightning bolt mark, and are expensive and short and thick+inflexible. And because of that, you likely don't have any except for the one coming out of a thunderbolt dock or external GPU enclosure etc.
  - asdff 5y ago
    My apple cable I believe is thunderbolt but I'm not sure. It's white with no marking.
    - djrogers 5y ago
      If there's no lightning bolt marking, it's just a charge & USB 2.0 cable, not thunderbolt. Genuine Apple Thunderbolt cables are marked, and the one you got with your MacBook for charging isn't one.
    - Yizahi 5y ago
      Does it have frayed rubber isolation around connectors and randomly along the cable? If yes, then it is a genuine Apple (tm) cable. If it has solid isolation ad looks good then it's probably a Chinese knockoff. :)
    - mirthflat83 5y ago
      You either have a fake cable or a USB 2.0 charging cable
mgkimsal 5y ago
do those screens need to be 'thunderbolt' as well? or can they just take a usb-c connection (but ... not be thunderbolt?) I have a 2019 MBP 15". Every 'dock' I've looked at seemed to indicate that "you will see mirrored screens on multiple displays" - which is not what I'd want. Perhaps all of this is because I'm 'only' using a 2 year old MBP, and this is somehow all Apple's fault? Would love to know what specific $100 thunderbolt 3 dock you have. It seems to be a confusing mess of half-information whenever I go to shop for stuff.
- ak217 5y ago
  No, the displays don't need a Thunderbolt controller (and I do get 3 separate displays - mirroring would be pretty useless, I agree). I use this dock: https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Thinkpad-Thunderbolt-Dock-40AC0135US/dp/B071NWZDJB https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Thinkpad-Thunderbolt-Dock-40AC... After updating the dock to the latest firmware, I can run two 4k60 displays, although it requires a specific configuration: one display on one of the DisplayPort lanes, and one on an active USB-C to DisplayPort cable hooked up to the dock's unpowered Thunderbolt port. I've done this setup multiple times with this dock model, and it has worked with every Thunderbolt 3 MBP I've used.
- danhor 5y ago
  > and this is somehow all Apple's fault? Unfortunately yes. Apple (or MacOS specifically) doesn't support DisplayPort MST, which allows using multiple displays over a single DisplayPort connector. Since non-thunderbolt usb-c video is just DisplayPort, that means many usb-c docks with multiple display outputs don't work. Now why MacOS supports multiple video outputs over Thunderbolt and doesn't support MST is beyond me, but everything else does.

by ak217 5y ago

asdff 5y ago

At the same time, I have no idea if the cable I have is a thunderbolt or usb-c cable. There is no standard marking.

lajamerr 5y ago
You might not know in advance which is a problem but it seems pretty trivial issue. Just test it and see if it works, if it doesn't return it and get a different one. Then repeat the process until you get the one you need.
- asdff 5y ago
  Or you could look at the cable from the getgo and read a simple marking and not have to do this song and dance.
polutropos 5y ago
Your Thunderbolt cables don't have the lightening bolt logo on them? I didn't think it was a 'requirement' but every TB cable I've seen always has the thunderbolt icon.
- asdff 5y ago
  Not my apple one.
  - djrogers 5y ago
    Then it's either not genuine Apple or it's not Thunderbolt. This is what an Apple Thunderbolt cable looks like: https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MD862LL/A/apple-thunderbolt-cable-05-m https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MD862LL/A/apple-thunderbo...
    - pix64 5y ago
      That's not a USB-C cable. The discussion is about USB-C cables capable of thunderbolt. Not the older, dedicated thunderbolt cables. Correct link: https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MQ4H2AM/A/thunderbolt-3-usb%E2%80%91c-cable-08-m https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MQ4H2AM/A/thunderbolt-3-u...
      - djrogers 5y ago
        Good catch - still has a lightning bolt on it though.
      - monocularvision 5y ago
        So…. with a lightning bolt then.
      - notSupplied 5y ago
        Which made me realize…a lightning bolt symbol could just as easily be interpreted by laymen as “charging only”! What a mess…
  - SamBam 5y ago
    The standard MacBook charger that comes with any Apple laptop is not thunderbolt.
the_pwner224 5y ago
Thunderbolt cables generally have a lightning bolt mark, and are expensive and short and thick+inflexible. And because of that, you likely don't have any except for the one coming out of a thunderbolt dock or external GPU enclosure etc.
- asdff 5y ago
  My apple cable I believe is thunderbolt but I'm not sure. It's white with no marking.
  - djrogers 5y ago
    If there's no lightning bolt marking, it's just a charge & USB 2.0 cable, not thunderbolt. Genuine Apple Thunderbolt cables are marked, and the one you got with your MacBook for charging isn't one.
  - Yizahi 5y ago
    Does it have frayed rubber isolation around connectors and randomly along the cable? If yes, then it is a genuine Apple (tm) cable. If it has solid isolation ad looks good then it's probably a Chinese knockoff. :)
  - mirthflat83 5y ago
    You either have a fake cable or a USB 2.0 charging cable

mgkimsal 5y ago

do those screens need to be 'thunderbolt' as well? or can they just take a usb-c connection (but ... not be thunderbolt?) I have a 2019 MBP 15". Every 'dock' I've looked at seemed to indicate that "you will see mirrored screens on multiple displays" - which is not what I'd want. Perhaps all of this is because I'm 'only' using a 2 year old MBP, and this is somehow all Apple's fault? Would love to know what specific $100 thunderbolt 3 dock you have. It seems to be a confusing mess of half-information whenever I go to shop for stuff.

ak217 5y ago
No, the displays don't need a Thunderbolt controller (and I do get 3 separate displays - mirroring would be pretty useless, I agree). I use this dock: https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Thinkpad-Thunderbolt-Dock-40AC0135US/dp/B071NWZDJB https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Thinkpad-Thunderbolt-Dock-40AC... After updating the dock to the latest firmware, I can run two 4k60 displays, although it requires a specific configuration: one display on one of the DisplayPort lanes, and one on an active USB-C to DisplayPort cable hooked up to the dock's unpowered Thunderbolt port. I've done this setup multiple times with this dock model, and it has worked with every Thunderbolt 3 MBP I've used.
danhor 5y ago
> and this is somehow all Apple's fault? Unfortunately yes. Apple (or MacOS specifically) doesn't support DisplayPort MST, which allows using multiple displays over a single DisplayPort connector. Since non-thunderbolt usb-c video is just DisplayPort, that means many usb-c docks with multiple display outputs don't work. Now why MacOS supports multiple video outputs over Thunderbolt and doesn't support MST is beyond me, but everything else does.