Difference between Thunderbolt & USB ports on M1 iMac

[Howard Brazee]

My M1 iMac is the model with 4 ports on the back. Two of them are Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports and two of them are USB 3 ports.

I have an unpowered USB docking station. I wish I had bought a powered Thunderbolt docking station instead. This morning I exceeded power when I plugged my iPad directly into one of the USB 3 ports.

My docking station has two HDMI ports. The other day I wanted to use them for the first time. I connected them to TVs and my Monterey iMac did not see them. There was no option in System Preferences/Display for those monitors. I unplugged the docking station and plugged it into a Thunderbolt port, and I was able to see the monitors.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hi,

Basically:

• Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports - Thunderbolt and USB support (supports video)
• USB 3 - USB only, no Thunderbolt support (doesn't support video)

Again, I would bet it is because it is non-powered and not originally designed for Macs.

C