Thunderbolt 3 SSD and USB 3 port

Not sure if the reverse ise true...

USB-C Drives

The closest alternative to a Thunderbolt 3 drive is a USB-C version, as they also consist of a drive within a portable enclosure and a USB Type-C connector on the cable, and are compatible with Thunderbolt 3 ports. The main difference is that Thunderbolt 3 can offer up to 40Gbps of bandwidth under optimal conditions, whereas USB-C can handle up to 10Gbps.

https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/12/04/the-best-thunderbolt-3-ssd-and-hard-drives-for-your-macbook-pro-macbook-air-mac-mini-or-imac

First and foremost, USB-C is only a connector standard and not a protocol

standard. A USB-C connector can be used for Thunderbolt3, display interface,

charging interface, etc. and of course USB. While having a "universal" connector

in someways is great, it has also created a world of confusion. Manufacturers

have not helped this either.

So, bottom line, the user needs to be more aware of the accessory one is buying and

the capabilities of the port on their machine that they are plugging that device into.

Simply put, currently anyway, if the symbol on the accessory's connector is a little

lightning bolt, it can only be used with a Thunderbolt port. If the device has one of the

USB symbols and a USB-C connector, it can be connected to a Thunderbolt 3 port only

if the port supports USB 3.1 connectivity. While all current Macs support this functionality,

it is not a "requirement" that all Thunderbolt 3 ports support it.

smuseby2 wrote:

I understand we're talking about connectors. My question is: with an adapter, is it possible to connect & use a Thunderbolt 3 SSD with my late 2015 iMac which has USB 3 ports.

No. I know it is very confusing and even I have problems trying to identify what is compatible with something else. Maybe this will help to make things a bit more clear:

A Thunderbolt drive must be connected to a Thunderbolt port on a computer.

A USB drive can be connected to a computer with traditional USB-A port or possibly to a computer with a USB-C connector only if that USB-C port actually supports the USB protocol. On Apple computers the USB-C ports support both Thunderbolt and USB protocols so you can connect a USB drive to the USB-C Thunderbolt/USB port on recent Macs, but this may not be true of other brands of computers.

Definitely check with the manufacturer. I have a Thunderbolt 3 SSD and it has to be connected to a Mac with a Thunderbolt 3 port. It will not work with USB 3.

From my post:

"Simply put, currently anyway, if the symbol on the accessory's connector is a little

lightning bolt, it can only be used with a Thunderbolt port."