Apple says that the new 2018 version of the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar features four full-speed Thunderbolt 3 ports, according to a report from MacRumors.
The 2016 and 2017 version of the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar only featured two full speed Thunderbolt 3 ports on the left-hand side of the laptop due to the 7th-generation Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processor architecture supporting 12 PCI express lanes.
With the 2018 iteration of the MacBook Pro and Intel’s 8th-generation Core i5 and Core i7 processors, the latest version of Apple’s laptop is capable of supporting up to 16 PCI Express lanes, resulting in bandwidth transfer speeds that max out at 40GB/s.
What this really means is that the latest version of the 13-inch MacBook Pro finally includes four full-speed USB-C ports.
The 2016, 2017 and 2018 version of the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar all feature four full-speed Thunderbolt 3 ports, with the 13-inch iteration lacking the functionality until now.
On the other hand, the 13-inch MacBook Pro without a Touch Bar — which is often referred to by some as the ‘MacBook Escape’ because it features a physical ‘escape’ key — only features two Thunderbolt 3 ports and wasn’t affected by this issue.
Apple also has opted not to update the 13-inch MacBook Pro without a Touch Bar in 2018.
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