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What is the Difference in Thunderbolt and USB Power Delivery Behavior Between the Apple MacBook Pro (Late 2016) Models

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Thunderbolt 3 technology offers 40 Gb/s bandwidth over a USB Type-C connector but the actual Thunderbolt performance may depend on how much PCI Express bandwidth is provided by either a Thunderbolt 3 computer like the Apple 15" MacBook Pro (Late 2016) or a Thunderbolt 3 peripheral.

For example, Apple has reported that the Touch Bar version of the Apple 13" MacBook Pro (Late 2016) supports full Thunderbolt 3 performance using the two USB Type-C ports on the left side of the computer.  However, the two USB Type-C ports on the right side of the computer have reduced Thunderbolt 3 performance due to more limited PCI Express bandwidth available to them.

Apple recommend that users use the left side of the Touch Bar version of the Apple 13" MacBook Pro (Late 2016) if you want to take full advantage of Thunderbolt's bandwidth.

On the other hand, the Apple 15" MacBook Pro (Late 2016) supports full Thunderbolt 3 performance using all four USB Type-C ports.  The non Touch Bar version of the 13" MacBook Pro (Late 2016) only has 2 USB Type-C ports and both support full Thunderbolt 3 performance.

Regarding power, the Apple 15" MacBook Pro (Late 2016) and the Touch Bar version of the Apple 13" MacBook Pro (Late 2016) will provide up to 15 watts to two devices connected to the USB Type-C ports.  If two devices are already pulling 15 watts from these MacBook Pro's, only up to 7.5 watts are delivered to the next two subsequent devices are connected.  Unlike Thunderbolt bandwidth performance, there is no difference between left and right sides since power is delivered on a first come, first serve basis to any USB Type-C port.  This means that these MacBook Pro's can provide a total of 45 watts downstream to 4 devices.

By comparison, the non Touch Bar version of the 13" MacBook Pro (Late 2016), having only 2 USB Type-C ports, can provide a total of 22.5 watts downstream to 2 devices- 15 watts to one device and 7.5 watts to another device.

Apple is more egalitarian when it comes to consuming power.  All USB Type-C ports on any MacBook Pro (Late 2016) model can receive power on any USB Type-C port.  The MacBook Pro (Late 2016) will choose only one power source delivering the highest wattage and will not consume power from multiple power sources.

The 15" MacBook Pro (Late 2016) will consume up to 85 watts while the 13" MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (Late 2016) and 13" MacBook Pro no Touch Bar (Late 2016) consumes up to 60 watts from a single USB Power Delivery source.  Apple warns not to connect a power source that is greater than 100 watts.  Note that if you connect a USB Power Delivery charger through the USB-C VGA Multiport Adapter or USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter, only 60 watts would be delivered to the 15" MacBook Pro (Late 2016).

With Apple being one of the earliest promoters of Thunderbolt and USB Power Delivery technology, it's great that Apple has been so forthcoming in sharing so much information on the behavior of their USB Type-C ports.

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