diffrences thunderbolt 3.0 & USB type C

[UPSander]

What exactly are the differences between USB type C & Thunderbolt 3.0? I know Thunderbolt is made by Intel and USB type C isn't. The ports look the same and the cable itself looks very similar too.

 

[Barty1884]

Admittedly, this is a little beyond the scope of my knowledge to explain in great detail but, essentially:

USB type C is the port shape & layout - whereas Thunderbolt 3.0 is (one) technology that can utilize the port.
At a glance, all type-C ports will look fundementally the same, but it's what's 'inside' that counts.
It's bringing consistency, with the plan for a single port.

USB went from type A, then type B (and variants - miniUSB, microUSB etc) and now to Type-C.

Thunderbolt used mini DisplayPort for Gen 1 & 2, and now agreeing to use the common Type-C for implementation going forward.

USB Type-C brings reversible orientation to the table, and not much else.

What's inside.......

USB3.1 or 3.1 (gen 2)) as an option - limiting speeds to 10Gbps. With a type-C port only (no thunderbolt), you're really seeing no improvement over a "Type-A" USB port with 3.1 speeds,

Thunderbolt 3 - speeds of up to 40Gbps, DisplayPort output (so display over Thunderbolt) and PCIe Gen3.