Can I use a Thunderbolt drive with a USB-C port?

It depends. Some Thunderbolt drives (like CalDigit Tuff Nano Plus) also support USB4 and work on USB-C ports at reduced speeds. Pure Thunderbolt drives (like Samsung X5) require a Thunderbolt port and will not work on USB-C-only computers. Always check the drive's compatibility specifications.

Is Thunderbolt necessary for Time Machine?

No. Time Machine backups are incremental — after the initial backup, only changed files are copied. USB 3.2 Gen 2 at 1,000 MB/s handles incremental Time Machine backups in seconds. Thunderbolt is only necessary if you edit large files directly from the external drive.

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