Recently, Thunderbolt 3 has become a standard port for laptops. In the meantime, more and more expansion device will support this port. A diverse variety of device, ranging from docking station with most simple expansion function to the external graphics card which can greatly improve laptop performance, all support Thunderbolt 3.
In the future, it will be widely applied. Therefore, it is necessary for the user to buy a laptop with Thunderbolt 3 port when replacing a new one. At present, a small number of high-end laptops provide TB 3 port on the market. In the following form, we will list current Thunderbolt 3 laptops in the market.
This port only has been applied to high-end lightweight laptops and motherboard instead of most of the device owing to its cost and other reasons. Besides, only a small number of external devices support Thunderbolt 3, and it has not been widely applied to products. However, a policy from Intel may make it gradually become popular. Intel has announced that they will directly integrate Thunderbolt 3 control unit in CPU in the future and provide this technology to cooperative partners for free, and in the meantime, they will cooperate with Microsoft to make operating system directly support TB 3 and achieve hot plug.
In this way, it will be less difficult for laptop products to integrate TB 3, and it will be common to be found in products, such as lightweight laptops in the future. TB 3 has high transfer speed, which makes it easier for lightweight laptops to use an external graphics card. In addition, once it has been widely used, it will be possible for a port to replace multi ports. For example, only a Thunderbolt 3 can achieve all the functions that several USB ports and HDMI ports have in the near future. Therefore, the price will be lower as its number of docking station increases in the future.
12.5-13.3 inch ultrabooks with Thunderbolt 3
Please click the laptop mode to see the teardown guide of the laptop.
| Model | Screen | Hardware | Battery | TB3 ports | Price |
| Alienware 13 R3 | 13.3″ 2560×1440 Touch | i5-7300HQ|GTX 1050Ti|8G|256G | 76Wh | 1 | $1079 |
| Apple MacBook Pro 13 | 13.3″ 2560×1600 | 2.3GHz Core i5|HD 640|8G|128G | 2 | $1299 | |
| ASUS ZenBook S UX391UA | 13.3″ 3840×2160 Touch | i7-8550U|UHD 620|16G|512G | 50Wh | 1 | $1499 |
| Dell Latitude 7285 2-in-1 | 12.3″ 2880×1920 Touch | i5-7Y57|HD 615|8G|256G | 34Wh | 2×4 | $1525 |
| Dell Latitude 7290 | 12.5″ 1366×768 | i5-8350U|UHD 620|8G|256G | 60Wh | 1 | $1509 |
| Dell Latitude 7390 | 13.3″ 1920×1080 | i5-8350U|UHD 620|8G|256G | 60Wh | 1 | $1669 |
| Dell Latitude 7390 2-in-1 | 13.3″ 1920×1080 Touch | i5-8350U|UHD 620|8G|128G | 60Wh | 2 | $1519 |
| Dell XPS 9370 | 13.3″ 1920×1080 | i5-8250U|UHD 620|4G|128G | 52Wh | 2 | $899 |
| Dell XPS 9360 | 13.3″ 1920×1080 | i5-8250U|UHD 620|8G|128G | 60Wh | 1 | $899 |
| Dell XPS 9365 | 13.3″ 1920×1080 Touch | i5-7Y54|HD 615|8G|256G | 46Wh | 1 | $1079 |
| Lenovo Yoga 730 13 | 13.3″ 1920×1080 Touch | i5-8250U|UHD 620|8G|256G | 48Wh | 1 | $849 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X280 | 12.5″ 1920×1080 Touch | i7-8550U|UHD 620|8G|256G | 48Wh | 1 | $1399 |
| Lenovo Yoga 920 | 13.9″ 1920×1080 Touch | i5-8250U|UHD 620|8G|256G | 65Wh | 2 | $1199 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X380 Yoga | 13.3″ 1920×1080 Touch | i5-8250U|UHD 620|8G|128G | 51Wh | 1 | $1199 |
| HP EliteBook x360 1020 G2 | 12.5″ 1920×1080 Touch | i5-7200U|HD620|8G|128G | 49Wh | 2 | $1449 |
| HP EliteBook x360 1030 G2 | 13.3″ 1920×1080 Touch | i5-7200U|HD620|8G|128G | 57Wh | 1 | $1349 |
| HP EliteBook 830 G5 | 13.3″ 1920×1080 | i5-7200U|HD620|8G|256G | 50Wh | 1 | $1249 |
| HP Spectre x360 13 | 13.3″ 1920×1080 Touch | i7-8550U|UHD 620|8|256G | 60Wh | 2 | $1269 |
| Razer Blade Stealth | 12.5″ 2560×1440 Touch | i7-6500U|HD520|8G|128G | 45Wh | 1 | $999 |
14.0-17.3 inch laptops with Thunderbolt 3
| Model | Screen | Hardware | Battery | TB3 ports | Price |
| Asus Zenbook 3 UX490UA | 14.0″ 1920×1080 NTSC 72% | i7-8550U|UHD 620|16G|512G | 46Wh | 1 | $1699 |
| ASUS ROG Zephyrus GX501 | 15.6″ 1920×1080 120Hz NTSC 72% | i7-8750H|GTX 1080|16G|512G | 50Wh | 1 | $2899 |
| ASUS ROG GL502VM | 15.6″ 1920×1080 60Hz NTSC 72% | i7 6700HQ|GTX 1060|8G|128G | 64Wh | 1 | $1589 |
| ASUS ROG G703GS | 17.3″ 1920×1080 144Hz NTSC 72% | i7-8750H|GTX 1080|16G|1TB | 71Wh | 1 | $2199 |
| ASUS ZenBook Pro UX550VE | 15.6″ 1920×1080 Touch | i7-7700HQ|GTX 1050Ti|16G|512G | 73Wh | 1 | $1499 |
| ASUS ROG Zephyrus GM501GS | 15.6″ 1920×1080 120Hz | i7-8750H|GTX 1070|16G|256G | 55Wh | 1 | $2199 |
| Acer Predator Triton 700 | 15.6″ 1920×1080 | i7-7700HQ|GTX 1060|16G|512G | 54Wh | 1 | $1899 |
| Acer Predator 15 | 15.6″ 1920×1080 | i7-7700HQ|GTX 1060|16G|256G | 1 | $1499 | |
| Acer Predator 17 | 17.3″ 1920×1080 | i7-7700HQ|GTX 1060|16G|256G | 1 | $1499 | |
| Alienware 15 | 15.6″ 1920×1080 60Hz | i7-8750H|GTX 1060|16G|128G | 68Wh | 1 | $1499 |
| Alienware 17 | 17.3″ 1920×1080 60Hz | i7-8750H|GTX 1060|16G|128G | 68Wh | 1 | $1499 |
| Dell G5 Gaming | 15.6″ 1920×1080 | i5-8300H|GTX 1050|8G|128G | 56Wh | 1 | $859 |
| Dell G7 15 7588 | 15.6″ 1920×1080 | i7-8750H|GTX 1060|8G|256G | 56Wh | 1 | $999 |
| Dell Inspiron Gaming 7577 | 15.6″ 1920×1080 | i5-7300HQ|GTX 1060|8G|256G | 56Wh | 1 | $899 |
| Dell Precision 15 3000 | 15.6″ 1920×1080 | i5-8300H|UHD 630|8G|500GB HDD | 68Wh | 1 | $999 |
| Dell Precision 15 5000 | 15.6″ 1920×1080 | i5-8300H|UHD 630|8G|1TB HDD | 56Wh | 1 | $1599 |
| Dell Precision 17 7000 | 17.3″ 1920×1080 | i5-7300HQ|HD 630|8G|500GB HDD | 91Wh | 1 | $1329 |
| Dell XPS 15 9570 | 15.6″ 1920×1080 | i7-8750H|GTX 1050Ti|16G|256G | 97Wh | 1 | $1499 |
| Dell XPS 15 9575 | 15.6″ 1920×1080 Touch | i7-8705G|Radeon RX Vega M | 75Wh | 2 | $1599 |
| Dell Latitude 7490 | 14.0″ 1366×768 | i7-8650U|UHD 620|8G|128G | 60Wh | 1 | $1659 |
| Dell Latitude 5491 | 14.0″ 1920×1080 | i5-8400H|UHD 630|8G|256G | 68Wh | 1 | $1609 |
| Dell Latitude 5591 | 15.6″ 1920×1080 | i5-8400H|UHD 630|8G|256G | 68Wh | 1 | $1609 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T480 | 14.0″ 1920×1080 | i5-8250U|UHD 620|8G|256G | 48Wh | 1 | $1199 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T480s | 14.0″ 1920×1080 | i5-8250U|UHD 620|8G|128G | 57Wh | 1 | $1199 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T580 | 15.6″ 1920×1080 | i5-8250U|UHD 620|8G|256G | 56Wh | 1 | $1199 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga | 14.0″ 1920×1080 Touch | i5-8250U|UHD 620|8G|256G | 54Wh | 1 | $1499 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad 25 | 14.0″ 1920×1080 | i7-7500U|940MX|16G|512G | 48Wh | 1 | $1899 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad P52s | 15.6″ 1920×1080 | i7-8650U|Quadro P500|8G|256G | 56Wh | 1 | $1499 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon | 14.0″ 1920×1080 | i5-8250U|UHD 620|8G|256G | 57Wh | 1 | $1299 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme | up to 15.6" 3840×2160 | up to i7-8850H|GTX 1050 Ti|64 GB|1 TB | 80Wh | 2 | $1699 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad P1 | up to 15.6" 3840×2160 | up to i7-8850H|Quadro P2000|32 GB|1 TB | 80Wh | 2 | $1699 |
| HP ZBook Studio x360 G5 | 15.6″ 1920×1080 Touch | i5-8300H|UHD 630|8G|256G | 95Wh | 2 | $1999 |
| HP EliteBook 840 G5 | 14.0″ 1920×1080 72% sRGB | i7-8550U|UHD 620|8G|256G | 50Wh | 1 | $1569 |
| HP EliteBook 850 G5 | 15.6″ 1920×1080 45% sRGB | i7-8250U|UHD 620|8G|256G | 56Wh | 1 | $1499 |
| HP Omen 15 | 15.6″ 1920×1080 | i7-7700HQ|GTX 1050|8G|128G | 63Wh | 1 | $999 |
| HP Omen 17 | 15.6″ 1920×1080 | i7-7700HQ|GTX 1050|8G|128G | 63Wh | 1 | $1099 |
| HP ZBook 14u G5 | 14.0″ 1920×1080 | i5-8250U|Pro WX 3100|8G|256G | 50Wh | 1 | $1549 |
| HP ZBook 15u G5 | 15.6″ 1920×1080 | i5-8350U|Pro WX 3100|8G|256G | 50Wh | 1 | $1649 |
| HP ZBook 17 G5 | up to 17.3" 3840 x 2160 | up to Xeon E-2186M|Pro WX 4170|64GB|2TB | 96Wh | 2 | $1899 |
Owing to the development of broadband, it can support two 4K displays or a 5K display, and successfully transfer a 4K video within 30 seconds. In the meantime, it can utilize new USB Type-C port to achieve such a high transfer speed instead of MimDisplay port. Undoubtedly this will greatly benefit both device manufacturer and host computer manufacturer.
The transfer speeds up to 40 Gbps. Source
Compared with first and second generation products, the port owns better performance. It adopts the technology which has made a big breakthrough, and its compatibility and adaptability have been greatly improved. To provide maximum speed, it owns bandwidth reaching 40Gb/s, which is eight times faster than USB 3.0 port and four times faster than USB 3.1 port.
In addition, the port also provides a device with more power, supporting 100W power supply and proving device with maximum charging power reaching up to 15W. Intel also offers the same alternate mode which makes ThunderBolt’ signal passes PCIe. It also fully supports USB 3.1 since control unit of USB 3.1 10Gbps has been integrated to Thunderbolt control unit.
Generally speaking, a Thunderbolt 3 can handle many tasks which require many ports. That’s why an increasing number of laptops which pursue perfect lightweight feature only provide a USB Type-C which supports TB 3. After all, lightweight laptops’ lightweight and thickness also depend on expansion port except drive, keyboard, and motherboard.
As a computer protocol, Thunderbolt can be regarded as a transfer technology instead of the port of laptops. Thunderbolt 3 technology is achieved mostly depending on the USB Type-C port. Differing from other hardware which adopts USB Type-C port, the plug and port of USB Type-C which supports TB 3 are printed with the symbol- a small flash, which represents TB 3.
