SD cards can also be supported with adapters to fit them into the ports. So you can plug an external hard drive into a Thunderbolt 3 port one day, and then put an HDMI cord into the same port the next. It also allows for a Mac to be charged via Thunderbolt 3 ports. Thunderbolt's USB-C shape allows for “Alternate Modes” for the port that can support HDMI, MHL, Ethernet, and DisplayPort connections, on top of general USB ones.
Thunderbolt 3 ports are so fast you can plug in virtually anything and have it work with your Mac. You'll find these ports on the following MacBook models:
