So 2 ports per bus then? You make it sound like only 2 of the 4 ports are at USB3 speed. Per Apple's site, all 4 ports are USB3.
This is the standard setup for almost all computers. Any computer you buy, generally does not have a 1:1 BUS to port ratio, usually it is 1:2 bus to port (sometimes the ratio is even worse). Some laptops that have very few USB ports will have a 1:1 (if the only have 2), but even a friend's Fujitsu 12" laptop I used the other day had 3 USB ports and it was split with 1:1 on one USB port and 1:2 with the other two.
So is there a way to know which ports are USB3? (via the system profiler porbably, correct?)
This is sad, I thought it had four USB3 ports
So is there a way to know which ports are USB3? (via the system profiler porbably, correct?)
This is sad, I thought it had four USB3 ports
What's the difference between USB 3 Hi-speed and USB 3 Super-speed?
There is no USB 3 hi-speed. Any reference to hi-speed is USB 2.
My 2012 Mac Mini system report says that I have a USB 3.0 Hi-Speed Bus and a USB 3.0 SuperSpeed Bus. What's the difference?
It's telling you that you have a USB 2 bus.
Sorry to sound dumb, but how do you know if you are plugging your external hard drive into a USB 2 or a USB 3 port?
You misunderstand, they are ALL USB3, just that two will share USB3 bandwidth so if you plugged two high bandwidth items into two USB3 ports that share the same BUS, they might experience a slow down. Granted USB3 is faster than any mechanical hard drive can output (or two for that matter), so it would have to be something like hooking SSD's via a USB3 port that you might see this issue.
EDIT: Think of it like 2 port USB hubs.
Thanks for the explanation.It does. All the USB ports on the rear are 3.0.