Hardware version identification?

[kqlnut]

So I'd infer PCB check is the only way to find out? Would this be correct?

Well the PCB it's the only thing that's different (apart from a sensor replacement at one point due to component shortages), so yeah ... Or do you mean ways of how to find out the revision? Apart from looking at the back cover (see if/which community edition it is), inspecting the PCB itself and testing for fixes I think there is no other certain way of finding out. As far as I know the hardware reports only the main version to the system (e.g. 1.2; you can find it in the dmesg output), but not the minor revision (e.g. 1.2b).

Are there any known hardware issues with the USB3 C-type connector? I can no longer find the reference.

With the connector itself und USB functionality no, not that I know of. You can find known issues behind the link I posted (click on the revision you want to know about). There may be issues with HDMI hot plug detection.