Intel revealed new details about Thunderbolt™ 4, the next generation of its universal cable connectivity solution. There is an increased minimum performance requirement, expanded capabilities, and USB4 specification compliance. For the first time, Thunderbolt 4 will offer docks with up to four Thunderbolt ports and universal cables up to 2 meters in length. Intel’s upcoming mobile PC processors, code-named ‘Tiger Lake’ will be the first to integrate.
“Thunderbolt provides consumers with a leading connectivity standard across a range of devices, helping to advance computing experiences and delivering on the promise of USB-C with simplicity, performance, and reliability. The arrival of Thunderbolt 4 underscores how Intel is advancing the PC ecosystem toward truly universal connectivity solutions.” –Jason Ziller, Intel general manager of the Client Connectivity Division
Thunderbolt 4 will improve on what Thunderbolt 3 started, offering a truly universal experience. It will offer 40 Gb/s speeds of data as well as video and power over a single connection. Thunderbolt 4 will offer compliance across USB4, DisplayPort and PCI Express (PCIe), not to mention generations of Thunderbolt and USB products.
Apple has recently announced that its new ARM (Silicone) will support Thunderbolt 4. This makes sense as Apple helped develop it a decade ago. An Apple spokesperson has stated that Apple remains committed to the future of Thunderbolt and will continue to support it. While it is unclear if you will see this spill over to their entire lineup, it is nice to see the relationship continue to the next generation of Mac products.
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