On September 12, 2023, Intel launched a new generation of Thunderbolt connection standard - Thunderbolt™ 5, and demonstrated a laptop prototype and docking station to provide PC users with more superior connection speed and bandwidth advantages.
Thunderbolt 5 can provide users with an industry-leading performance experience when connecting computers to external monitors, docking stations, storage and other devices. Intel is excited to continue its dominance in wired connectivity solutions.
Thunderbolt 5 can provide 80 Gbps bidirectional bandwidth, and can achieve up to 120 Gbps bandwidth through the bandwidth enhancement function (Bandwidth Boost), providing users with a more perfect display effect. These upgrades will enable Thunderbolt 5 to have up to 3x the bandwidth of existing connectivity solutions, meeting the higher bandwidth demands of content creators and gamers. At the same time, Thunderbolt 5 supports industry standards including USB4 V2 and is fully compatible with the previous generation of Thunderbolt and previous versions of USB.
With the increasing demand for bandwidth from content creators, gamers and professionals, these users also want smooth images with high resolution and low latency while processing increasingly larger video and data files. Thunderbolt 5 is built specifically to dramatically increase connection speeds and bandwidth, ensuring modern PC users will enjoy high-quality visuals and immersive experiences for years to come.
Lan LeGrow, corporate vice president of core operating system product management at Micro-soft, said: "Micro-soft is pleased to work closely with Intel to bring the latest USB4 standard to Windows customers. Thunderbolt 5 is fully compliant with the USB 80 Gbps standard and fully supports the next generation of high-performance displays. , storage devices and connectivity standards.
Compared with Thunderbolt 4, Thunderbolt 5 has many improvements, including:
• The bidirectional bandwidth of Thunderbolt 5 is 2 times that of Thunderbolt 4; for video-intensive applications, through the bandwidth enhancement function (Bandwidth Boost), Thunderbolt 5 can provide a bandwidth of up to 120 Gbps, which is 3 times the bandwidth of Thunderbolt 4.
• Increase PCI Express data throughput by 1x to support faster external storage speeds and better release external graphics card performance.
• Built on industry standards including USB4 V2, DisplayPort 2.1 and PCI Express Gen 4; fully compatible with previous versions.
• Double the bandwidth when using Thunderbolt for point-to-point networking, enabling faster PC-to-PC connections.
• Based on the existing printed circuit board, USB-C connector and passive cable, using the new PAM-3 signal encoding technology to achieve significant performance improvements.
Thunderbolt 5 will continue to advance the vision of enabling all connectivity capabilities through only a standard USB-C port and a single cable, bringing the highest possible quality and performance while simplifying connectivity and enhancing the PC experience for PC users around the world.
