Intel has unveiled the next generation of Thunderbolt, Thunderbolt 5, and demonstrated a prototype laptop and dock. Thunderbolt 5 will provide up to three times more bandwidth than Thunderbolt 4, providing superior performance and data connections.
Thunderbolt 5 is built on the vision of one USB-C port and cable that can do it all. It will deliver a bi-directional bandwidth of 80 Gbps, and with Bandwidth Boost, it will provide up to 120 Gbps for a superior display experience.
Intel’s Thunderbolt 5 fully supports Thunderbolt 4 and 3 devices and is fully compatible with USB 4, Display Port 2.1 and PCI Express Gen 4. All this provides the next level of visual immersion and professional productivity for all requirements.
Thunderbolt 5 is designed to vastly improve connectivity speed and bandwidth so modern PC users can enjoy high-quality visual and immersive experiences for years.
“Thunderbolt 5 will provide industry-leading performance and capability for connecting computers to monitors, docks, storage, and more. Intel is excited to continue our tradition of leadership for wired connectivity solutions.”
“Thunderbolt is now the mainstream port for connectivity on mobile PCs, and delivering the next generation of performance with Thunderbolt 5 will provide even more capability for the most demanding users,” said Jason Ziller, general manager of the Client Connectivity Division at Intel.
“Microsoft is excited to closely collaborate with Intel to bring the latest USB4 standard to Windows customers,” said Ian LeGrow, corporate vice president of Core OS product management at Microsoft Corp. “Thunderbolt 5 is fully USB 80 Gbps standard compliant to support the next generation of high-performance displays, storage, and connectivity.”
Thunderbolt 5 builds on Thunderbolt 4 in several ways, including:
Double PCI Express data throughput for faster storage and external graphics.
Double the bandwidth of Thunderbolt networking for high-speed PC-to-PC connections.
It uses a new signalling technology, PAM-3, to achieve this significant increase in performance with today’s printed circuit boards, connectors, and passive cables up to 1 meter.
Thunderbolt 5 promises significant improvements in connectivity speed. It will meet the high bandwidth needs of content creators and gamers. It will simplify the PC experience for users worldwide and still provide the highest possible quality and performance.
