LightPeak->Thunderbolt: Apple and Intel unveil Thunderbolt I/O technology

[AnXioZ]

Intel has thrown up its page on the technology, and it looks like the Light Peak name is officially no more. Intel indicates this speed will be enough to transfer a full-length HD movie (roughly 10 - 20GB in size) in less than 30 seconds. Intel also reinforces that this is compatible with existing DisplayPort devices and it also uses the PCI Express protocol for enhanced compatibility. Daisy-chaining will be possible, along with bus-powered devices, and cables can be made using either optical or electrical construction.

• Dual-channel 10 Gbps per port
• Bi-directional
• Dual-protocol (PCI Express* and DisplayPort*)
• Compatible with existing DisplayPort devices
• Daisy-chained devices
• Electrical or optical cables
• Low latency with highly accurate time synchronization
• Uses native protocol software drivers
• Power over cable for bus-powered devices

Sources:
1) http://www.intel.com/technology/io/t...bolt/index.htm
2) http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/24/a...s-thunderbolt/
3) http://www.apple.com/thunderbolt/

More info:

Leading Hard Drive Makers to Support Intel Thunderbolt.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/storage...underbolt.html

An In Depth Look at Intel’s Thunderbolt Technology
From Hardware Canucks

[AnXioZ]

I'm wondering since Thunderbolt is based off PCI-Express if we will see external GPU solutions for mobile stations. I remember Asus and MSI coming up with something similar but the speed sucked.

[zalbard]

So it begins...
Are there any peripherals with Thunderbolt support being showcased already?

[iddqd]

I'm skeptical about this ever taking over USB. USB's just got too much market penetration. I mean, where's 1394 now? Sure, you can still get it on the more expensive boards, but the cheaper ones don't bother any more. There's very few devices that use it, too.

[\/icious]

I'm skeptical about this ever taking over USB. USB's just got too much market penetration. I mean, where's 1394 now? Sure, you can still get it on the more expensive boards, but the cheaper ones don't bother any more. There's very few devices that use it, too.

Anything can be phased out. It would just take time and the right product. Im looking forward to seeing what happens. We wont see usb disappear for a long while though

[keiths]

Anything can be phased out. It would just take time and the right product. Im looking forward to seeing what happens. We wont see usb disappear for a long while though

Yeah, parallel and serial port market penetration didn't stop them being phased out.

[Gogeta]

This is huge...

[haylui]

could it scale to 100Gbps?

[Kristers Bensin]

I can only see the positive in thunderbolt, no other standard shares another standard and thus makes this the king of the hill.

[Iconyu]

I told you guys Intel would have power over cable.

[JumpingJack]

I'm skeptical about this ever taking over USB. USB's just got too much market penetration. I mean, where's 1394 now? Sure, you can still get it on the more expensive boards, but the cheaper ones don't bother any more. There's very few devices that use it, too.

Many people said the same thing about USB when Serial R232 already had all the market penetration.

[qcmadness]

Many people said the same thing about USB when Serial R232 already had all the market penetration.

It depends how Intel charges with Lightpeak.

[n!Cola]

Thunderbolt is just name for coper version insted of optics, so it is not renamed.

[Sam_oslo]

This is a great move based on a great vision. Combining high-speed data and HD video connections in a single cable is a big achieving.

Those who are concerned about the lack of peripherals for this new technology, or are trying to stick to USB3, are probably suffering from some kind of fanatic views.

[zalbard]

Thunderbolt is just name for coper version insted of optics, so it is not renamed.

The OP and the links clearly mention "electrical or optical cables".

[bamtan2]

give me a break. think for a second, please. there is very little use for this. and the only use they did show was a RAID array that didn't even exceed ESATA speed.

wow, I can put my raid array on the same cable as my monitor? thanks.

this is just an intel money grab. and apple loves getting an expensive new differentiating feature. this is what the apple brand is all about, exclusivity.

[bamtan2]

they did show this actually:


a SSD NAS doing 700MB/s over a 3 foot wire. now, lets forget that people are already doing this inside their cases with "raid cards".

if you DO need to do this (3 feet away from your pc), then thunderbolt will be a good way to do it. fiber channel is more expensive, esata will take more cables, and SAS/infiniband/whatever will be some combination of expensive and more cables. so thunderbolt wins this round. unless you just put the ssds in your case with trays like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-002-_-Product and call it a day.

[Tenknics]

give me a break. think for a second, please. there is very little use for this. and the only use they did show was a RAID array that didn't even exceed ESATA speed.

wow, I can put my raid array on the same cable as my monitor? thanks.

this is just an intel money grab. and apple loves getting an expensive new differentiating feature. this is what the apple brand is all about, exclusivity.

This is the first step in transitioning much of the computer from silicon/electricity to optics/light.

The roadmap has lightpeak scalable to 100gbps. I really think you're missing the entire point completely. There is now a port on the side of a laptop that can transfer 10gbps each way..Do you know what that means?

The tech had to come out first, same old chicken and the egg..It had to come out first before people could start making devices for it..

Besides, one universal port that supports pci-express, displayport/hdmi/dvi , usb, ethernet etc..I'm all for it.

Not everything is always about money man..Intel has been developing this tech for decades..Intel is smart and realized Apple is more progressive and liberal with cutting out legacy stuff and adding new stuff. OSX is a smaller market, one manufacturer to worry about and its on a higher end boutigue computer that people would buy anyway..

Smarty move for intel dropping this on Apple first than the PC world. think about it..

[therightway]

one immediate benefit from this new tech is that it will reduce cable clutter. You can daisy chain them together too. Win for staying organized!

[RADCOM]

[QUOTE=

.........Besides, one universal port that supports pci-express, displayport/hdmi/dvi , usb, ethernet etc..I'm all for it.
[/QUOTE]
"One port to bind them all" interesting tech that for sure!

[zalbard]

Yeah, it's quite promising.
Imagine, in the future...
Instead of DVI / DisplayPort / HDMI and FireWire / eSATA - optical TB.
Instead of USB - electrical TB.
Instead of Ethernet - optical TB (I suppose ?).
All driven by a single controller. No additional chip mess. No different ports and running around looking for cables and adapters for your monitor.
Good stuff.
But this is in theory... And this might be one big flop, we'll see!

[Iconyu]

Smarty move for intel dropping this on Apple first than the PC world. think about it..

Aye Apple make enough products for it to reach the mass market and then Intel just sell the chips. Intel trying to push this with USB still around wouldn't cut it but Apple can sell pork to a rabbi.

The professional market will eat it up, A Samsung F3 can swamp 1Gb LAN and 10Gb networks aren't cheap, then Intel releases a wonder cable.

[zalbard]

The professional market will eat it up, A Samsung F3 can swamp 1Gb LAN and 10Gb networks aren't cheap, then Intel releases a wonder cable.

This is EXACTLY how Apple should market this tech after their success with Magic Mouse and iPad beating netbooks with magic!

[bamtan2]

There is now a port on the side of a laptop that can transfer 10gbps each way..Do you know what that means?

It means no one will use it because they don't have anything that moves so fast. I'm not being luddite here, I'm being practical. Fast links aren't news, fast media is. And you have none. Unless you've got that SSD raid array, that is, which is fine if you do. Most people will not, however.

And this cable does not have ethernet, and it does not have USB, so you didn't have a reason for implying it did. And everything in business is about profit, get a clue.

[iddqd]

It means no one will use it because they don't have anything that moves so fast. I'm not being luddite here, I'm being practical. Fast links aren't news, fast media is. And you have none. Unless you've got that SSD raid array, that is, which is fine if you do. Most people will not, however.

And this cable does not have ethernet, and it does not have USB, so you didn't have a reason for implying it did. And everything in business is about profit, get a clue.

(he means that you'll be able to use an external video card)

Although you'll probably need more links than just one. Like 3 of them in parallel have the same bandwidth as 16x PCIe 1.X

E: although they claim they can get it up to 100 gbps, which I guess is actually faster than PCIe 2.0 and only slightly slower than PCIe 3.0. If I were a laptop manufacturer, I'd start pushing USB3 as hard as I can, while completely ignoring LightPeak though... wouldn't want people to simply buy a desktop video card rather than a whole new laptop.