Just when you think Thunderbolt was idle , it comes back to lifetime like a revulsion - movie monster . On TuesdayIntel annunciate Thunderbolt 3 , offering more bandwidth , earmark Thunderbolt versatility , and a page from the old Thunderbolt playbook – plug compatibility with an subsist connector .
The result : On Monday , I was dubious about Thunderbolt ’s future as an offer port on all but Apple ’s highest - end Macs . Today , I ’m guardedly optimistic that Thunderbolt 3 will be the master ( if not only ) connective on the Mac line in the close time to come .
Yes, it’s much faster
As Gordon Mah Ung report earlier onMacworld , Thunderbolt 3 repeat the bandwidth of Thunderbolt 2 , to 40Gbps – the original Thunderbolt only sustain 10Gbps of bandwidth .
But Thunderbolt ’s appeal has always been its versatility . Like its predecessors , Thunderbolt 3 can link up to ethernet , USB , external video , and high-pitched - speed storage . Thunderbolt 3 also can provide power – up to 100 W – which is in force enough charge your laptop ( but might not be enough to ability , say , a 5 K showing ) .
Apple took advantage of Thunderbolt ’s versatility when it built theoriginal Thunderbolt Display , which connected to a Mac with a single Thunderbolt cable and provided Gb ethernet , audio , USB , FireWire , and Thunderbolt . I ’ve been using aBelkin Thunderbolt Dockfor a while now , and I jazz it – it provides me with an regalia of ports while I only need to connect a single transmission line to my Mac . ( It ’s specially great for laptop users who want to bob at a desk with a large monitoring gadget , wire ethernet , and the corresponding . )
Intel says Thunderbolt 2 can plump for two 4 K 60Hz television displays , which is middling impressive , and can make incredibly fast networking between two computers at 10GbE ( yep , that ’s ten times the speed of Gigabit ethernet)for speedy Indian file transfer .
So , Thunderbolt ’s middling swell – but with Apple dropping everything but a tiny USB - C port onthe novel MacBook , and with USB - C itself being pretty versatile , it start to seem like perhaps Apple was hold up to start de - emphasizing Thunderbolt .
One connector for them all
It turns out that Thunderbolt and USB - C are now allies . That ’s because the standard Thunderbolt 3 connectoris the USB - C connector . When Mac users first meet Thunderbolt , it come in the form of a intimate port Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe – namely , Mini DisplayPort . Using that larboard bod meant that Apple ’s systems did n’t demand to offer both a Thunderbolt portanda Mini DisplayPort port , because the Thunderbolt port could do either .
Thunderbolt and Thunderbolt 2 cables primed into the Mini DisplayPort connection Mac users were already conversant with .
A Thunderbolt 3 port will look like a USB - C port . They ’re stop up compatible . So if you plug in a USB - C gadget to a Thunderbolt 3 port wine , it should just work as you ’d expect . And sr. Thunderbolt devices can still be used with Thunderbolt 3 via an transcriber .
I ’m optimistic that between Apple ’s recent use of USB - C on the MacBook and its past embrace of Thunderbolt , we will begin to see Thunderbolt 3 ports on future Macs . While it ’s potential that Apple will turn its back on Intel and Thunderbolt , this announcementfeelslike the sort of technology Apple would want to integrate into its future products , since it joins USB and Thunderbolt into a single embrasure and provides all the versatility that Apple need . It ’s wanton for me to imagine these ports supplant all the live USB and Thunderbolt ports on future Macs .
And now the caveats
If Apple pretend a major porthole conversion – no matter if it ’s to standard USB - C or to Thunderbolt 3 in a USB - C wrapper – it’ll mean that Mac users will enter a frustrating period of mutual exclusiveness . We ’ll all be buying transcriber for honest-to-goodness product and catch frustrated that our current Mac does n’t support some whizzy equipment that only supports USB - C or Thunderbolt .
If Apple does adopt Thunderbolt 3 across its product line over the next yr , this could mean that this class ’s 12 - column inch MacBook might terminate up as a bit of an oddity . Not only does it have the one embrasure , which is odd enough , but it might be one of the few Macs to have a plain USB - C larboard rather than a fancier Thunderbolt 3 port .
If new Macs get Thunderbolt 3 ports , the current 12 - column inch MacBook will be awfully lonely with its “ USB - C but not Thunderbolt ” porthole .
There ’s also the issue of driving 5 K displays . Intel ’s promulgation about Thunderbolt 3 citation that it support DisplayPort 1.2 , which can drive gamey - closure presentation , but does n’t come out to have enough bandwidth to beat back a 5 K display via a exclusive connection . ( It can by all odds do it via two cables . ) The young DisplayPort 1.3 stipulation , which is being finalized , is presuppose to endure 5 K displays via a single cable . It would be light-headed if a firebrand - fresh engineering like Thunderbolt 3 shipped without the ability to drive 5 K showing via a individual cable , but that might be the case . We ’ll have to wait and see .
in conclusion , there ’s one other catch about Thunderbolt 3 adopting the USB - coke connector : Room for confusion . You should be able to plug any USB - degree Celsius machine into a Thunderbolt 3 port wine without difficulty . But if you ’ve got a computer ( like the new MacBook ) that supports USB - cytosine butnotThunderbolt , Thunderbolt computer peripheral ( indicated by the lightning - bolt Thunderbolt logo rather than the USB logo ) just wo n’t do work ( even though you’re able to stop up them in ) .
In practice , I ’m not certain this will be a huge trouble . Most hard drives and other simple peripherals will probably just use USB - C in society to maximize compatibility . But some devices , including docks , will involve Thunderbolt , and those wo n’t work on USB - C - only devices like the new MacBook .
Times of frustration
Transitions like these can be thwarting for exploiter . Nobody wish give birth to grease one’s palms adapters or looking on at new products with envy because they ’re simply not compatible with the reckoner they bought latterly . But in the end , this is how progress happen . Intel ’s use of the USB - C connector for Thunderbolt 3 has the hope to make the future a lot simpler and better — but as always , it ’ll be a bit bumpy fix there .
