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Intel to Launch 'Thunderbolt' on Thursday? MacBook Pros to Follow?

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CNet reports that Intel's media event starts at 10 a.m. Pacific on Thursday, February 24th. CNet believes that Intel will be unveiling final details of Light Peak at the event.
[Light Peak is] a transmission technology designed by Intel that promises to bring 10-gigabit-per-second speeds for data transfers to and from external devices, besting recently introduced solutions like USB 3.0. Intel's broader vision is to have it replace the myriad specialty ports on laptops and desktop machines with one that can do just about everything, while scaling its bandwidth potential to support future computing needs.
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CNet actually expects that Apple will not officially launch the new MacBook Pros until after the Intel event. The event starts at 10 a.m. Pacific / 1 p.m. Eastern.

Meanwhile, we've learned that the term "Thunderbolt" is actually labeled as an Intel trademark on the leaked MacBook Pro packaging, so we suspect that will be the name used for the technology broadly across all platforms.

As for why Thunderbolt (formerly Light Peak) uses the DisplayPort connector rather than the USB one, The Wall Street Journal Digits blog speculates that USB Implementers Forums wasn't happy about Intel coopting their plug:
The USB Implementers Forum–which oversees the evolution of that ubiquitous variety of connectors–put out a statement last summer that did not sound particularly friendly to Light Peak. “USB connectors are not general purpose connectors and are not designed to be used in support of other technology applications or standards or as combo connectors,” the group said.
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Meanwhile, Apple designed the mini DisplayPort connector and opened it for free licensing, which may offer some explanation as to its choice. We're certain to hear more details Thursday.

Article Link: Intel to Launch 'Thunderbolt' on Thursday? MacBook Pros to Follow?
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/02/23/intel-to-launch-thunderbolt-on-thursday-macbook-pros-to-follow/
Last edited by a moderator:
M

m85476585

macrumors 65816
Feb 26, 2008
1,226
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It's not called LightPeak because it doesn't use light. This iteration is all copper.
 
CrAkD

CrAkD

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Feb 15, 2010
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Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Hmm makes sense can't wait for tomorrow!
 
D

dampfdruck

macrumors member
Oct 20, 2008
81
0
Why would anyone need this is a laptop? Seriously, what is the use-case for this? When I'm on the road I would really appreciate a built in 3G modem or a second battery e.g. instead of the (useless) optical drive.

As for the mini display port: I never figured out what the benefits should be. Every meeting room I went so far, has a projector with a VGA input. As a user, I have to always carry an (overpriced) adapter. What for?

I think, Apple doesn't understand the difference between a laptop and a desktop.
 
Warbrain

Warbrain

macrumors 603
Jun 28, 2004
5,702
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dampfdruck said:
Why would anyone need this is a laptop? Seriously, what is the use-case for this? When I'm on the road I would really appreciate a built in 3G modem or a second battery e.g. instead of the (useless) optical drive.

As for the mini display port: I never figured out what the benefits should be. Every meeting room I went so far, has a projector with a VGA input. As a user, I have to always carry an (overpriced) adapter. What for?

I think, Apple doesn't understand the difference between a laptop and a desktop.
Click to expand...

You haven't heard everything yet. Just wait. You may be surprised.
 
Eidorian

Eidorian

macrumors Penryn
Mar 23, 2005
29,190
386
Indianapolis
dampfdruck said:
Why would anyone need this is a laptop? Seriously, what is the use-case for this? When I'm on the road I would really appreciate a built in 3G modem or a second battery e.g. instead of the (useless) optical drive.

As for the mini display port: I never figured out what the benefits should be. Every meeting room I went so far, has a projector with a VGA input. As a user, I have to always carry an (overpriced) adapter. What for?

I think, Apple doesn't understand the difference between a laptop and a desktop.
Click to expand...
Maybe we will finally get a docking station.
 
V

voltaire2030

macrumors newbie
Feb 23, 2011
22
3
Finally we will end all the rampant speculations that plague the web about a minor or major refresh of the MBP :rolleyes:

I'm still not sure how thunderbolt work :confused: Will it permits to speed up the loading and unloading on a flashdrive for example ?
 
ten-oak-druid

ten-oak-druid

macrumors 68000
Jan 11, 2010
1,980
0
So what happens if Apple rushes to embrace this and then a year from now thunderbolt standard switches to a usb port after all? And what if it starts out as a copper version of thunderbolt and a year from now the standard is optical? Will this model be hurt by that? Will the peripherals with thunderbolt a year from now not be compatible with this version?

It reminds me of the early DVD ROM drives that came out and were soon replaced with the burners we know now. For a year, people had a cool new feature that was obsolete soon after.
 
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