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Thunderbolt Coming to PCs in April 2012

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DigiTimes reports that Intel has notified partners that the company will "fully release" its Thunderbolt technology in April 2012. Intel is reportedly preparing to launch Thunderbolt-supported motherboards, notebooks and desktop PCs at that time.

Intel and Apple originally partnered on the new technology which has become standard across Apple's MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini, and iMac. Digitimes reports that the cost of Thunderbolt technology is expected to drop in the second half of 2012, allowing more widespread adoption.

While Apple does offer Thunderbolt across most of its product line, the first Thunderbolt products have been limited to relatively high end devices. More widespread adoption should help drive adoption by accessory makers that will benefit both Mac and PC users that use Thunderbolt.

Intel has always said that they see both USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt as complementary technologies and plans to support both in their 2012 motherboards.

Article Link: Thunderbolt Coming to PCs in April 2012
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/12/26/thunderbolt-coming-to-pcs-in-april-2012/
sushi

sushi

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Makes sense:
  • USB 3 for keyboards, mice and occasional fast transfers like thumb drives.
  • Thunderbolt for monitors, and applications requiring fast external HHD/SSD times, etc.

Sounds good. :)
 
Slix

Slix

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I want to see cheaper hard drives and the like for Thunderbolt soon. :D
 
WannaGoMac

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sushi said:
Makes sense:
  • USB 3 for keyboards, mice and occasional fast transfers like thumb drives.
  • Thunderbolt for monitors, and applications requiring fast external HHD/SSD times, etc.

Sounds good. :)
Click to expand...


Yes, just like Firewire. And look how well that went! oh wait... :)
 
arn

arn

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dokujaryu

dokujaryu

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This will be great because Sandy Bridge / Ivy Bridge onboard GPUs are good enough for most. A thunderbolt / DisplayPort being standard fare on a Intel motherboard will mean I won't have to hunt for a motherboard with DVI or HDMI or whatever on it. :D
 
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0000757

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arn said:
And as I recall, the Sony one passes it through a USB-type connector, so it's not compatible with anything "Thunderbolt", and may as well be its own thing.

arn
Click to expand...

The Z-Series Laptop has that proprietary connector, but I believe the Z21 itself has an open Light Peak port. I'm not sure as the Z21 isn't US bound from what I've read.
 
Schtumple

Schtumple

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WannaGoMac said:
Yes, just like Firewire. And look how well that went! oh wait... :)
Click to expand...

Firewire is only good for data, TB seems more general purpose and fits a nice slot of super fast transfer for professionals and then easy IO for consumers, I'd hope it'll take off as it's a good little standard.

(I have a FW800 HD simply because it's far faster than USB2 btw)
 
D

DESNOS

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chrf097 said:
The Z-Series Laptop has that proprietary connector, but I believe the Z21 itself has an open Light Peak port. I'm not sure as the Z21 isn't US bound from what I've read.
Click to expand...

There is no such thing as a "Light Peak" port. The only two ports that have been used so far are USB and Mini DisplayPort. The two are incompatible with each other.
 
0

0000757

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DESNOS said:
There is no such thing as a "Light Peak" port. The only two ports that have been used so far are USB and Mini DisplayPort. The two are incompatible with each other.
Click to expand...

Yeah, you're right. I was misled. Upon further reading I found this.

The dock uses a proprietary version of Intel's codenamed "Light Peak" architecture, which is the same technology Thunderbolt is based on, but Sony has apparently chosen not to market the optical connection as such, and they aren't using a Mini DisplayPort type connector either.
Click to expand...
 
wikus

wikus

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Too late.

USB 3.0 has already proven to be more than adequate for general use. 750mb/s transfer speeds are more than acceptable on USB 3.0. That said, there are far more devices available for USB 3.0, and all older devices can already work with USB 3.0. I dont need to change *any* of my current USB 2.0 devices for USB 3.0 connectivity.... NOT the case with Thunberbolt.

Having said that, Thunderbolt is borderline already Firewire, but it most definitely will be.

The proper way around this is; supply all computers with both USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt.

Regular consumers are not going to be bothered with another port when all older devices can work on USB 2.0 and 3.0, much more for the reason that most of them wont require anything more than faster speeds, which USB 3.0's 750mb/s is perfectly fine for.
 
J

jwdsail

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Mar 3, 2004
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So, maybe by April 2012, someone will finally take my money and sell me an updated WiebeTech UltraDock drive dock and/or an updated NewerTech Voyager that adds Thunderbolt (with daisy chaining) to the FireWire and eSATA on the current versions.....
 
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ericinboston

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Jan 13, 2008
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sushi said:
Makes sense:
  • USB 3 for keyboards, mice and occasional fast transfers like thumb drives.
  • Thunderbolt for monitors, and applications requiring fast external HHD/SSD times, etc.

Sounds good. :)
Click to expand...

So USB 3.0, which is 10x faster than 2.0, is only good for USB 1.0 stuff (mice, keyboards)?!

Get real. USB 3.0 has been on the PC for well over a year now and literally hundreds of devices are 3.0 compliant while TB has what...literally 4 devices?!

I have 2 USB 3.0 drives and they absolutely fly compared to their 2.0 cousins. Even if USB 3.0 is merely 3x faster, that's still incredibly fast...that cuts my 160GB backup from a few hours to UNDER 1 hour. 3x the speed means 3x faster of course...so something taking 90 seconds now takes 30 seconds...or 30 minutes now taking 10 minutes.

Thunderbolt will be used by 1% of the world's consumers...just like Firewire. TB missed the boat on adoption.
 
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0000757

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Don't most devices barely use the 480 that that USB 2.0 uses?

What garuntees that USB 3.0 will be used fully, and not just up to a limit like USB 2.0 does.
 
AidenShaw

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jwdsail said:
So, maybe by April 2012, someone will finally take my money and sell me an updated WiebeTech UltraCock drive dock and/or an updated NewerTech Voyager that adds Thunderbolt (with daisy chaining) to the FireWire and eSATA on the current versions.....
Click to expand...

I did a search for UltraCock, but none of the NSFW hits had anything to do with computers. ;)
 
D

DESNOS

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Aug 24, 2011
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What I'm waiting for is for Apple to give us a thunderbolt option for all of their peripherals. As it stands, even they use USB for most things. To be perfectly honest though, the world is going towards wireless, not wired; I think that's why Apple isn't putting much effort into pursuing USB3 just like they're not putting much effort into pursuing BluRay. The physical port may in fact be going out the door. Even iDevices no longer need to by physically connected to anything but a charging port, provided you have AirPlay-compatible tech in the house. Thunderbolt is good for people who need high bandwidth connections, and those types of connections will probably never be able to go wireless.
 
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