Are Lightning & Thunderbolt Already Destined For The Bin?

[linuxcooldude]

Guys the USB Type-C port can actually carry Thunderbolt.

I might of missed something here, but don't remember seeing anything about USB-C supporting Thunderbolt devices.

 

[christarp]

Looking forward to all macs moving to USB-C Thunderbolt for the typical user is a huge flop. Way too expensive and proprietary for widespread use, and the benefits of USB-C bring it MUCH closer to thunderbolt than USB 3.0.

That being said, I'm also looking forward to apple releasing USB-C to lightning cables.

 

[thadoggfather]

Even if they are, I'm still glad of my $70 refurb Belkin dock purchase from this past summer

hooks up to my 16:10 1920x1200 24" monitor and some USB 3.0 expandability.

 

[alex0002]

It might be a limitation of the processor.

The 5Gbps limitation comes from the Core-M processor and a decision not to add a separate USB controller.

Apple is driving the MacBook’s USB data capabilities straight off of the Core-M processor, which in turn only supports USB 3.1 Gen1 data (5Gbps Superspeed), which is otherwise equivalent to USB 3.0. To support Gen2 speeds (10Gbps Superspeed+), Apple would need to use a 3rd party USB controller at this time, which are still very new and would compromise the size of the logic board, along with potentially compromising battery life.

Source: AnandTech: MacBook (2015) Hands-On

The addition of an extra controller chip, like adding an extra USB-C connector, might also compromise thinness. Since this is in the Macbook Pro forum, we would hope that a Pro notebook with USB-C would get multiple ports with USB3.1 Gen 2 10Gbps speed.

 

[maflynn]

2. Lightning, bring proprietary, has benefits which allow Apple to keep a somewhat closed eco system with the MFi program, etc.

Except in Europe there is a requirement to standardize on the connector type. Apple is either dragging their feet and/or providing an adapter. I'm not in Europe, so I don't follow this close enough to know what apple is doing.

If they opted for USB-C that might be enough to satisfy the regulators.