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Closer Look Photo of Thunderbolt (Light Peak) Port

Regardless of opinions, these are some of the BEST "leaks" I have seen over the past few years.

Looking forward to tomorrows announcements!
 
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mroddjob said:
I think having the TB/LP port as part of the mini display port is a great idea.
1) The mDP is already part of the VESA display port standard and more and more laptop manufactures are beginning to include it, so if they can get the additional TB/LP protocol down the same cable and get it included in the VESA standard, it can lead to the single cable ideal for all display/home AV/computer peripherals etc. especially if they can keep the same connector when TB/LP reaches it's expected speed 100Gbps in the future.
2) It also means there isn't a useless port on the macbook before 3rd party manufactures start making peripherals to use it. A dedicated port just to connect you ipad 2/iphone 5 is a bit much. At least we already use the port to connect to a display.

There's also no reason why they won't create a "micro display port" for use with the ipad.
Until the connectors are all magsafe you wouldn't want to plug in a connector to your macbook that's SD card thin for fear of snapping it off.
Click to expand...

Then wouldnt it be more convenient to use a USB-shaped connector that is USB compatible? Replace all the ports with one connector that already works with the majority of all equipment, sure you might need a dongle for compatibility with mdp, but given it's market penetration and the average lifespan of screen/tv/projector equipment you still need a dongle to use it with >98% of all equipment available anyways.

In the way it's shown on the picture everyone would have to disconnect their display just to use a potential LP harddrive (yes you could daisy chain but that would be defeating the purpose)
 
jav6454 said:
Hybridization is for dual operability and hence no extra port on the already cluttered 13"....

I assume when a display is connected the chipset will adjust to transmit display feed only and when a device is hooked, well, adjust for that as well.

May sound cheesy, but it makes perfect sense seeing as current LightPeak is based on copper, not optical fiber so it would make no sense to call it LightPeak when no light is used.
Click to expand...

I mean its two ports but if you use 'one' you lose one also so its a bit pointless. What if you want an extra monitor attached but also a lightpeak Hardrive? You cant.

Also ThunderBolt is very odd. Shouldnt it be Lightingbolt? Thunder is the sound, which as we all know is slower than light i.e. lightningbolt. Its wrong on so many levels and the icon is stupid too.

Apples losing it a bit.
 
This is serious ****. 1280x800 still, and the only update is some technology I couldn't even use if I had it plugged into my Cinema Display. The only welcomed thing is the i5 in a low end 13". If this is true, I just hope the more expensive models carry some actual updates.
 
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I'm calling bs on this one well the port in question anyway. All the intel lp demos were based on a USB connector. Not unless apple have modified it to it's own means (not the first time).
 
randfee2 said:
Guys, I don't get it at all!

Why on earth would they integrate that with the Display-Port connector? Doesn't make any sense. I was certain Intel had planned to introduce lightpeak with a USB-compatible connector?!
I'll be way harder to find devices with this connector then. If they'd go with the original plan to use USB-compatible connectors, external Harddrive and other peripheral-manufacturers would have adopted the technology way easier. What are they thinking, that external Harddrives and other stuff will come with yet another physical connector?
Click to expand...
Am I the only one thinking that Apple's LightPeak (dubbed Thunderbolt) implementation may be pure genius?
If Apple & Intel will successfully push a new MiniDP specification which supports LightPeak,
new machines (also in the PC world) equipped with a MiniDP port will automagically support LightPeak too...

If that's not the case (a new MiniDP specification around the corner), the MiniDP shaped connector may still mean that a firmware update could bring LightPeak support to older Macs (without the lightning fast speed, though).

About connecting other devices when a MiniDP monitor is connected, I guess that new MiniDP monitors should serve as a MiniDP hub too! :cool:
 
Apple would use the ISO 3864 symbol for High Voltage for light peak?


GTFO

VqtkS.jpg
 
Non-reversible--thank you! Hope it's true despite the convenience that combining with USB would have.

USB's reversible rectangular shape is one of the worst ideas ever. You can't tell by feel which way it goes in. (Ditto for iPod dock cables!)
 
TMay said:
Killer feature down the road will be a magsafe version, and I have to wonder if Nikon / Canon will pick Light Peak later to displace the mini hdmi and mini USB in DSLR's.
Click to expand...

We'll still be stuck with the 90 MB/s download speed limited by the CF card. Maybe 120 MB/s by then and that won't be so bad... but how long does it take Canon to adopt new technology? A long time especially considering the lifespan of their pro models is usually 2 to 3 years; they don't turn over every year.
 
Originally Posted by Lord Bodak
Why would Apple use a trade name for a standardized technology? Customers are going to get confused when all the peripherals say "Light Peak compatible" and their Mac has a "Thunderbolt" port. Something strange is happening here.
Click to expand...
randfee2 said:
agreed... they didn't rename USB to "Stevie Wonder" either!
Click to expand...
But they did rename IEEE1394 to Firewire (and Sony called it iLink, and TI's implementation was Lynx).

Which altogether helped this demonstrably superior technology to wither on the vine against USB.

Remember - Apple does have a checkered record in their port history overall, and have pulled users through some traumatic transitions in the wake of same. ADB, anyone? And how many different iPod/iPhone connectors have there been? I know about the change from FireWire to USB only, but seem to recall there's been another (my old 60 GB iPod Photo is still my amazing car jukebox, thank you, so I haven't kept up on this exactly).

So there's been some hubris on their part that they could drag the industry with 'em, when "the industry" has resoundingly said, uhhh, cool but no thanks. This same tendency has come back to bite a former boutique leader, Sony, in the butt on numerous occasions. BetaMax (a superior alternative), MiniDiscs (apparently a solution in search of a problem), the aforementioned iLink along with ATracs and Memory Sticks (proprietary for proprietary's sake), etc.

PS: I know we get used to all these tradenames, but this one is pretty sucky out the gate too.
 
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Hahaha some of you readers are just unbelievable. This is the update you guys were waiting for and yet you're still bitching.

I'm willing to put money that some of you have been waiting since the Powerbook G5 days and you're still not happy.

Good God.
 
I find it a bit suspect for the following reasons:

1. The port position is not dominant, I.E. it is placed in the middle, second to the FW port; Why not make it the #2 position next to the Magsafe port?

2. The leaks are from some French site many have never heard of (that is not saying much of course- just adding it in.)

3. The leaks are coming in after the Intel announcement.

Possible that it's an :apple: witch hunt; IDK. I'm not sold on this...
 
Guys, is it just me or this new "Thunderbolt" port looks an awful lot like the Mini Display port on the current Macbook pro line...
 

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Of course it's real

Although we all WISH for major Apple redesigns, they don't happen as often as we'd like. So the idea that the externals are exactly the same makes sense. Even down to using the DisplayPort as a Thunderbolt interface. Remember that when introduced, it only carried video. Then full on 5.1 sound, and now Thunderbolt as well.

Here's hoping the SSD hybrid rumors are true. But then you can always get the lower end model and put in your own SSD.
 
allamoureux07 said:
This technology isn't even applicable to current peripherals - it will take at least a year for it to become "somewhat mainstream."
Click to expand...

which makes no sense as Apple resists for quite a while before accepting any new technology most other developers are using for at least a year. USB 3, eSATA and BluRay to name a small view. Oh wait.. they'll find some dongle for you to buy for $69.99 which will convert that useless port to a standard USB 2.0 port. Don't worry.. Apple has you covered as long as you buy more Apple-branded dohickeys from them :(
 
Is this just DisplayPort 1.2?

Bandwidth for DisplayPort 1.2 goes up to 21.6Gbps.. that's double LightPeak's 10Gbps, and adds a 720Mbps communications channel.


Is this the same thing? Or possibly a slightly updated version of the spec? (maybe with communications channel in the 5-10Gbps range?)
 
bigpics said:
Which altogether helped this demonstrably superior technology to wither on the vine against USB.
Click to expand...

superior in speed, only

inferior in cost-to-implement, cost of cables and security.

firewire has direct memory access... which opens up the possibility of someone creating virus-spreaders in hardware firmware.

no thanks
 
Sirmausalot said:
Although we all WISH for major Apple redesigns, they don't happen as often as we'd like. So the idea that the externals are exactly the same makes sense. Even down to using the DisplayPort as a Thunderbolt interface. Remember that when introduced, it only carried video. Then full on 5.1 sound, and now Thunderbolt as well.

Here's hoping the SSD hybrid rumors are true. But then you can always get the lower end model and put in your own SSD.
Click to expand...

Thank You!

I seriously don't understand why there's so much QQ based on a leak of an unconfirmed tier. Not to mention, for the first time in quite some time, you actually got something new. Just because a lot of people got their hopes up for an ultimate 13 inch apple machine with liquid metal, quad cores, SSD's doesn't mean you have to go bash something that apple DID put into the computer. Just sit tight, wait till tomorrow, and buy what suits your needs and quit the fanboy bitching.
 
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