Intel Looks to Broaden Thunderbolt 3 Adoption by Integrating Into Future CPUs, Eliminating Royalties

[cw75]

This news just confirms that Apple was right in ditching all other ports. In 2/3 years, anyone who bought an expensive computer with old ports will regret it

Not likely. I (like many others of whom I'm certain who bought a new MBP last year before the update) simply can't afford to get rid of all my older peripherals and replace them all at the same time. Like most other people, I'm sure I'll enjoy the new standard and will gradually replace things over time.

 

[hishnash]

That's exactly what I was thinking. This may pave the way for AMD to adopt it, which would be nice.

It would also allow motherboard manufacturers (apple for example) to add it to the motherboard even if AMD don't support it yet.

 

[c0ppo]

would be epic to see a Zen based CPU in a mac. They are really much better for creatives, with a focus on high core count over high Ghz (after all apple never let you overclock so what is the point of an overclockable intel cpu)

It could bring down the price of the top end iMac with Ryzen chips being much cheaper for the same performance + you get then benefit of ECC memory 🙂 without going for the mad range Xeon prices.

Also for a mac pro at the moment the new AMD epic looks much better suited than intel's offering (we don't know about prices yet through)

I highly doubt that will happen. There are no good AMD chips for MBP, and Apple wouldn't go for AMD on desktops and Intel on laptops.

 

[mikecorp]

good news, because so far thunder bolt is bloody sad story.

-will buy new macbook pro when this cpu integration will happen. Until then no money from my pocket.

 

[brbttyl]

Ladies and gentleman, this is the best news to emerge for Apple's laptop roadmap in 5 years. Integrated TB controller means they can finally EOL the air and build a capable replacement, instead of the anemic crap we have now. Godspeed.

 

[koyoot]

would be epic to see a Zen based CPU in a mac. They are really much better for creatives, with a focus on high core count over high Ghz (after all apple never let you overclock so what is the point of an overclockable intel cpu)

It could bring down the price of the top end iMac with Ryzen chips being much cheaper for the same performance + you get then benefit of ECC memory 🙂 without going for the mad range Xeon prices.

Also for a mac pro at the moment the new AMD epic looks much better suited than intel's offering (we don't know about prices yet through)

Ahem. Not exactly cheaper 😉.

Current slack of iMac's are just i7 based. The top-end CPU 7700K/6700K cost 349$ on amazon.com. Ryzen 7 1700 costs 329$, however the 1700X costs 399$, and 1800X costs 499$.

Yes, they are cheaper compared to HEDT Intel CPUs, and offer the same experience. But they are not cheaper vs. mainstream offerings, from Intel, but offer higher core counts, with similar power consumption.

 

[agsystems]

I wonder if they are going to take any steps to streamline the certification process? If I'm not mistaken certification to allow a device to claim Thunderbolt 3 compatibility and use the Thunderbolt logo takes time and money so making the protocol nonexclusive, royalty-free in itself won't necessarily mean a flood of low-cost Thunderbolt 3 devices.

I hope they keep some certification still going - otherwise, you run into the USB-C cable mess that took over year to get sorted out

 

[KPOM]

Great news. I'm looking forward to a Thunderbolt-enabled 12" MacBook in the future.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Actually it adds to the confusion, as now you'll have to find out if the USB-C port also supports Thunderbolt 3. 🙂

Most of the lower to mid range devices will keep using USB 3 or 3.1 for connectivity, and not Thunderbolt.

 

[koyoot]

I highly doubt that will happen. There are no good AMD chips for MBP, and Apple wouldn't go for AMD on desktops and Intel on laptops.

Raven Ridge APUs are coming. 4core CPUs+704 GCN core chips are topping at 35W for mobile, and go down to 15W. They differ only in clock speeds. And are coming up in 2H 2017 😉.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

How does one reconcile this...

This news just confirms that Apple was right in ditching all other ports. In 2/3 years, anyone who bought an expensive computer with old ports will regret it

...with the reality of this...

I wonder how many thunderbolt capable Macs I'll have gone though before there is a sensibly priced thunderbolt peripheral. I am up to 3 so far and have yet to use the port. I had actually given up on it.

I wonder if FasterQuieter felt it would be "only 2/3 years" before Thunderbolt ruled all when he bought that first Mac that had Thunderbolt? Then, the second? In my case, I use only a single thing connected via Thunderbolt- a dongle- to basically make it connect to "old port" technology that used to be built into a MacBook Pro.

The problem with the DanielDD-type sentiment is that it has at least plausibility (it could happen) in spite of a factual past that says ubiquity tends to take a long, long time. And the bigger problem is that the ubiquity of "the future" thrust upon us in this way sacrifices the easy utility of the present. In other words, great if we're only 2 or 3 years from port ubiquity but what an unfortunate hassle from now to that 2 or 3 years will be.

I hope that DanielDD is right... that it is only 2 or 3 years until there is USB3C/Thunderbolt 3 everything. But I suspect that ubiquity is many more years than that out, further cautioned by the numbers in both "standards." What do I mean by that? How long until there is a USB4 and a Thunderbolt4? Are those far enough out into the future that these "3"s can actually become ubiquitous? Or do the 4s arrive before much more than computing platforms dependent on Intel platforms embrace the 3s.

What's great in this news is the royalty-free change which should greatly entice anyone making anything that could build in some version of a USB port... AND that Intel is going to bake it into the CPU which means that future stuff that leans on Intel CPUs will already have the technology available, so why not use it with a compatible port(s)? Both conspire to give this a fair chance at propagation beyond computing technology. For instance, conceptually, this could be a replacement for HDMI in AV equipment.

What would be even better is for Apple to follow this lead and embrace it in place of Lightning, so that a very popular seller of tech moving tens of millions of attachable products each year would (further) support adoption of one open, royalty-free standard to rule them all. Intel is making an attractive revenue sacrifice to woo lots of adoption of a single, new, open standard. Will Apple do that too?

 

[hishnash]

I highly doubt that will happen. There are no good AMD chips for MBP, and Apple wouldn't go for AMD on desktops and Intel on laptops.

AMD will release their laptop range of Zen chips later this year. If the Ryzen range is anything thing to by then they will sweep intell away. Yes I would not expect anything in a mac before next year at the absolut erlist.

The one killer feature AMD could add to the laptop cpu range would be support for LPDDR4 so apple could expand beyond 16GB without using up more space or power the current gen intel does only support DDR4 not the low power mode.

 

[Rossatron]

Great, now all you need is a TB3 to USB3 to TB3 adapter and you're GTG!

 

[c0ppo]

Raven Ridge APUs are coming. 4core CPUs+704 GCN core chips are topping at 35W for mobile, and go down to 15W. They differ only in clock speeds. And are coming up in 2H 2017 😉.

Ohh... Nice to hear that. And looking forward to seeing them in action, I just hope that they won't be late to the show 🙂

As far as AMD goes, well, Ryzen made me want to build my own PC. I haven't done that since 2010 (switched to mac). But as soon as my vacation starts, I will be all over it. I hope Apple shares my excitement as well 🙂

 

[spaceballl]

This is great! But by the time this all happens, I wonder if USB4 will be out and also work over a USB-C connection....

 

[Ploki]

Will this eliminate the confusion of not knowing whether a USB-C port is 3.0, 3.1 gen 1, or 3.1 gen 2?

anyone remembers when TB port was actually miniTB by apple?

No it won't, if they embed it you will just have to assume that port works as both (usb gen2 and tb3)

 

[soupcan]

Actually it adds to the confusion, as now you'll have to find out if the USB-C port also supports Thunderbolt 3. 🙂

Most of the lower to mid range devices will keep using USB 3 or 3.1 for connectivity, and not Thunderbolt.

This is exactly why USB-C should just die off right now with no parade or farewell. Just kill it already before you have even more non-compatible standards on the same bloody port.

"Oh, you want to plug in your shiny Thunderbolt external drive to this MacBook? Well screw you, I ain't doing diddly jack even though my connector fits just fine."

 

[hishnash]

Ahem. Not exactly cheaper 😉.

Current slack of iMac's are just i7 based. The top-end CPU 7700K/6700K cost 349$ on amazon.com. Ryzen 7 1700 costs 329$, however the 1700X costs 399$, and 1800X costs 499$.

Yes, they are cheaper compared to HEDT Intel CPUs, and offer the same experience. But they are not cheaper vs. mainstream offerings, from Intel, but offer higher core counts, with similar power consumption.

I was thinking about the iMac Pro that apple said was in the works something that if they go with intel is either a HEDT or a Xeon if they want ECC. A Ryzen 1800X would be massively cheaper and still give the pro features if they can get thunderbolt3 to work well.

 

[Pentium]

This news just confirms that Apple was right in ditching all other ports. In 2/3 years, anyone who bought an expensive computer with old ports will regret it

most expensive laptops now have both ports 🙂 except of course Apple MacBook Pro 😛

 

[mudflap]

I wonder how many thunderbolt capable Macs I'll have gone though before there is a sensibly priced thunderbolt peripheral. I am up to 3 so far and have yet to use the port. I had actually given up on it.

I own two ThunderBay 4 RAIDs connected to my Late 2015 iMac (and my Mid-2011 iMac before this) that I really like. And they are quite reasonably priced.

 

[PharaohVision]

It would be funny if Apple adopted Ryzen now that they could keep TB but also have mobile versions of the Ryzen series CPUs. The new Ryzen CPUs have a stronger raw performance/watt figure than Intel's which is very attractive to Apple. The benchmarks are a mess and nothing is clear except their efficiency.

 

[hishnash]

Ohh... Nice to hear that. And looking forward to seeing them in action, I just hope that they won't be late to the show 🙂

As far as AMD goes, well, Ryzen made me want to build my own PC. I haven't done that since 2010 (switched to mac). But as soon as my vacation starts, I will be all over it. I hope Apple shares my excitement as well 🙂

personally, I'm waiting for the ThreadRipper or maybe and Epic (I'm not a fan of the names on these) I would love to have that amount of PCI express bandwidth, MacPro anyone?

 

[BaltimoreMediaBlog]

I personally want a Macbook Pro so thin and light, I can wave it like a flag! 😀
But seriously, at what point does a pro machine become so thin that it is fragile and not durable for a professional?
This obsession with thinness over power needs to stop at some point.
I feel the same way about iPhones. I don't want a $1000 phone that gets dropped once and thrown in the garbage can. 🙁

 

[leman]

This is great! But by the time this all happens, I wonder if USB4 will be out and also work over a USB-C connection....

There is not even a proposal for USB 4.0... will certainly take more then a few years until it appears 😉

 

[hishnash]

It would be funny if Apple adopted Ryzen now that they could keep TB but also have mobile versions of the Ryzen series CPUs. The new Ryzen CPUs have a stronger raw performance/watt figure than Intel's which is very attractive to Apple. The benchmarks are a mess and nothing is clear except their efficiency.

From the benchmarks I have seen it is mostly in gaming (or high single threaded tasks) that zen is not so good this is a mix of poor kernel scheduling (something apple can fix) moving tasks between the CPU complexes, for multi threaded stuff they are consistently much better per W and per $.

Apple does not care about gaming at all and the pro aspects of ECC memory support and more threads is a plus for the apple user market, programmers, video editors, etc all benefit from more CPU threads over high single core cpu speed.