Why would Apple have spent the last three years implementing and improving external GPU support just to get rid of it. If that’s the case, it’s the mark of a truly rudderless company.
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Intel Shares Details on Thunderbolt 4, Launching Later This Year
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Why would Apple have spent the last three years implementing and improving external GPU support just to get rid of it. If that’s the case, it’s the mark of a truly rudderless company.
I thought USB 4 was to be the successor of Thunderbolt. I guess not. If us tech-savvy folks are confused what about nontech folk.
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It's DMA protection that's required, which AMD has their own, we'll see if this is good enough for Intel to certify (or maybe PC builders don't bother with AMD Thunderbolt systems).
The XDR Display works (with full 6K res) on non-Thunderbolt hosts, too. The Surface Laptop 3 for instance works with the XDR at 6K and it does not have Thunderbolt.
Apple had developed the groundwork for eGPUs and then Intel floundered, especially with Skylake. Apple has always been fickle when it comes to supporting technologies for the long-term. Perhaps Apple will support eGPUs in the future, but I doubt it.
Apple Silicon Macs won’t be compatible with eGPU, they said
Intel has been floundering for 5-6 years. They first admitted the problem with 10nm silicon back in 2015, which means it had been ongoing well in advance of that.
If it's the limited don't-call-it-Thunderbolt variant of USB4, meaning no PCIe, then I don't see eGPU as a thing.
You can use USB signaling to do something like additional office screens (see e.g. DisplayLink), but not for high performance.
Making the distinction confusing seems deliberate, unfortunately.
That's my point — if that's true, then the article is incorrect.
who is they and where did they say this?
Right, the USB spec does allow that but I don’t see any way Apple wouldn’t adopt tb3 supporting ports on Macs.
I wouldn't base anything off the transition kit, it's an A12Z, wait for actual Mac hardware.
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I agree. @Val-kyrie seems to be suggesting that external PCIe is gone.
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Nobody, and they didn't.
In fairness Intel initially said VT-d was required, then clarified that DMA protection was required. It was Intel that caused the confusion initially, but Macrumors needs to update the article.
They don’t need an intel controller if they go the usb4 route (with tb3 and potentially pcie tunneling).
the dev kit is not meant to be indicative of shipping hardware. The intel transition kit didn’t have FireWire or even efi. The purpose is to give app developers a similar enough platform to test on, nothing more.
If Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 are both 40G, the only difference is the extra Thunderbolt port. which is nice but I don't want to pay another 400 dollars for those extra ports LOL.
I am using Caldigit TS3+ dock now and don't expect to switch to TB4 dock since it got all the ports I need and it's only 200 bucks.
Because Apple still sells and will be selling Intel based Macs and will be supporting them for a very long time.
Yes, but there was an article elsewhere in which an Intel engineer said the numerous issues with the Skylake CPUs caused Apple to begin to focus on developing an ARM-based APU for the Mac. Skylake was riddled with bugs in its silicon and that was unexpected.
If Apple omits an Intel controller, which I believe they will in order to control all of the hardware, then I am betting on a transition to USB 4 only. It will be simpler for Apple to implement and it will be more universal. The fact that USB is attaining parity with TB 3/4 and does not require certification from Intel (=cheaper to implement) is TB's death knell.
There could be a number of differences to real world performance, including more intelligent bandwidth allocation.
Currently, DisplayPort has priority, and some bandwidth is reserved for that regardless of whether it is used. Whatever is left is used for PCIe signals -- which are capped at 22 Gbps.
Thundebolt 4 could also rely on PCIe4.
I haven’t seen this level of detail, maybe it was provided by intel today, but “lol, its the same, 40gbps = 40gbps” is likely a massive oversimplification.
I had hoped the USB4 transition would streamline all these different connections and remove a lot of the confusion as Thunderbolt 3 basically be cannibalized, but now that I’ve learned it still lacks Thunderbolt 3’s PCI support and Intel announces Thunderbolt 4 I guess that was a little naïve.
If Apple drops Thunderbolt 3/4 on Apple Silicon Macs then I’d guess Thunderbolt 4 is basically dead in the water. Without Apple putting it in their products and therefore pushing accessory adoption you know the PC market will be slow, at best, to integrate it.
If Apple drops Thunderbolt 3/4 on Apple Silicon Macs then I’d guess Thunderbolt 4 is basically dead in the water. Without Apple putting it in their products and therefore pushing accessory adoption you know the PC market will be slow, at best, to integrate it.
...SkyLake was released in 2015. Apple released eGPU support with High Sierra 10.13.4 in March 2018.
Nice information. While I was doing research on the Thunderbolt 3 dock, I only found Caldigit's TS3 Plus dock fully utilize 22 Gbps PCIe bandwidth. All the rest are using 10 Gbps or way less than 22 Gbps, including the docks using so called titan ridge. For example, you can find the 22 Gbps for data path on TS3 plus
TS3 Plus Interface Bandwidth Allocation and Diagram – CalDigit
Bandwidth allocation breakdown and diagram for the interfaces on the TS3 Plus.
www.caldigit.com
I was hoping TB4 can do 80 Gbps so I can move to TB4 dock but utill Thunderbolt5 can support 80 Gbps, it looks like TS3 plus is still the best dock in town because of 22 Gbps data path support.
Where did you get that idea?
Or Do you mean USB 4 including the TB3 allows for 40Gb/s offering the same speed?
You had always needed to get certified for TB3, regardless whether it was inside the USB 4 spec or not. USB 4 on itself without TB tech was never a replacement for TB. It wasn't then when it was designed, it wasn't now. And it isn't intended to be. And it never would be due to the nature of USB spec.
The whole point of TB is Quality Assurance. ( At least some form of it ). And minimum requirement. Unlike USB spec which offers ample of room to choose from.
Lets hope they do a better job that T3. I purchased a Lenovo P72 Laptop with the intent of using it for my 3D work. What a flaming POS that turned out to be. The T-Bolt interface would drop/black out my external monitor at least 3-4 times per day. Often I had to hard reboot just to get things back working as I would sometimes lose the laptop screen too. I finally ended up selling it and went back to a MBP and basically have vowed not to touch any Windows laptop ever again. YMMV but my MBP just works. My Lenovo just would never work.