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Light Peak Coming in Early 2011 With Apple at Forefront?

drewyboy said:
I hate how people repost the same garbage over and over again, especially about the "f no lp won't have power so it sucks!". Intel has stated that all they need to do is wrap the fiber optics in copper, which they were already going to do for optical wire strength. So there are two issues done (Cable power & strength). Third, those who are like, "how the heck am I suppose to use my usb _xyz_?!" If I recall correctly, I'll try to find a link, Intel is having LP port the exact same as a usb so that you CAN plug in usb 2/1 (3?) right into it and it'll register. So all 3 main issues solved. The small one of speed, as stated numerous times before in this thread Intel will ramp up the speed to 100 w/ a year or two.
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If it is compatible with USB plugs why would Intel not add support for USB 3.0? At that point wouldn't it just be a software thing and not add very much cost at all? With all the talk about them not supporting USB 3.0 I don't think that is very likely... but if it does happen, LP will pretty much shut down USB 3.0 and become the standard. I also think that will make peripheral manufactures VERY happy and consumers EXTREMELY happy. Think about it, you get to pick do I need 480Mbps, 3Gb/s or 10Gb/s without having to worry about compatibility. You can upgrade anytime. Sure the average person doesn't need 10Gb/s so keep USB 2.0 right now, then as time comes on, upgrade seamlessly. Same ports, faster speeds, easy upgrade, everyone wins! All fingers crossed :rolleyes:
 
Someone mentioned that Mac Pro owners should be able to implement a PCIe card for Light Peak useage. Would that not need a bridge controller and come with limitations compared to full Light Peak utilization? I realize that HDD/SSDs are not any where near the data transfer rates that would make Light Peak a necessity (now), however the idea of eliminating FireWire/USB/Display ports for a universal Light Peak port is amazing! Supplying power with extremely fast speeds, eliminating unnecessary hardware for numerous connections would slim systems down (this is not only beneficial to portable systems but desktop systems as well), require less power and end the need for numerous cables for so many various connections. This means faster connections, less power consumption, less data cables being thrown away into the trash, and less hardware needed for data connectivity.

Ive been looking forward to Light Peak since I first saw Intel demonostrate it on a Mac Pro in 2008.
 
joshuavd said:
If it is compatible with USB plugs why would Intel not add support for USB 3.0? At that point wouldn't it just be a software thing and not add very much cost at all? With all the talk about them not supporting USB 3.0 I don't think that is very likely... but if it does happen, LP will pretty much shut down USB 3.0 and become the standard. I also think that will make peripheral manufactures VERY happy and consumers EXTREMELY happy. Think about it, you get to pick do I need 480Mbps, 3Gb/s or 10Gb/s without having to worry about compatibility. You can upgrade anytime. Sure the average person doesn't need 10Gb/s so keep USB 2.0 right now, then as time comes on, upgrade seamlessly. Same ports, faster speeds, easy upgrade, everyone wins! All fingers crossed :rolleyes:
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When I get home and get time to look for the link I'll put it up. But try to read between the lines. If Intel says they'll support usb 3.0 later this year /2012, when will LightPeak become mainstream? Around that time. Think about it, if LightPeak supports USB 3.0, then you'll get their "support" :)
 
alent1234 said:
you'll get more bang for your dollar having a machine with SATA2 that has a 6gbps I/O rate than buying a new port. lightpeak might be 10gbps but since the insides of computers are 6 you aren't going to get any speed increase.

i just explained the same thing to others about our 3 year old HP servers and going to 10gbps ethernet
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you are obviously missing the point, Light peak means no more bottle necks connections. My point exactly enterprise is sitting ducks, they have servers connected using ethernet and transfers of large data files are almost non existent apart from data from databases and crap like that. All media production companies that involve large data files over 100GB require transfer connections like light peak or even better. I am instrumental myself over this that means almost instant transfer. Brilliant idea.
 
What are the plugs for this actually going to look-like? All I've seen so far is the odd clip thing that looks like it goes on motherboards. Might be great as a replacement for SATA for what's the actual deal with external connectivity?

If it can deliver what it says then great, as USB 3 hasn't really impressed me much as it seems a modest improvement only.

Does LightPeak have the bandwidth to replace mini display port as well, can it do video? Would be nice to have one neat connector that can do everything, obviously with suitable icons so you're not plugging a monitor into a non-video output.
 
haravikk said:
What are the plugs for this actually going to look-like? All I've seen so far is the odd clip thing that looks like it goes on motherboards. Might be great as a replacement for SATA for what's the actual deal with external connectivity?

If it can deliver what it says then great, as USB 3 hasn't really impressed me much as it seems a modest improvement only.

Does LightPeak have the bandwidth to replace mini display port as well, can it do video? Would be nice to have one neat connector that can do everything, obviously with suitable icons so you're not plugging a monitor into a non-video output.
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It's suppose to be a duplicate of a usb connection so that a lp cable or legacy usb cable can be used.
 
haravikk said:
Would be nice to have one neat connector that can do everything, obviously with suitable icons so you're not plugging a monitor into a non-video output.
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It doesn't work that way. Every port can support every input/output. You can plug your display into whatever LP port you want. LP will cover the functionality of video cables, USB/FW cables, and possibly even network cables. This is the future.
 
drewyboy said:
It's suppose to be a duplicate of a usb connection so that a lp cable or legacy usb cable can be used.
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LP is a conduit for optical data, USB for electrical data. Good luck trying to get both registered via the same plug.
 
weckart said:
LP is a conduit for optical data, USB for electrical data. Good luck trying to get both registered via the same plug.
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but according to FOCI, who is currently supplying the cable for intel's LP demos has stated that they are using USB connections w/ the actual wire running btwn the connection fiber optics. I don't quite understand it all, but it seems they've figured it out.
 
sudo rm -rf / said:
Agreed, it would be awesome to see an interconnect that is superior to USB 3.0 supplant it before it even takes off.

As for Blu-Ray, I wish Apple would just put a BD-ROM in it's pro line. I guess it's too much of a "Bag of hurt". Sheesh.
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I doubt apple had much to do with all the licensing madness. They might have backed it, but getting it into macs is complicated. It could be done, but it's no secret that apple believes that discs in general are about to leave us, so they most likely wont bother.

EDIT: Oh and, your name gives me shivers. :D
 
Wirelessly posted (iPhone 4: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

This information has been on Intels website for atleast a month, that is that LightPeak will be going into production in late 2010 and expected to be implemented in consumer electronics in early 2011.. Why is it just now making headlines as "new" news?
 
Rodimus Prime said:
It more likely external Hard drive makers will say I am not going to spend the money paying licencing fees for 10% of the market. Most of which will be buying adapters any how to use all their older USB stuff.

Light Peak biggest down fall is it does not support USB with out some type of adapter. Windows desktop computer hell still have Com ports, and PS2 ports on them. Why you ask. Best the equipment that uses those ports generally last a really long time and those ports are dirt cheap to add. what is 5 cents on a 100+ part. The lost of those ports would cost you more business than saving would take out.

Com ports are a bit rarer now days but still on higher end desktop or desktop bought by eletrocics laps due to the fact that a lot of equipment still needs them.
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I imagine that there's going to be many USB/LP combo devices for awhile, and a few that have to be one or the other, like Mice/Keyboards, might take a little longer. Hard drives often have multiple connectors on the back. I have one that has FireWire and USB, and it's no secret that hard drives are often the first devices to include faster connections, because they need it the most.
 
I kind of put Jobs' "USB not taking of" in the same basket as his "People don't read anymore!!!" and "Who wants to watch video on their iPod?!?".

USB3 will probably come sooner or later. Light Peak seems as a great idea, but will take some time to implement. I can't see myself running around with my MBP, Light Peak-cable, LP-USB2-adapter just to be able to use my flash drive. Or MBP, Light Peak-cable, LP-HDMI/DVI-adapter when holding a presentation.

But anyway, it seems like great tech, as long as the cable also provides power. THAT is essential, or it will never take off. Plugging your flash drive in the wall?;)
 
MacNewsFix said:
I think Steve Jobs has the same distaste for cables that he does for buttons. :)

If they can get rid of it, they will. However, I can't believe next year's MacBook Pro revision will only have LP connections and nothing else.
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The solution is simple: Provide adapters for all the ports Macs used to come with, as an option when you purchase your mac, and in the stores.
 
iDisk said:
Intel will not support USB 3.0 because its not a major leap in data transfers (Cost outweigh the benefit). USB 3.0 is equivalent to Aperture 1.5 before Aperture 2 came along.
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Yet like a week after Steve's statement intel said they will be supporting usb3 in future hardware
 
xeex said:
you are obviously missing the point, Light peak means no more bottle necks connections. My point exactly enterprise is sitting ducks, they have servers connected using ethernet and transfers of large data files are almost non existent apart from data from databases and crap like that. All media production companies that involve large data files over 100GB require transfer connections like light peak or even better. I am instrumental myself over this that means almost instant transfer. Brilliant idea.
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Thought: As Apple has yet to launch their $1 Billion server farm in N.C., would the implementation of "Light Peak" in this new system be part of the process? If "Light Peak" is as beneficial as it seems with regard to server speed, I would believe Apple would implement it in this huge investment that consumers have yet to learn of its purpose, however it is clear that this server system will play a large role for Apple in the near future.

I'm still curious as to the benefits of a "Light Peak" PCIe card in "Mac Pro" as opposed to full system implementation (even though SATA data rates are 3 or 6 gbps depending), as it will not replace any ports but merely add to them (aside from adding a faster, powered port for future devices).
 
Even LightPeak is outdated

Outdated because it still uses a physical connector. Now there's WiDi aka WirelessHD, and it too is being promoted by Intel. Starts at 5GB/sec and has a theoretical max of 25GB/sec.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WirelessHD

So maybe LightPeak could be used with Mac Pros and iMacs and WiDi could be used on all Apple portables...
 
weckart said:
LP is a conduit for optical data, USB for electrical data. Good luck trying to get both registered via the same plug.
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Not the same "plug," but the same port. Just like the audio port on all Mac portables that take optical or analog.
 
mikeyhu said:
Unfortunately it seems to be you who doesn't understand. All digital connections have to have a protocol to provide context to the 1s and 0s :) Therefore a physical cable converter has to manipulate the protocols to convert from one to the other. Otherwise the thing at the other end of the cable won't know what to do with the data.

The only other alternative to to tunnel one protocol within another, but that's an equally bad idea as it means that the individual devices need to support unwrapping the different protocols.
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I don't know the details but heres a quote from the makers of Light Peak

... "Light Peak also has the ability to run multiple protocols simultaneously over a single cable, enabling the technology to connect devices such as peripherals, displays, disk drives, docking stations, and more"
 
Gen said:
If it's faster and better, why not
Let's just hope they do it sooner than later, before USB3.0 gets mainstream
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Not really it will probably have both, either way how cares made my day to know its coming out and its not vapor ware. :rolleyes:
 
SockRolid said:
Outdated because it still uses a physical connector. Now there's WiDi aka WirelessHD, and it too is being promoted by Intel. Starts at 5GB/sec and has a theoretical max of 25GB/sec.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WirelessHD

So maybe LightPeak could be used with Mac Pros and iMacs and WiDi could be used on all Apple portables...
Click to expand...

[Shudders] wireless data AND power? Um, I'm curious as to the physical effects of radio connectivity permeating our world already. I couldn't imagine what throwing wireless electricity into the atmosphere may do long term to our cellular structures... create more "Tea Parties"? ;) j/k
 
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