Light Peak / Thunderbolt: It makes sense now!

[ExnomenDei]

Do you guys remember the rumors going around of the iPad 2 getting a Mini Displayport connector?

This makes sense now! It's not 'just' a MDP connector, it's a Thunderbolt connector! It's basically replacing the Dock connector for video out and high-speed data transfers - although I hope Apple will make a new, backwards-compatible dock connector, I think they'll put this new connector on the iPad 2 and then later on, on the iPhone/iPod Touch.

I have no idea how Micro-USB (A standard Apple says they'll start supporting) will fit in with this, but perhaps they will supply a converter from uUSB to dock to make this happen.

Still, the rumor-mills are all making sense now, right?

 

[el-John-o]

Hmm,

Never thought of it like that but it makes fantastic sense. I still wonder how Micro-USB will fit into that, since it's much slower than this thunderbolt (and having solid-state memory in these things we can actually take advantage of these higher speed ports.)

I kind of imagine one of two scenarios, either a Lightning Bolt port on the iPad, and micro-USB on the iPhone and iPod touch to satisfy the EU. (I know they wouldn't require it on the iPod Touch, but apple would want consistency.) Is it micro-USB that the EU wants, or Mini-USB? I heard Mini-USB, which would be annoying because not only is it on its way out with newer faster technologies (and God knows it will take YEARS for the EU to update the policy), and if it was on the iPod Touch it would actually have to get THICKER, but apple won't want a bunch of different connectors for different devices.

I dunno, I guess we'll see! But I think your right on the iPad getting light peak.

 

[trip1ex]

Yep going forward you'll see LightPeak in all the iOS devices.

 

[dgree03]

Yay for another port apple uses that no one else does.

 

[poloponies]

While a departure from Apple's SOP it would certainly be a good way of pushing the standard forward. Tens of millions of iOS devices, rather than a few million Macs, would spur its adoption on the peripheral side. I'd say 50/50 at this point but we'll see next week (if that date holds true).

 

[jmpnop]

Yay for another port apple uses that no one else does.

+1, I'd rather prefer to see Micro-USB or USB.

 

[FSUSem1noles]

Yay for another port apple uses that no one else does.

EXACTLY!!! this really does nothing but tighten the barrier around the Apple ecosystem...

 

[dgree03]

+1, I'd rather prefer to see Micro-USB or USB.

EXACTLY!!! this really does nothing but tighten the barrier around the Apple ecosystem...

Heck even USb 3.0 would be a better choice. Backwards compatiable with USB 2.0 and 1.1 without the need for any extra connectors. While still getting excellent speeds for the average consumer.

 

[FSUSem1noles]

Heck even USb 3.0 would be a better choice. Backwards compatiable with USB 2.0 and 1.1 without the need for any extra connectors. While still getting excellent speeds for the average consumer.

Yes, and then at least companies would be inclined to incorporate light peak/thunderbolt or whatever the name is, and without sacrificing any space... Now companies would have to incorporate a brand new port.. which quite honestly I couldn't blame them if they decided not to..

 

[ExnomenDei]

The dock connector still will support USB 2.0 - too many non-macs used with iPads and other iDevices, of course.

Also, don't forget: this is an INTEL standard, not an Apple standard. We can expect non-Apple equipment to get Thunderbolt sooner rather than later.

 

[poloponies]

Yes, and then at least companies would be inclined to incorporate light peak/thunderbolt or whatever the name is, and without sacrificing any space... Now companies would have to incorporate a brand new port.. which quite honestly I couldn't blame them if they decided not to..

Intel is going to be pushing this in a big way going forward and it has the potential to replace a lot of existing connections. Apple is leading the way and it may be a while before its use is widespread, but companies lie Seagate who have been shifting towards modular connectivity will likely jump in ASAP.

 

[shen]

The dock connector still will support USB 2.0 - too many non-macs used with iPads and other iDevices, of course.

Also, don't forget: this is an INTEL standard, not an Apple standard. We can expect non-Apple equipment to get Thunderbolt sooner rather than later.

This.

This is not a bizarre thing Apple is just pulling out of their collective backend. It is an impressive port, with other backers, and good specs, and if Apple is selling tons of iOS devices and a lot of Macs with it, and intel is pushing it, it will be adopted, and adopted fast.

All they need now is get a major camera vendor to announce a PHD camera with it,and it will be the new USB.

 

[anthonymoody]

This.

This is not a bizarre thing Apple is just pulling out of their collective backend. It is an impressive port, with other backers, and good specs, and if Apple is selling tons of iOS devices and a lot of Macs with it, and intel is pushing it, it will be adopted, and adopted fast.

All they need now is get a major camera vendor to announce a PHD camera with it,and it will be the new USB.

Yup. Anything Intel bakes into systems is basically guaranteed to succeed and be widespread.

 

[Piggie]

And where in the iPad is this new super connector/socket going to be placed?

 

[smiddlehurst]

Yay for another port apple uses that no one else does.

Umm, could that possibly have something to do with Intel not having actually LAUNCHED Light Peak officially yet? Just maybe that'd explain why no one else has this on their products?

Yeash, come on folks, a wee bit of common sense wouldn't go amiss here.

 

[FSUSem1noles]

Intel is going to be pushing this in a big way going forward and it has the potential to replace a lot of existing connections. Apple is leading the way and it may be a while before its use is widespread, but companies lie Seagate who have been shifting towards modular connectivity will likely jump in ASAP.

I think there will be some who will use Light Peak, but not the volume OEMs like the Acers, HPs and Dells….They won’t have a need for it.... And don't be fooled for a second, this is without a doubt Apple Inspired.. Intel didn't cook up this idea all by their lonesome..

 

[davidwarren]

I think this wil be more than higher data transfer rates- I can imagine a lion feature of integrating iPad output in OSX. There's less of a need to put iOS in OSX if you can use the iPad as the iOS engine. If that makes any sense.

 

[FSUSem1noles]

I think this wil be more than higher data transfer rates- I can imagine a lion feature of integrating iPad output in OSX. There's less of a need to put iOS in OSX if you can use the iPad as the iOS engine. If that makes any sense.

This I can certainly see Apple doing, If you want 27" and greater "retina" style displays, you need data to pump to it and a means to get it there... That's going to be a lot of bandwidth that needs to be moved...

 

[ThE.MeSsEnGeR]

Yay for another port apple uses that no one else does.

+1, I'd rather prefer to see Micro-USB or USB.

EXACTLY!!! this really does nothing but tighten the barrier around the Apple ecosystem...

Heck even USb 3.0 would be a better choice. Backwards compatiable with USB 2.0 and 1.1 without the need for any extra connectors. While still getting excellent speeds for the average consumer.

why don't we all just stay using Floppy Disks! oh, sorry... wrong decade!
Technology moves forward, NOT backwards. USB (1, 2 or 3) has been the utmost best solution for about a decade now... but it's time for it to step aside and give some space for Thunderbolt to take it's rightful place, where it'll serve us for about a decade too, until a new technology replaces it... maybe Telekinesis!

 

[gatearray]

Do you guys remember the rumors going around of the iPad 2 getting a Mini Displayport connector?

This makes sense now! It's not 'just' a MDP connector, it's a Thunderbolt connector! It's basically replacing the Dock connector for video out and high-speed data transfers - although I hope Apple will make a new, backwards-compatible dock connector, I think they'll put this new connector on the iPad 2 and then later on, on the iPhone/iPod Touch.

I have no idea how Micro-USB (A standard Apple says they'll start supporting) will fit in with this, but perhaps they will supply a converter from uUSB to dock to make this happen.

Still, the rumor-mills are all making sense now, right?

I had this same thought once I saw that port on the new MBP today.

Here's another thing I wondered about. If they added a USB port to be backwards compatible with all other existing USB devices, they would be back to square one because they would need to provide drivers for all existing and forthcoming USB devices that people would try to connect. The main reason USB support is not part of iOS.

So maybe there will be different standards with Lightpeak aka Thunderbolt and manufacturers will be compliant moving forward, almost making for "driverless" peripheral connectivity. Avoid that whole messy USB hornet's nest!

 

[Piggie]

Does it not make you laugh reading this thread.

Again and again over the last months as soon as anyone mentions that a Honeycomb tablet has a better technical spec than something Apple offers, people are shouted down, saying specs don't matter, it's only tech nerds that go on about such things. It's only the user experience that matters.

Yet as soon as Apple offers something, or may be offering something with a higher spec, that, let's be honest, the man in the street is probably not going to really understand, it's suddenly different now.

Now it's said people need to move forward to new better technologies, and Apple will lead the way and others will follow.

Funny how rules change isn't it?

Can't help feeling if Apple had USB 2 and Xoom had Light peak, it would be a case of Light peak is pointless in a tablet, USB 2 is fine for what it needs to do, and specs like this are only for nerds to worry about.

 

[Pressure]

Yay for another port apple uses that no one else does.

+1, I'd rather prefer to see Micro-USB or USB.

EXACTLY!!! this really does nothing but tighten the barrier around the Apple ecosystem...

Heck even USb 3.0 would be a better choice. Backwards compatiable with USB 2.0 and 1.1 without the need for any extra connectors. While still getting excellent speeds for the average consumer.

Stop being such muppets!

Apple made USB and FireWire mainstream.

History have shown again and again how Apple were the first to either adopt (USB, FireWire, EFI, DisplayPort) or ditch (Serial Port, Floppy Disk).

The point with LightPeak is that it basically can replace all other connectors. I can see why Apple would want this.

 

[dgree03]

why don't we all just stay using Floppy Disks! oh, sorry... wrong decade!
Technology moves forward, NOT backwards. USB (1, 2 or 3) has been the utmost best solution for about a decade now... but it's time for it to step aside and give some space for Thunderbolt to take it's rightful place, where it'll serve us for about a decade too, until a new technology replaces it... maybe Telekinesis!

Really? It moves forward? No kidding?

So you dont believe in backwards compatible while the transistion is going on from one standard to another(if it even becomes a standard)?

Does it not make you laugh reading this thread.

Again and again over the last months as soon as anyone mentions that a Honeycomb tablet has a better technical spec than something Apple offers, people are shouted down, saying specs don't matter, it's only tech nerds that go on about such things. It's only the user experience that matters.

Yet as soon as Apple offers something, or may be offering something with a higher spec, that, let's be honest, the man in the street is probably not going to really understand, it's suddenly different now.

Now it's said people need to move forward to new better technologies, and Apple will lead the way and others will follow.

Funny how rules change isn't it?

Can't help feeling if Apple had USB 2 and Xoom had Light peak, it would be a case of Light peak is pointless in a tablet, USB 2 is fine for what it needs to do, and specs like this are only for nerds to worry about.

AMEN! Its funny to me also

Stop being such muppets!

Apple made USB and FireWire mainstream.

History have shown again and again how Apple were the first to either adopt (USB, FireWire, EFI, DisplayPort) or ditch (Serial Port, Floppy Disk).

The point with LightPeak is that it basically can replace all other connectors. I can see why Apple would want this.

Apple was the first to adopt USB? Show me where thats true?

 

[gloss]

Apple was the first to adopt USB? Show me where thats true?

They were not the first to adopt USB by a longshot, but they WERE the first to push USB as the only available connection option (with the original iMac). This helped foster the nascent USB 1.1 format.

From IBM's own site:

"Even if users would prefer a USB device, they would still be more willing to accept a non-USB device since it can be connected to their computer. Even if USB is a better, more desirable piece of technology, it may not be more marketable than the alternatives! The number of people who would buy a USB Webcam might be smaller than the number who would buy a serial Webcam -- and almost all of them could be persuaded to buy a serial one instead.

Enter the iMac.

The original "bondi blue" iMac was the first computer to offer USB ports without offering "legacy" ports. That's right -- no serial ports, no ADB. This changes the network effects. Before the iMac showed up, there were many millions of PC users who had no USB ports and perhaps a couple of million who had a USB port and also legacy ports. The biggest market in 1998 was in serial and parallel ports (or joystick ports, PS/2 ports, and so on) -- there was no reason to target the USB market. That would just restrict your audience.

The iMac presented a ready-made market of users who chose the Mac line for its graphics capability. In turn, the iMac offered a captive audience of users who would buy a USB peripheral but would not buy any other kind of peripheral. These users provided a market for USB peripherals that wasn't facing competition from other port choices. The result was a flood of USB devices in white-and-blue plastic. This was a crucial turning point that created a reason (tied to a proven system choice) to prefer USB to non-USB ports.

Once adoption was foist onto this substantial segment of users, the technical merits of the technology won out easily. USB's technical superiority (for most peripherals) to the conglomeration of a half-dozen different port types was unambiguous."

 

[GFLPraxis]

Hate to sound like a complete noob here, but...why is Thunderbolt / Lightpeak so impressive?

I mean...I already have HDMI 1.4, which is above 10 gbps, in my TV, surround sound receiver, and Blu-ray player. Thunderbolt actually has a lower thoroughput (barely) and in practice the same capacity. And HDMI 1.4 is two-way, and can carry a 3D 1080p stream along with 7.1 surround sound and network data...I think that's in line with the best Light Peak demo I've seen.