Thunderbolt 3 and USB Converge With New 40 Gbps USB4 Specification

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ksec said:
Seriously I said this in 2016 and 2017. ( I need to big that up ) And said we need USB 4 instead of all the mess we have with USB 3.2

Finally they are doing something about it!.
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If "they" are finally DOING something about it in 2019, "they" were certainly talking about it in 2016 and earlier.
 
kemal said:
Thunderbolt 3 is an alternate mode for USB C. So will the USB C spec differ from the USB 4 spec, other than the lack of TB royalty payment? This is a cluster.
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The Spec, as USB-C *connector* will likely be the same, the cable spec however will need an overhaul because of the stringent requirement. It is likely, the current TB3 cable will also work as USB 4 Cable.
 
Gasu E. said:
If "they" are finally DOING something about it in 2019, "they" were certainly talking about it in 2016 and earlier.
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The announcement, or decision of opening up TB3 as royalty free and open standard were announced by Intel in early 2018. We have been waiting for 12 months, ( all the CEO and Management Shake up in between ) before we finally got to this point. It is not a 2016 thing. And likely the new Intel CEO decide it wasn't worth the hassle doing another standard themselves, and just give it to USB Group.
 
This sounds like good news, right? USB3 & USB4 will share a single connector and the computer, depending on what cable / device is plugged in will determine if it's 20gbps or 40 and it with royalty-free, we'll finally have more choice on peripherals since Thunderbolt still seems limited to a handful of manufacturers.
 
Ifti said:
So USB4 is just the same as TB3, just royalty free for manufacturers and peripheral makers?

So does that mean my Thunderbolt 3 drives can be classed as USB4??
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Theoretically yes, we still need to see how the Spec play out. TB3 should be a superset of USB 4, i.e not every TB3 feature gets into USB 4 Spec. So in theory ( Again that is assuming they don't mess around with Spec again ) TB3 should support every USB4 features.
 
got to keep the market moving and selling those externals....

one port, one standard, be done with it.
 
Good. I hate how Thunderbolt is nearly non-existent except for high-end expensive stuff. If something in the computer world is lock away from consumers, it won't catch on and it won't become cheaper over time. Separating "pro" and "consumer" for something as mundane as a USB port is stupid. If no one has thunderbolt in their computer, manufacturers won't build it into their products, so the tech simply won't catch on. Even pros often use non-pro laptops or share peripherals with non-pro people, so you can't just say that Thunderbolt is for pros and consumers don't have to care about it. If it's not for consumers, then pros won't benefit from it either.
 
leman said:
Excellent news! I hope that the consortium learns from their mistakes and introduces more strict certification for USB4 cable capabilities.
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ksec said:
And since USB 4 will mandate the 40Gbps and Thunderbolt 3, it means there is certain quality assurance to USB 4 cable.

Edit 2: After further Reading, 100W Power Delivery may or may not be included in the standard by default.:mad: That is kind of expected because it will be quite expensive, but I hope the Standard don't leave it to the Cable Vendor.
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You'd think so, right. Yet, still the USB-C cables are lottery!:(

They will leave it to the cable vendor! Because, they seem to believe that: "Out of Chaos Comes ...:rolleyes::D
 
So it was confusing, it still is confusing, and the next revision (USB 4.1 or 5 or whatever) will still be confusing.
 
Well that only took... how many years?

They must've rushed this announcement out after the hot mess of confusion last week over USB 3.0 / 3.1 / 3.2 Gen 2x2 or whatever the hell it is now.

Just move onto USB4 as fast as possible please, and save the rest of us headaches.
 
This is great news in one way but it won't pan out that well. It's already too difficult to figure out what cable you need. Having multiple cable standards with the same plug is a terrible idea. You can't just walk in to a shop and but a cable.
In a way I would much prefer if the cable standard matched the connector so at least you know what you are dealing with.
 
Just in time for Thunderbolt 4 at 80-100Gbps!

So I know this says it's backwards compatible with older USB, but will it be compatible with Thunderbolt 3 ports on existing Macs since they already use 40Gbps with a USB-C connector? I guess what I'm asking is, will our existing USB ports on Macs be upgraded to USB 4.0, since it's essentially a compatibility thing in software? Or am I missing something.

I hope they nix the stupid "Gen _" BS that they've got going on with USB 3. Just update the USB number more often. Bluetooth does it and nobody is confused. WiFi is doing that now too.
 
KPandian1 said:
You'd think so, right. Yet, still the USB-C cables are lottery!:(

They will leave it to the cable vendor! Because, they seem to believe that: "Out of Chaos Comes ...:rolleyes::D
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Well even without the PD 100W, in order to support the speed of 40Gbps the cable has to be of minimum quality that will be quite a bit higher than current USB-C.
 
kemal said:
Thunderbolt 3 is an alternate mode for USB C. So will the USB C spec differ from the USB 4 spec, other than the lack of TB royalty payment? This is a cluster.
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I think you meant to say: "USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10Mbps) is an alternate mode of Thunderbolt 3."
[Then, this would be correct, as USB-C is a physical plug specification, and does not bind to protocol or protocol speeds -- that is, USB-C can support any of the USB speeds.]

[On any differences among USB4 and TB3, hard to tell because TB3 supports alternate and native encapsulation protocols other than plain vanilla USB.]
 
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Let's see if I am reading this right as a mere spectator. Apple and Intel came up with a Thunderbolt standard, and evolved to 1, 2, 3. Apple and presumably Intel and others adopt the USB3 plug physical object as the future TB and MDP standard.

USB 4 (4) uses USB-C physical plug and TB3 standard and they are adopted as an industry standard, and prior to that Apple and other TB partners charged a large premium for compatibility assurances, cables, boards, etc. Apple and Intel have made bank and now that standard will be everywhere.

The TB optical has yet to see wide adoption.

Close?
 
leman said:
Excellent news! I hope that the consortium learns from their mistakes and introduces more strict certification for USB4 cable capabilities.
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There would have been no “learning” without the benefit of Thunderbolt. We’d still be at USB 2. Competition moves development forward.
 
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