What does Thunderbolt mean to the average user?

[JoaoF]

So far, the HDMI adaptor hasn't included sound with prior Macs using the Mini Display port. I have not heard if it supports sound on the 2011 MBPs.

I have a 2011 MBP and an HDMI adaptor and it does support both audio and sound

 

[harcosparky]

Does the Thunderbolt socket on current Macs provide bus power to external devices or is it another eSATA port that requires the device to also connect to the USB port for power - i.e. two cables in place of one?

According to Intel the Thunderbolt port supplies power.

From INTEL:

Thunderbolt cables may be electrical or optical; both use the same Thunderbolt connector. An active electrical-only cable provides for connections of up to 3 meters in length, and provides for up to 10W of power deliverable to a bus-powered device. And an active optical cable provides for much greater lengths; tens of meters.

INTEL Thunderbolt Links ....

http://www.intel.com/technology/io/thunderbolt/325136-001US_secured.pdf

http://www.intel.com/technology/io/thunderbolt/index.htm


.

 

[gngan]

What if i am plugging in a external monitor and have another thunderbolt HDD? So i will need two thunderbolts?

 

[ExnomenDei]

What if i am plugging in a external monitor and have another thunderbolt HDD? So i will need two thunderbolts?

No. Any Thunderbolt product, like Firewire, should have a daisy-chaining connector to it, which you can use to plug the HDD into your Mac and the display into the HDD. It's part of TB spec.

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

No. Any Thunderbolt product, like Firewire, should have a daisy-chaining connector to it, which you can use to plug the HDD into your Mac and the display into the HDD. It's part of TB spec.

Exactly, it's one of the key features of Tunderbolt, especially over USB. That way we can have fewer ports on our devices without sacrificing functionality.

 

[iVeBeenDrinkin']

Exactly, it's one of the key features of Tunderbolt, especially over USB. That way we can have fewer ports on our devices without sacrificing functionality.

Agreed

 

[/user/me]

Agreed

yes. what they said

 

[gngan]

No. Any Thunderbolt product, like Firewire, should have a daisy-chaining connector to it, which you can use to plug the HDD into your Mac and the display into the HDD. It's part of TB spec.

What do you mean by daisy-chaining connector?

Is it like monitor plug to HDD and HDD plug to Mac?

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

What do you mean by daisy-chaining connector?

Is it like monitor plug to HDD and HDD plug to Mac?

Yes.