Intel took the stage at Computex 2015 in Taipei and announced plans to unify ports with its latest Thunderbolt 3 USB Type-C.
While the company's new Thunderbolt 3.0 ports will rely on the same Type C connector found in USB 3.1, they will be able to run up to four times faster when connected to Thunderbolt devices.
Thunderbolt 3 not only introduces a new connector, but it also enables USB 3.1 up to 10 Gbps, while also doubling the maximum bandwidth of the Thunderbolt transport layer from 20 Gbps to 40 Gbps. Intel's new Thunderbolt 3 further includes an optional 100W of power as per the USB power delivery (PD) spec, or can deliver up to 15 watts without USB PD.
During the keynote at Computex 2015, Kirk Skaugen, senior vice president and general manager of the Client Computing Group at Intel, also outlined other advancements with the new Thunderbolt 3. The increased bandwidth, for instance, enables Thunderbolt 3 to support up to two 4K displays at 60 GHz off a single cable.
For consumers, this will mean the fastest connection to their computer, allowing them to transfer a 4K movie in less than 30 seconds, Intel points out.
"In the biggest advancement since its inception, Thunderbolt 3 delivers one computer port that connects to Thunderbolt devices, every display and billions of USB devices," Intel touts in a press release on Tuesday, June 2. "For the first time, a single cable now provides four times the data and twice the video bandwidth of any other cable, while also supplying power. It's unrivaled for new uses, such as 4K video, single-cable docks with charging, external graphics and built-in 10 GbE networking."
"Thunderbolt 3 is computer port nirvana - delivering two 4K displays, fast data, and quick notebook charging," adds Navin Shenoy, vice president in Client Computing Group and general manager of Mobility Client Platforms at Intel, in a new company blog post. "It fulfills the promise of USB-C for single-cable docking and so much more. OEMs and device developers are going to love it."
Intel will offer one passive Thunderbolt 3 cable that will support Thunderbolt, USB 3.1, and DisplayPort 1.2, with a maximum bandwidth of 20 Gbps, as well as an active cable that runs at up to 40 Gbps, but does away with DisplayPort 1.2. The company offered no pricing details yet, but the passive cable should be more affordable than the active one. A third option, consisting of an active optical Thunderbolt 3 cable, will debut later.
Products built to Thunderbolt and Thunderbolt 2 specifications will work with Thunderbolt 3 via an adapter.
According to Intel, the first Thunderbolt 3 products should start shipping by the end of 2015, with more to launch in 2016.
