Intel Announces Thunderbolt 3

Thunderbolt has been around for a while now, but despite of the performance gains that it’s touted to bring to the table, it has yet to even scratch the surface of USB’s popularity in the mainstream segment. Intel is looking to change that though, and fast, with the announcement of Thunderbolt 3 which will feature a USB Type-C connector.

Thunderbolt 3 is what Intel envisioned all along: a multi-purpose hardware interface that delivers cutting-edge performance and versatility with cross-platform compatibility of USB standards. Unfortunately, the early versions of Thunderbolt didn’t play nicely with the USB standards at the time which resulted to the use of mini-DisplayPort interface instead.

That all changed with the introduction of USB Type-C which supports faster transfer speeds and, more importantly, better and bi-directional power delivery. Intel saw the opportunity to integrate its own technology to the new USB standard which gave birth to Thunderbolt 3.

Intel didn’t just stop with the use of the USB Type-C’s new reversible connector. Thunderbolt has received significant improvements on all fronts which include two-times faster transfer speed (from 20Gbps to 40Gbps), the ability to simultaneously drive two (2) external 4K monitors, up to 100-watt of USB power delivery for faster charging, and 10Gb Ethernet connection.

In order to reach the claimed 40Gbps bandwidth, Intel will be releasing two new active cables (optical and copper) for the new Thunderbolt 3 standard. A cheaper Thunderbolt 3 cable will also be available alongside the two high-performance (and definitely pricier) active cables but will only be able to reach 20Gbps bandwidth.

Lastly, Intel will be releasing the Thunderbolt 3’s new controller called Alpine Ridge which will integrate all the benefits of USB 3.1 host controller has to offer plus all the claimed improvements of Thunderbolt 3 listed above.

The first wave of devices with Thunderbolt 3 are expected to hit the market later this year. More devices are expected to make its way in 2016, in time for the release Skylake processors which will support the Alpine Ridge controller.

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What is USB Type-C and why it matters?