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Wikipedia

Thunderbolt (interface)

July 18, 2023

Not to be confused with Lightning (connector).

Thunderbolt is the brand name of a hardware interface for the connection of external peripherals to a computer. It has been developed by Intel, in collaboration with Apple.[7][8] It was initially marketed under the name Light Peak, and first sold as part of an end-user product on 24 February 2011.[1]

Thunderbolt
Production history
Designer
Manufacturer Various
Produced Since 24 February 2011; 12 years ago (2011-02-24)[1]
Superseded

IEEE 1394 (FireWire)

ExpressCard
General specifications
Length Maximums:
Width 7.4 mm male (8.3 mm female)
Height 4.5 mm male (5.4 mm female)
Hot pluggable Yes
Daisy chain
  • Up to 6 devices[2]
  • Thunderbolt 4: Hub support[3][4]
External Yes
Audio signal Via DisplayPort protocol or USB-based external audio cards. Supports audio through HDMI converters.
Video signal Via DisplayPort protocol
Pins
  • Thunderbolt 1 and 2: 20
  • Thunderbolt 3 and 4: 24
Connector
Electrical
Max. voltage 18 V (bus power)
Max. current 550 mA (9.9 W max.)
Data
Data signal Yes
Bitrate
  • Thunderbolt 1: 2 channels, 10 Gbit/s each (20 Gbit/s in total)[5]
  • Thunderbolt 2: 20 Gbit/s in total
  • Thunderbolt 3 and 4: 40 Gbit/s bidirectional
Protocol
Pinout
Pin 1 GND Ground
Pin 2 HPD Hot plug detect
Pin 3 HS0TX(P) HighSpeed transmit 0 (positive)
Pin 4 HS0RX(P) HighSpeed receive 0 (positive)
Pin 5 HS0TX(N) HighSpeed transmit 0 (negative)
Pin 6 HS0RX(N) HighSpeed receive 0 (negative)
Pin 7 GND Ground
Pin 8 GND Ground
Pin 9 LSR2P TX LowSpeed transmit
Pin 10 GND Ground (reserved)
Pin 11 LSP2R RX LowSpeed receive
Pin 12 GND Ground (reserved)
Pin 13 GND Ground
Pin 14 GND Ground
Pin 15 HS1TX(P) HighSpeed transmit 1 (positive)
Pin 16 HS1RX(P) HighSpeed receive 1 (positive)
Pin 17 HS1TX(N) HighSpeed transmit 1 (negative)
Pin 18 HS1RX(N) HighSpeed receive 1 (negative)
Pin 19 GND Ground
Pin 20 DPPWR Power
This is the pinout for both sides of the connector, source side and sink side. The cable is actually a crossover cable, it swaps all receive and transmit lanes; e.g. HS1TX(P) of the source is connected to HS1RX(P) of the sink.

Thunderbolt combines PCI Express (PCIe) and DisplayPort (DP) into two serial signals,[9][10] and additionally provides DC power, all in one cable. Up to six peripherals may be supported by one connector through various topologies. Thunderbolt 1 and 2 use the same connector as Mini DisplayPort (MDP), whereas Thunderbolt 3 and 4 reuse the USB-C connector from USB.

Description

 
Symbol used on Thunderbolt ports
 
Thunderbolt 1 or 2, connector
 
Thunderbolt 1 or 2, port
 
Thunderbolt link connections
Intel provides two types of Thunderbolt controllers, a two-port and a one-port type. Both peripherals and computers require a controller.
 
Thunderbolt 2 port on MacBook Pro with Retina display

Thunderbolt controllers multiplex one or more individual data lanes from connected PCIe and DisplayPort devices for transmission via two duplex Thunderbolt lanes, then de-multiplex them for use by PCIe and DisplayPort devices on the other end.[2] A single Thunderbolt port supports up to six Thunderbolt devices via hubs or daisy chains; as many of these as the host has DP sources may be Thunderbolt monitors.[11]

A single Mini DisplayPort monitor or other device of any kind may be connected directly or at the very end of the chain. Thunderbolt is interoperable with DP-1.1a compatible devices. When connected to a DP-compatible device, the Thunderbolt port can provide a native DisplayPort signal with four lanes of output data at no more than 5.4 Gbit/s per Thunderbolt lane. When connected to a Thunderbolt device, the per-lane data rate becomes 10 Gbit/s and the four Thunderbolt lanes are configured as two duplex lanes, each 10 Gbit/s comprising one lane of input and one lane of output.[2]

Thunderbolt can be implemented on PCIe graphics cards, which have access to DisplayPort data and PCIe connectivity, or on the motherboard of new computers with onboard video, such as the MacBook Air.[11][12][13]

The interface was originally intended to run exclusively on an optical physical layer using components and flexible optical fiber cabling developed by Intel partners and at Intel's Silicon Photonics lab. It was initially marketed under the name Light Peak,[14] and after 2011 as Silicon Photonics Link.[15] However, it was discovered that conventional copper wiring could furnish the desired 10 Gbit/s per channel at lower cost.

This copper-based version of the Light Peak concept was co-developed by Apple and Intel. Apple registered Thunderbolt as a trademark, but later transferred the mark to Intel, which held overriding intellectual-property rights.[16] Thunderbolt was commercially introduced on Apple's 2011 MacBook Pro, using the same Apple-developed connector as Mini DisplayPort. Certain MacBook Air and Macbook Pro models, and Mac Studio, downgrade Thunderbolt 4 protocol to Thunderbolt 3 due to Intel patents and the need for Intel VT-d DMA.[citation needed]

Sumitomo Electric Industries started selling up to 30 m (100 ft) optical Thunderbolt cables in Japan in January 2013,[17] and Corning, Inc., began selling up to 60 m (200 ft) optical cables in the US in late September 2013.[18]

History

Introduction

Intel introduced Light Peak at the 2009 Intel Developer Forum (IDF), using a prototype Mac Pro logic board to run two 1080p video streams plus LAN and storage devices over a single 30-meter optical cable with modified USB ends.[19] The system was driven by a prototype PCI Express card, with two optical buses powering four ports.[20] Jason Ziller, head of Intel's Optical I/O Program Office showed the internal components of the technology under a microscope and the sending of data through an oscilloscope.[21] The technology was described as having an initial speed of 10 Gbit/s over plastic optical cables, and promising a final speed of 100 Gbit/s.[22] At the show, Intel said Light Peak-equipped systems would begin to appear in 2010, and posted a YouTube video showing Light Peak-connected HD cameras, laptops, docking stations, and HD monitors.[23]

On 4 May 2010, in Brussels, Intel demonstrated a laptop with a Light Peak connector, indicating that the technology had shrunk enough to fit inside such a device, and had the laptop send two simultaneous HD video streams down the connection, indicating that at least some fraction of the software/firmware stacks and protocols were functional. At the same demonstration, Intel officials said they expected hardware manufacturing to begin around the end of 2010.[24]

In September 2010, some early commercial prototypes from manufacturers were demonstrated at Intel Developer Forum 2010.[25]

Copper vs. optical

See also: Cables

Though Thunderbolt was originally conceived as an optical technology, Intel switched to electrical connections to reduce costs and to supply up to 10 watts of power to connected devices.[26]

In 2009, Intel officials said the company was "working on bundling the optical fiber with copper wire so Light Peak can be used to power devices plugged into the PC."[27] In 2010, Intel said the original intent was "to have one single connector technology" that would let "electrical USB 3.0 ... and piggyback on USB 3.0 or 4.0 DC power."[28] Light Peak aimed to make great strides in consumer-ready optical technology, by then having achieved "[connectors rated] for 7,000 insertions, which matches or exceeds other PC connections ... cables [that were tied] in multiple knots to make sure it didn't break and the loss is acceptable," and, "You can almost get two people pulling on it at once and it won't break the fibre." They predicted that "Light Peak cables will be no more expensive than HDMI."[29]

In January 2011, Intel's David Perlmutter told Computerworld that initial Thunderbolt implementations would be based on copper wires.[28] "The copper came out very good, surprisingly better than what we thought," he said.[30] A major advantage of copper is the ability to carry power. The final Thunderbolt standard specifies 10 W DC on every port. See comparison section below.

Intel and industry partners are still developing optical Thunderbolt hardware and cables.[31] The optical fiber cables would run "tens of meters" but would not supply power, at least not initially.[12][32][33] The version from Corning contains four 80/125 μm VSDN (Very Short Distance Network) fibers to transport an infrared signal up to 190 m (600 ft).[34] The conversion of electrical signal to optical is embedded into the cable itself, so the current MDP connector is forward compatible. Eventually, Intel hopes for a purely optical transceiver assembly embedded in the PC.[33]

The first such optical Thunderbolt cable was introduced by Sumitomo Electric Industries in January 2013.[35] It is available in lengths of 10 m (30 ft), 20 m (70 ft), and 30 m (100 ft). However, those cables are retailed almost exclusively in Japan, and the price is 20 to 30 times higher than copper Thunderbolt cables.

German company DeLock also released optical Thunderbolt cables in lengths of 10 m (30 ft), 20 m (70 ft), and 30 m (100 ft) in 2013, priced similarly to the Sumitomo ones, and retailed only in Germany.[36]

In September 2013, glass company Corning Inc. released the first range of optical Thunderbolt cables available in the Western marketplace outside Japan, along with optical USB 3.0 cables, both under the brand name "Optical Cables".[18] Half the diameter of and 80% lighter than comparable copper Thunderbolt cables, they work with the 10 Gbit/s Thunderbolt protocol and the 20 Gbit/s Thunderbolt 2 protocol, and thus are able to work with all self-powered Thunderbolt devices (unlike copper cables, optical cables cannot provide power).[18] The cables extend the current 30 m (100 ft) maximum length offered by copper to a new maximum of 60 m (200 ft). This lets peripheral Thunderbolt devices be farther from their host device(s).

Before 2020, there were no optical Thunderbolt 3 cables on the market. However, optical Thunderbolt 1 and 2 cables could be used at the time with Apple's Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 adapters on each end of the cable. This achieves connections up to the 60 m (200 ft) maximum offered by previous versions of the standard.[37]

In April 2019, Corning showed an optical Thunderbolt 3 cable at the 2019 NAB Show in Las Vegas.[38] Just over a year later, in September 2020, Corning released their optical Thunderbolt 3 cables in lengths of 5 m (20 ft), 10 m (30 ft), 15 m (50 ft), 25 m (80 ft), and 50 m (160 ft).[39] In the meantime, Taiwanese company Areca released optical Thunderbolt 3 cables in April 2020 in lengths of 10 m (30 ft), 20 m (70 ft), and 30 m (100 ft).[40]

In early 2021, copper Thunderbolt 4 cables arrived from many companies at the 0.8 m (2.6 ft) length. Copper versions of Thunderbolt 4 cables offer full 40 Gbit/s speed and support backward compatibility with all versions of USB (up to USB4), DisplayPort Alternate Mode (DP 1.4 HBR3), and Thunderbolt 3. Released in early 2021, they are also all to be available in three specified lengths: 0.2 m (0.66 ft), 0.8 m (2.6 ft), and 2 m (6.6 ft) – with many companies initially offering 0.8 m (2.6 ft) ones. Copper Thunderbolt 4 cables up to 1.0 m (3.3 ft) are passive cables, while longer cables must integrate active signal conditioning circuitry. 2 m (6.6 ft) cables from CalDigit[41] and Cable Matters[42] are active cables. Later on, optical Thunderbolt 4 cables are targeting lengths between ~5 m (20 ft) to 50 m (160 ft) for release at sometime in the future.[43]

Thunderbolt 1

CNET's Brooke Crothers said it was rumored that the early-2011, MacBook Pro update would include some sort of new data port, and he speculated it would be Light Peak (Thunderbolt).[44] At the time, there were no details on the physical implementation, and mock-ups appeared showing a system similar to the earlier Intel demos using a combined USB/Light Peak port.[45] Shortly before the release of the new machines, the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) announced they would not allow such a combination port, and that USB was not open to modification in that way.

Other implementations of the technology began in 2012, with desktop boards offering the interconnection now available.[46]

Apple stated in February 2011 that the port was based on Mini DisplayPort, not USB. As the system was described, Intel's solution to the display connection problem became clear: Thunderbolt controllers multiplex data from existing DP systems with data from the PCIe port into a single cable. Older displays that using DP 1.1a or earlier must be located at the end of a Thunderbolt device chain, but native displays can be anywhere along the line.[12] Thunderbolt devices can go anywhere on the chain. In that respect, Thunderbolt shares a relationship with the older ACCESS.bus system, which used the display connector to support a low-speed bus.

Apple states that up to six daisy-chained peripherals are supported per Thunderbolt port,[47] and that the display should come at the end of the chain, if it does not support daisy chaining.

In February 2011, Apple introduced MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2011),[48] Macbook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011),[49] and Macbook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011)[50] featuring one Thunderbolt port. In May 2011, Apple introduced iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011)[51] featuring one Thunderbolt port, and iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011)[52] featuring two Thunderbolt ports. In July 2011, Apple introduced Mac mini (Mid 2011),[53] MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2011),[54] MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2011)[55] and Apple Thunderbolt Display[56] featuring one Thunderbolt port.

In May 2011, Apple announced a new line of iMacs that include the Thunderbolt interface.[57]

The Thunderbolt port on the new Macs is in the same location relative to other ports and maintains the same physical dimensions and pinout as the prior MDP connector. The main visible difference on Thunderbolt-equipped Macs is a Thunderbolt symbol next to the port.[11]

The DisplayPort standard is partially compatible with Thunderbolt, as the two share Apple's physically compatible MDP connector. The Target Display mode on iMacs requires a Thunderbolt cable to accept a video-in signal from another Thunderbolt-capable computer.[58] A DP monitor must be the last (or only) device in a chain of Thunderbolt devices.

Intel announced they would release a developer kit in the second quarter of 2011,[59] while manufacturers of hardware-development equipment have indicated they will add support for the testing and development of Thunderbolt devices.[60] The developer kit is being provided only on request.[61]

In July 2011, Sony released its Vaio Z21 line of notebook computers that had a "Power Media Dock" that uses optical Thunderbolt (Light Peak) to connect to an external graphics card using a combination port that behaves like USB electrically, but that also includes the optical interconnect required for Thunderbolt.

Thunderbolt 2

In June 2013, Intel announced that the next version of Thunderbolt, based on the controller code-named "Falcon Ridge" (running at 20 Gbit/s), is officially named "Thunderbolt 2" and entered production in 2013.[62] The data-rate of 20 Gbit/s is made possible by joining the two existing 10 Gbit/s-channels, which does not change the maximum bandwidth, but makes using it more flexible.

In June 2013, Apple announced Mac Pro (Late 2013)[63] featuring six Thunderbolt 2 ports. In October 2013, Apple announced MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013),[64] and MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013)[65] featuring two Thunderbolt 2 ports. In October 2014, Apple announced Mac mini (Late 2014),[66] and iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014)[67] featuring two Thunderbolt 2 ports. In March 2015, Apple announced MacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2015),[68] and MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015)[69] featuring one Thunderbolt 2 port.

At the physical level, the bandwidth of Thunderbolt 1 and Thunderbolt 2 are identical, and Thunderbolt 1 cabling is thus compatible with Thunderbolt 2 interfaces. At the logical level, Thunderbolt 2 enables channel aggregation, whereby the two previously separate 10 Gbit/s channels can be combined into a single logical 20 Gbit/s channel.[70]

Intel says Thunderbolt 2 will be able to transfer a 4K video while simultaneously displaying it on a discrete monitor.[71]

Thunderbolt 2 incorporates DisplayPort 1.2 support, which allows for video streaming to a single 4K video monitor or dual QHD monitors. Thunderbolt 2 is backwards compatible, which means that all Thunderbolt cables and connectors are compatible with Thunderbolt 1.

The first Thunderbolt 2 product for the consumer market was Asus's Z87-Deluxe/Quad motherboard, announced on 19 August 2013,[72] and the first system released with Thunderbolt 2 was Apple's late 2013 Retina MacBook Pro, on 22 October 2013.[73]

Thunderbolt 3

 
Thunderbolt 3 or 4 ports
 
USB-C Thunderbolt 3 or 4 connector

Thunderbolt 3 is a hardware interface developed by Intel.[74] It shares USB-C connectors with USB,[75][76][77] and can require special "active" cables for maximum performance for cable lengths over 0.5 meters (1.5 feet). Compared to Thunderbolt 2, it doubles the bandwidth to 40 Gbit/s (5 GB/s). It allows up to 4 lanes of PCI Express 3.0 (32.4 Gbit/s) for general-purpose data transfer, and 4 lanes of DisplayPort 1.4 HBR3 (32.40 Gbit/s before 8/10 encoding removal, and 25.92 Gbit/s after) for video,[78] but the maximum combined data rate cannot exceed 40 Gbit/s; video data will be using all needed speed, limiting PCIe data. DP 1.2 support is mandatory, while DP 1.4 is optional. Other overheads are possible on PCIe data (1.5% of 128b/130b is also removed) and Thunderbolt 3 protocol (you either optimise for speed or for latency), the last one gives only 21.6 Gbit/s to 25 Gbit/s.[79] Thunderbolt 3 uses 64b/66b encoding after that, which means the real rate is bigger than 40 Gbit/s, 2 times 20.625 Gbit/s.

Intel's Thunderbolt 3 controller (codenamed Alpine Ridge, or the new Titan Ridge) halves power consumption, and simultaneously drives two external 4K displays at 60 Hz (or a single external 4K display at 120 Hz, or a 5K display at 60 Hz when using Apple's implementation for the late-2016 MacBook Pros) instead of just the single display previous controllers can drive. The new controller supports PCIe 3.0 and other protocols, including DisplayPort 1.2 (allowing for 4K resolutions at 60 Hz).[80] Thunderbolt 3 has up to 15 watts of power delivery on copper cables and no power delivery capability on optical cables. Using USB-C on copper cables, it can incorporate USB power delivery, allowing the ports to source or sink up to 100 watts of power. This eliminates the need for a separate power supply from some devices. Thunderbolt 3 allows backwards compatibility with the first two versions by the use of adapters or transitional cables.[81][82][83]

Intel offers three varieties for each of the controllers:[84]

  • Double Port (DP) uses a PCIe 3.0 ×4 link to provide two Thunderbolt 3 ports (DSL6540, JHL6540, JHL7540)
  • Single Port (SP) uses a PCIe 3.0 ×4 link to provide one Thunderbolt 3 port (DSL6340, JHL6340, JHL7340)
  • Low Power (LP) uses a PCIe 3.0 ×2 link to provide one Thunderbolt 3 port (JHL6240).

This follows previous practice, where higher-end devices such as the second-generation Mac Pro, iMac, Retina MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini use two-port controllers; while lower-end, lower-power devices such as the MacBook Air use the one-port version.

Support was added to Intel's Skylake architecture chipsets, shipping during late 2015 into early 2016.[81][82][83]

Devices with Thunderbolt 3 ports began shipping at the beginning of December 2015, including notebooks running Microsoft Windows (from Acer, Asus, Clevo, HP, Dell, Dell Alienware, Lenovo, MSI, Razer, and Sony), as well as motherboards (from Gigabyte Technology), and a 0.5 m Thunderbolt 3 passive USB-C cable (from Lintes Technology).[85]

In October 2016, Apple announced MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, 2 Thunderbolt 3 Ports)[86] which, as the name indicates, features two Thunderbolt 3 ports, MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, 4 Thunderbolt 3 Ports),[87] and MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016),[88] which features four Thunderbolt 3 ports. In June 2017, Apple announced iMac (21.5-inch, 2017),[89] iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017),[90] iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017)[91] which feature two Thunderbolt 3 ports, as well as the iMac Pro,[92] which featured four Thunderbolt 3 ports and was released in December 2017. In October 2018, Apple announced MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018),[93] and Mac mini (2018)[94] both featuring two Thunderbolt 3 ports. In June 2019, Apple unveils Mac Pro (2019)[95] and Mac Pro (Rack, 2019)[96] featuring up to twelve Thunderbolt 3 ports, and Pro Display XDR[97] with features one Thunderbolt 3 port, both released in December 2019. In April 2021, Apple announced iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation)[98] and iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation)[99] featuring one Thunderbolt 3 port. In March 2022, Apple released Studio Display[100] featuring one Thunderbolt 3 port.

On 8 January 2018, Intel announced a product refresh (codenamed Titan Ridge) with "enhanced robustness" and support for DisplayPort 1.4. Intel offers a single port (JHL7340) and double port (JHL7540) version of this host controller and a peripheral controller supporting two Thunderbolt 3 ports (JHL7440). The new peripheral controller can now act as a USB sink (compatible with regular USB-C ports).[101]

The Apple Pro Display XDR, which macOS allows to connect using two HBR3 connections to a Mac, doesn't support DSC. That would be 51.84 Gbit/s, impossible for Thunderbolt 3, but it works because the two 3008×3384 10bpc 60Hz 648.91MHz signals of the XDR display only require 38.9 Gbit/s total and Thunderbolt does not transmit the DisplayPort stuffing symbols used to fill the HBR3 bandwidth.

USB4

Main article: USB4

The USB4 specification was released on 29 August 2019 by USB Implementers Forum,[102] based on the Thunderbolt 3 protocol specification.[103]

It supports 40 Gbit/s (5 GB/s) throughput, is compatible with Thunderbolt 3, and backwards compatible with USB 3.2 and USB 2.0.[104][105] The architecture defines a method to share a single high-speed link with multiple end device types dynamically that best serves the transfer of data by type and application.

USB4 supports DisplayPort 2.0 over its alternative mode.[106][107]

In November 2020, Apple announced MacBook Air (M1, 2020),[108] MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020),[109] and Mac mini (M1, 2020)[110] featuring USB4. In April 2021, Apple announced iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021)[111] featuring two USB4 ports.

USB4 PCIe Mode

USB4 makes the PCIe aspects of Thunderbolt "open source" – PCIe USB devices can be released without Thunderbolt certification. But notably, those devices will not be allowed to use Thunderbolt branding. However, Thunderbolt 4 devices use PCIe Mode with added certification labeling, and promoting backwards compatibility. This means multiple rival devices may use different brandings to accomplish the same task. USB4 PCIe devices can be backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 1–3, but are not required to do so. USB4 PCIe Mode is not considered an "Alt Mode" like DP Alt Mode, and Microsoft requires devices with USB4 to include PCIe support currently, in order to be WHQL/Windows certified PCs.[112][113][114][115][116]

Thunderbolt 4

Thunderbolt 4 was announced at CES 2020[117] and the final specification was released in July 2020.[118] The key differences between Thunderbolt 4 and Thunderbolt 3 are[119] a minimum bandwidth requirement of 32 Gbit/s for PCIe link, support for dual 4K displays (DisplayPort 1.4),[120] and Intel VT-d-based direct memory access protection to prevent physical DMA attacks.

Another major improvement is that Thunderbolt 4 now supports Thunderbolt Alternate Mode USB hubs ("Multi-port Accessory Architecture"), and not just daisy chaining.[3][4] Those hubs are backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 3 devices and can be backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 3 hosts (Titan Ridge only, with Alpine Ridge the additional downstream ports get downgraded to USB 3).[121][122]

The maximum bandwidth remains at 40 Gbit/s, the same as Thunderbolt 3 and four times faster than USB 3.2 Gen2x1.[123][118] Supporting products began arriving in late 2020 and included Tiger Lake mobile processors for Project Athena notebooks and 8000-series standalone Thunderbolt controllers (codenamed Goshen Ridge for devices and Maple Ridge for hosts). USB4 supports DisplayPort 2.0 over its alternative mode. DisplayPort 2.0 can support higher than 8K resolution at 60 Hz losslessly due to new UHBR 10, 13.5, and 20 signaling standards (DSC 1.2 used in DisplayPort 1.4 for that resolution is not lossless) in 8 bit and 8K 60 Hz with 10 bit color and use up to 80 Gbit/s (effective bandwidth 77.37 Gbit/s), which is double the amount available to USB data, because (just as previously in DisplayPort 1.4) it sends almost all the data in one direction (to the monitor) and can thus use all four data lanes at once.[124] Resolutions up to 16K (15360×8640) 60 Hz display with 10 bit Y'CbCr 4:4:4 or RGB are possible.[125]

In October 2021, Apple announced MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021)[126] and MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021)[127] featuring three Thunderbolt 4 ports. In March 2022, Apple announced Mac Studio (2022)[128] featuring up to six Thunderbolt 4 ports.

Thunderbolt 5

On October 19, 2022, Intel previewed the next generation of Thunderbolt, aligned to the USB Implementers Forum's (USB-IF) release of the USB4 2.0 specification. It delivers up to 80 Gbit/s of bi-directional bandwidth, allowing for up to two times faster data transfer speeds between future host device and external storage drives that support the standard, compared to current Thunderbolt 4 speeds. It will also have a mode allowing up to 120 Gbit/s bandwidth for external displays (three times Thunderbolt 4 speed), allowing a host device to support up to dual 8K displays at 60Hz.[129]

The full specifications cover:

  • Supporting the latest version of USB4 2.0 80 Gbit/s specification
  • Two times the total bandwidth of Thunderbolt 4 to 80 Gbit/s, while providing up to three times the bandwidth to 120 Gbit/s for video-intensive uses
  • Support for DisplayPort 2.1
  • Two times the PCI Express data-throughput, for faster storage and external graphics
  • Works with existing passive cables up to 1 m (3.3 ft) via a new signaling technology
  • Compatible with previous versions of Thunderbolt, USB, and DisplayPort
  • Supported by Intel's enabling and certification programs

While a release date is not available, Intel advised those interested to "look for more detail on next-generation Thunderbolt's official brand name, features, and capabilities in 2023."[130]

Royalty situation

On 24 May 2017, Intel announced that Thunderbolt 3 would become a royalty-free standard to OEMs and chip manufacturers in 2018, as part of an effort to boost the adoption of the protocol.[131] The Thunderbolt 3 specification was later released to the USB-IF on 4 March 2019, making it royalty-free, to be used to form USB4.[103][132][133] Intel says it will retain control over certification of all Thunderbolt 3 devices.[134] Intel also states it employs "mandatory certification for all Thunderbolt products".[135]

Before March 2019, there were no AMD chipsets or computers with Thunderbolt support released or announced due to the certification requirements (Intel did not certify non-Intel platforms). However, the YouTuber Wendell Wilson from Level1Techs was able to get Thunderbolt 3 support on an AMD computer with a Threadripper CPU and Titan Ridge add-in card working by modifying the firmware, indicating that the lack of Thunderbolt support on non-Intel systems is not due to any hardware limitations.[136][137] As of May 2019, it is possible to have Thunderbolt 3 support on AMD using add-in cards without any problems,[138] and motherboards like ASRock X570 Creator already have Thunderbolt 3 port.[139]

In January 2020 Intel certified[140] ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming ITX/TB3 and now vendors are freely allowed to produce Thunderbolt controller silicon (even though those ASRock motherboards used Intel Titan Ridge).[141]

Asus currently supports Thunderbolt 3 on AMD with the add-in card Thunderboltex 3-TR, being compatible with AMD motherboards and Ryzen 3, 5 (56xx): ROG Strix B550-E Gaming, ROG Strix B550-F Gaming, Prime B550-PLUS, TUF Gaming B550-Plus.[142] The ASUS ProArt B550-Creator has 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports.[143]

Peripheral devices

 
A multiple hard disk storage device that attaches to a computer through a Thunderbolt connection.

The first Thunderbolt peripheral devices appeared in retail stores only in late 2011, following Apple's release of its first Thunderbolt-equipped computer in early 2011 with MacBook Pro, with the relatively expensive Pegasus R4 (4-drive) and Pegasus R6 (6-drive) RAID enclosures by Promise Technology aimed at the prosumer and professional market, initially offering up to 12 TB of storage, later increased to 18 TB. Sales of these units were hurt by the 2011 floods in Thailand (who manufacture much of the world's supply of hard-drives) resulting in a cut to worldwide hard-drive production and a subsequent driving-up of storage costs, hence the retail price of these Promise units increased in response, contributing to a slower take-up of the devices.

It also took some time for other storage manufacturers to release products: most were smaller devices aimed at the professional market, and focused on speed rather than high capacity. Many storage devices were under 1 TB in size, with some featuring SSDs for faster external-data access rather than standard hard-drives.

Other companies have offered interface products that can route multiple older, usually slower, connections through a single Thunderbolt port. In July 2011, Apple released its Apple Thunderbolt Display, whose gigabit Ethernet and other older connector types made it the first hub of its type. Later, companies such as Belkin, CalDigit, Other World Computing, Matrox, StarTech, and Elgato have all released Thunderbolt docks.

As of late 2012, few other storage devices offering double-digit TB capacity had appeared. Exceptions included Sonnet Technologies' highly priced professional units, and Drobo's 4- and 5-drive enclosures, the latter featuring their own BeyondRAID proprietary data-handling system.

Backwards compatibility with non-Thunderbolt-equipped computers was a problem, as most storage devices featured only two Thunderbolt ports, for daisy-chaining up to six devices from each one. In mid-2012, LaCie, Drobo, and other device makers started to swap out one of the two Thunderbolt ports for a USB 3.0 connection on some of their low-to-mid end products. Later models had the USB 3.0 added in addition to the two Thunderbolt ports, including those from LaCie on their 2big range.

Apple devices

Apple released its first Thunderbolt-equipped computer in early 2011 with MacBook Pro, and have continued to immediately update their devices with newer generations of Thunderbolt as soon as available.

List of Apple devices featuring Thunderbolt ports include:[144]

  • MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012 to Early 2013)
  • MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2012 to Early 2013)
  • MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011 to Late 2011)
  • MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011 to Mid 2012)
  • MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2011 to Mid 2012)
  • MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2011 to Early 2014)
  • MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2011 to Early 2014)
  • Mac Mini (Mid 2011 to Late 2012)
  • iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011 to Late 2013)
  • iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011 to Mid 2014)

The late 2013 Retina MacBook Pro was the first product to have Thunderbolt 2 ports, following which manufacturers started to update their model offerings to those featuring the newer, faster, 20 Gbit/s connection throughout 2014. Again, among the first was Promise Technology, who released updated Pegasus 2 versions of their R4 and R6 models along with an even larger R8 (8-drive) RAID unit, offering up to 32 TBs of storage. Later, other brands similarly introduced high capacity models with the newer connection type, including SanDisk Professional (with their G-RAID Studio models offering up to 24 TB) and LaCie (with their 5big, and rack mounted 8big models, offering up to 48 TB). LaCie also offering updated designed versions of their 2big mainstream consumer models, up to 12 TB, using new 6 TB hard-drives.

List of Apple devices featuring Thunderbolt 2 ports include:[144]

  • MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013 to Mid 2015)
  • MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013 to Early 2015)
  • MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015 to 2017)
  • MacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2015)
  • Mac Mini (Late 2014)
  • iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, Late 2015)
  • iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2015)
  • iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014 to Late 2015)
  • Mac Pro (Late 2013)

Thunderbolt 3 was introduced in late 2015, with several motherboard manufacturers and OEM laptop manufacturers including Thunderbolt 3 with their products. Gigabyte and MSI, large computer component manufacturers, entered the market for the first time with Thunderbolt 3 compatible components.[145][146]

Dell was the first to include Thunderbolt 3 ports in laptops with their XPS Series and their Dell Alienware range.[147]

Apple first included Thunderbolt 3 on Mac in 2016.

Although Thunderbolt has initially had poor hardware support outside of Apple devices, and has been relegated to a niche gadget port, with the adoption of Thunderbolt 3 that uses the USB-C connector standard, meant that a much wider array of hardware was accepting of the market acceptance of the standard, especially when it later became part of USB4 standard.

List of Apple devices featuring Thunderbolt 3 ports include:[144]

  • MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020 to M2, 2022)
  • MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019)
  • MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016 to 2019)
  • MacBook Pro (13-inch, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports, 2016 to 2020)
  • MacBook Pro (13-inch, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports, 2016 to 2020)
  • MacBook Air (M1, 2020 to M2, 2022)
  • MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018 to 2020)
  • Mac Mini (2018 to M1, 2020)
  • iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021)
  • iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017 to 2020)
  • iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017 to 2019)
  • iMac (21.5-inch, 2017)
  • iMac Pro
  • Mac Pro (2019 + Rack, 2019)
  • iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation)
  • iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation)

Apple started to include Thunderbolt 4 on some of their devices, starting in 2021 with MacBook Pro.

List of Apple devices featuring Thunderbolt 4 ports include:[144]

  • MacBook Pro (14-inch, M1, 2021 to M2, 2023)
  • MacBook Pro (16-inch, M1, 2021 to M2, 2023)
  • Mac Studio (2022)
  • Mac Mini (2023)

Security vulnerabilities

Vulnerability to DMA attacks

Thunderbolt 3 – like many high-speed expansion buses, including PCI Express, PC Card, ExpressCard, FireWire, PCI, and PCI-X — is potentially vulnerable to a direct memory access (DMA) attack. If users extend the PCI Express bus (the most common high-speed expansion bus in systems as of 2018) with Thunderbolt, it allows very low-level access to the computer. An attacker could physically attach a malicious device, which, through its direct and unimpeded access to system memory and other devices, would be able to bypass almost all security measures of the operating system, allowing the attacker to read and write system memory, potentially exposing encryption keys or installing malware.[148] Such attacks have been demonstrated, modifying inexpensive commodity Thunderbolt hardware.[149][150] The IOMMU virtualization, if present, and configured by the BIOS and the operating system, can close a computer's vulnerability to DMA attacks,[149] but only if a malicious device can't alter the code that configures the IOMMU before the code is executed. As of 2019, the major OS vendors had not taken into account the variety of ways in which a malicious device could take advantage of complex interactions between multiple emulated peripherals, exposing subtle bugs and vulnerabilities.[151] Some UEFI implementations offer Kernel DMA Protection. Intel® VT-d-based direct memory access (DMA) protection is a requirement for Thunderbolt 4 Certification.[152]

This vulnerability is not present when Thunderbolt is used as a system interconnection (IPoTB supported on OS X Mavericks), because the IP implementation runs on the underlying Thunderbolt low-latency packet-switching fabric, and the PCI Express protocol is not present on the cable. That means that if IPoTB networking is used between a group of computers, there is no threat of such DMA attack between them.[148][149][153][154]

Vulnerability to Option ROM attacks

When a system with Thunderbolt boots, it loads and executes Option ROMs from attached devices. A malicious Option ROM can allow malware to execute before an operating system is started. It can then invade the kernel, log keystrokes, or steal encryption keys.[155] The ease of connecting Thunderbolt devices to portable computers makes them ideal for evil-maid attacks.[156]

Some systems load Option ROMs during firmware updates, allowing the malware in a Thunderbolt device's Option ROM to potentially overwrite the SPI flash ROM containing the system's boot firmware.[157][158] In February 2015, Apple issued a Security Update to Mac OS X to eliminate the vulnerability of loading Option ROMs during firmware updates, although the system is still vulnerable to Option ROM attacks during normal boots.[159]

Firmware-enforced boot security measures, such as UEFI Secure Boot (which specifies the enforcement of signatures or hash allowlists of Option ROMs) are designed to mitigate this kind of attack.

Vulnerability to data exposure attacks (Thunderspy)

In May 2020, the Thunderspy seven major security flaws were discovered in the Thunderbolt protocol, which allow a malicious party to access all data stored in a computer, even if the device is locked, password-protected, and has an encrypted hard drive. These vulnerabilities affect all Thunderbolt 1, 2 and 3 ports.[150] Thunderspy vulnerabilities can largely be mitigated using Kernel DMA Protection, along with traditional anti-intrusion hardware features.[160][161]

Cables

See also: Copper vs. optical
 
Thunderbolt Ethernet adapter

In June 2011, the first 2 m (6.6 ft) length Thunderbolt cable was released from Apple, costing US$49.[162] As an active cable, it contains circuitry in its connectors.

In June 2012, Apple began selling a Thunderbolt-to-gigabit Ethernet adaptor cable for US$29.[163] In the third quarter of 2012, other manufacturers started providing cables of varying lengths up to the maximum supported length of 3 m (9.8 ft), while some storage-enclosure builders began including a Thunderbolt cable with their devices.

In January 2013, Apple reduced the price of their 2 m (6.6 ft) length cable to US$39 and added a half-meter cable for US$29.[164]

Several other brands have released copper Thunderbolt cables, with some going up to the maximum 3 metres (9.8 feet) allowable for copper Thunderbolt 1 & 2 cables. Initially, most devices did not come with an included Thunderbolt cable to keep selling cost lower, hence the mass usage of Apple's cables or third-party cables, especially if a user wanted 3 m (9.8 ft) length, but most devices eventually began including some length of copper Thunderbolt cable with the product.

With the introduction of Thunderbolt 3, Intel announced that otherwise-standard passive USB-C cables would be able to connect Thunderbolt devices at lower speeds than full active Thunderbolt cables, but still faster than USB 3.1.[165] This allows for cheaper connections to new Thunderbolt devices, with inexpensive USB-C cables costing significantly less than active Thunderbolt cables.

Released from mid-2016, copper versions of Thunderbolt 3 cables were released at lengths up to 2 m (6.6 ft). However, shorter lengths up to 0.8 m (3 ft) (initially only available at up to 0.5 m (1.6 ft)) are passive cables offering the full 40 Gbit/s speed. 2 m (6.6 ft) cables are available in two types: passive ones offering only 20Gbit/s speed but cheaper in cost, and more expensive active 2 m (6.6 ft) ones offering the full 40 Gbit/s speed. Additionally, only the passive cables are able to offer compatibility with up to USB 3 (20 Gbit/s) ports, while active ones only support up to USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/s). Much later on, from April 2020, optical Thunderbolt 3 cables were finally released (see Copper vs. optical section above).

Copper versions of Thunderbolt 4 cables offer full 40 Gbit/s speed and support backward compatibility with all versions of USB (up to USB4), DisplayPort Alternate Mode (DP 1.4 HBR3), and Thunderbolt 3. Released in early 2021, they are also all to be available in three specified lengths: 0.2 m (0.66 ft), 0.8 m (2.6 ft), and 2 m (6.6 ft) – with many companies initially offering 0.8 m (2.6 ft) ones. Copper Thunderbolt 4 cables up to 1.0 m (3.3 ft) are passive cables, while longer cables must integrate active signal conditioning circuitry. At some unspecified time in the future, optical Thunderbolt 4 cables are targeting lengths between ~5 m (16 ft) to 50 m (160 ft).[43]

Controllers

Intel Thunderbolt controllers
Ver. Model Ch. Size
(mm) 		Power
(W) 		Family Release
date 		Features
1 82523EF 04 15 × 15 3.8 Light Ridge Q4 2010
82523EFL 3.2
DSL2510 02 ? Eagle Ridge Q1 2011
DSL2310 08 × 90 1.85 SFF
DSL2210 01 05 × 60 0.7 Port Ridge Q4 2011 Device only
DSL3510H 04 12 × 12 3.4 Cactus Ridge — Cancelled
DSL3510L 2.8 Q2 2012
DSL3310 02 2.1 Host only
DSL4510 04 ? Redwood Ridge 2013
DSL4410 02 10 × 10 ? Host only
2 DSL5520 04 ? ? Falcon Ridge Q3 2013 Thunderbolt 2, 20 Gbit/s speed+DP 1.2
DSL5320 02 ? ?
3 DSL6540[166] 10.7 × 10.7 2.2 Alpine Ridge[167] Q4 2015 40 Gbit/s speed, PCIe 3.0, HDMI 2.0 LSPCon (DP Protocol Converter),
DP 1.2, USB 3.1, 100 W power delivery (compatible with USB Power Delivery).[168][169]
DSL6340[170] 01 1.7 Q1 2015 40 Gbit/s speed, DP 1.2
JHL6240[171] 1.2 Q2 2016 40 Gbit/s speed, DP 1.2, lead-free
JHL6340[172] 1.7
JHL6540[173] 02 2.2
JHL7340[174] 01 1.9 Titan Ridge Q1 2018 40 Gbit/s speed, DP 1.4
JHL7540[175] 02 2.4
JHL7440[176] 2.4 Q1 2018 40 Gbit/s speed, DP 1.4, optional USB-C port compatibility,
backwards compatibility when a Thunderbolt 3 docking station is connected to a non-Thunderbolt 3 computer
4 JHL8340[177]† 01 ? ? Maple Ridge 2H 2020 40 Gbit/s speed, USB4 compliant
JHL8540[178]† 02 10.7 × 10.7 ? Q4 2020
JHL8440[179]* 04 10.7 × 10.7 ? Goshen Ridge Q3 2020 40 Gbit/s speed, USB4 compliant (peripheral only), with 4x Thunderbolt 4 ports for branching hub topology. Tunnelling of DP1.4, USB 3 (10G), PCIe (32G). Has PCIe 3.0 x1 and USB 3 (10G) native interfaces.
Devices controller aimed at: † computers, * accessories
Sources:[180]

See also

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Further reading

  • Ziller, Jason (2 June 2015). "Thunderbolt 3 – The USB-C That Does It All". thunderbolttechnology.net. Intel.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  • "Adapters for the Thunderbolt 3 or USB-C port on your Mac". apple.com. Apple. 11 August 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thunderbolt (interface).
  • Thunderbolt – official site

July 18, 2023
thunderbolt, interface, confused, with, lightning, connector, thunderbolt, brand, name, hardware, interface, connection, external, peripherals, computer, been, developed, intel, collaboration, with, apple, initially, marketed, under, name, light, peak, first, . Not to be confused with Lightning connector Thunderbolt is the brand name of a hardware interface for the connection of external peripherals to a computer It has been developed by Intel in collaboration with Apple 7 8 It was initially marketed under the name Light Peak and first sold as part of an end user product on 24 February 2011 1 ThunderboltProduction historyDesignerAppleIntelManufacturerVariousProducedSince 24 February 2011 12 years ago 2011 02 24 1 SupersededIEEE 1394 FireWire ExpressCardGeneral specificationsLengthMaximums 3 meters 10 feet copper 60 meters 200 feet optical 2 Width7 4 mm male 8 3 mm female Height4 5 mm male 5 4 mm female Hot pluggableYesDaisy chainUp to 6 devices 2 Thunderbolt 4 Hub support 3 4 ExternalYesAudio signalVia DisplayPort protocol or USB based external audio cards Supports audio through HDMI converters Video signalVia DisplayPort protocolPinsThunderbolt 1 and 2 20Thunderbolt 3 and 4 24ConnectorThunderbolt 1 and 2 Mini DisplayPortThunderbolt 3 and 4 USB CElectricalMax voltage18 V bus power Max current550 mA 9 9 W max DataData signalYesBitrateThunderbolt 1 2 channels 10 Gbit s each 20 Gbit s in total 5 Thunderbolt 2 20 Gbit s in totalThunderbolt 3 and 4 40 Gbit s bidirectionalProtocolThunderbolt 1 4 PCI Express 2 0 5 DisplayPort 1 1a 2 Thunderbolt 2 4 PCI Express 2 0 DisplayPort 1 2Thunderbolt 3 4 PCI Express 3 0 DisplayPort 1 2 6 USB 3 1 Gen 2Thunderbolt 4 4 PCI Express 3 0 DisplayPort 2 0 USB4PinoutPin 1GNDGroundPin 2HPDHot plug detectPin 3HS0TX P HighSpeed transmit 0 positive Pin 4HS0RX P HighSpeed receive 0 positive Pin 5HS0TX N HighSpeed transmit 0 negative Pin 6HS0RX N HighSpeed receive 0 negative Pin 7GNDGroundPin 8GNDGroundPin 9LSR2P TXLowSpeed transmitPin 10GNDGround reserved Pin 11LSP2R RXLowSpeed receivePin 12GNDGround reserved Pin 13GNDGroundPin 14GNDGroundPin 15HS1TX P HighSpeed transmit 1 positive Pin 16HS1RX P HighSpeed receive 1 positive Pin 17HS1TX N HighSpeed transmit 1 negative Pin 18HS1RX N HighSpeed receive 1 negative Pin 19GNDGroundPin 20DPPWRPowerThis is the pinout for both sides of the connector source side and sink side The cable is actually a crossover cable it swaps all receive and transmit lanes e g HS1TX P of the source is connected to HS1RX P of the sink Thunderbolt combines PCI Express PCIe and DisplayPort DP into two serial signals 9 10 and additionally provides DC power all in one cable Up to six peripherals may be supported by one connector through various topologies Thunderbolt 1 and 2 use the same connector as Mini DisplayPort MDP whereas Thunderbolt 3 and 4 reuse the USB C connector from USB Contents 1 Description 2 History 2 1 Introduction 2 1 1 Copper vs optical 2 2 Thunderbolt 1 2 3 Thunderbolt 2 2 4 Thunderbolt 3 2 4 1 USB4 2 4 1 1 USB4 PCIe Mode 2 5 Thunderbolt 4 2 6 Thunderbolt 5 2 7 Royalty situation 2 8 Peripheral devices 2 9 Apple devices 3 Security vulnerabilities 3 1 Vulnerability to DMA attacks 3 2 Vulnerability to Option ROM attacks 3 3 Vulnerability to data exposure attacks Thunderspy 4 Cables 5 Controllers 6 See also 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External linksDescription Edit Symbol used on Thunderbolt ports Thunderbolt 1 or 2 connector Thunderbolt 1 or 2 port Thunderbolt link connectionsIntel provides two types of Thunderbolt controllers a two port and a one port type Both peripherals and computers require a controller Thunderbolt 2 port on MacBook Pro with Retina displayThunderbolt controllers multiplex one or more individual data lanes from connected PCIe and DisplayPort devices for transmission via two duplex Thunderbolt lanes then de multiplex them for use by PCIe and DisplayPort devices on the other end 2 A single Thunderbolt port supports up to six Thunderbolt devices via hubs or daisy chains as many of these as the host has DP sources may be Thunderbolt monitors 11 A single Mini DisplayPort monitor or other device of any kind may be connected directly or at the very end of the chain Thunderbolt is interoperable with DP 1 1a compatible devices When connected to a DP compatible device the Thunderbolt port can provide a native DisplayPort signal with four lanes of output data at no more than 5 4 Gbit s per Thunderbolt lane When connected to a Thunderbolt device the per lane data rate becomes 10 Gbit s and the four Thunderbolt lanes are configured as two duplex lanes each 10 Gbit s comprising one lane of input and one lane of output 2 Thunderbolt can be implemented on PCIe graphics cards which have access to DisplayPort data and PCIe connectivity or on the motherboard of new computers with onboard video such as the MacBook Air 11 12 13 The interface was originally intended to run exclusively on an optical physical layer using components and flexible optical fiber cabling developed by Intel partners and at Intel s Silicon Photonics lab It was initially marketed under the name Light Peak 14 and after 2011 as Silicon Photonics Link 15 However it was discovered that conventional copper wiring could furnish the desired 10 Gbit s per channel at lower cost This copper based version of the Light Peak concept was co developed by Apple and Intel Apple registered Thunderbolt as a trademark but later transferred the mark to Intel which held overriding intellectual property rights 16 Thunderbolt was commercially introduced on Apple s 2011 MacBook Pro using the same Apple developed connector as Mini DisplayPort Certain MacBook Air and Macbook Pro models and Mac Studio downgrade Thunderbolt 4 protocol to Thunderbolt 3 due to Intel patents and the need for Intel VT d DMA citation needed Sumitomo Electric Industries started selling up to 30 m 100 ft optical Thunderbolt cables in Japan in January 2013 17 and Corning Inc began selling up to 60 m 200 ft optical cables in the US in late September 2013 18 History EditIntroduction Edit Intel introduced Light Peak at the 2009 Intel Developer Forum IDF using a prototype Mac Pro logic board to run two 1080p video streams plus LAN and storage devices over a single 30 meter optical cable with modified USB ends 19 The system was driven by a prototype PCI Express card with two optical buses powering four ports 20 Jason Ziller head of Intel s Optical I O Program Office showed the internal components of the technology under a microscope and the sending of data through an oscilloscope 21 The technology was described as having an initial speed of 10 Gbit s over plastic optical cables and promising a final speed of 100 Gbit s 22 At the show Intel said Light Peak equipped systems would begin to appear in 2010 and posted a YouTube video showing Light Peak connected HD cameras laptops docking stations and HD monitors 23 On 4 May 2010 in Brussels Intel demonstrated a laptop with a Light Peak connector indicating that the technology had shrunk enough to fit inside such a device and had the laptop send two simultaneous HD video streams down the connection indicating that at least some fraction of the software firmware stacks and protocols were functional At the same demonstration Intel officials said they expected hardware manufacturing to begin around the end of 2010 24 In September 2010 some early commercial prototypes from manufacturers were demonstrated at Intel Developer Forum 2010 25 Copper vs optical Edit See also Cables Though Thunderbolt was originally conceived as an optical technology Intel switched to electrical connections to reduce costs and to supply up to 10 watts of power to connected devices 26 In 2009 Intel officials said the company was working on bundling the optical fiber with copper wire so Light Peak can be used to power devices plugged into the PC 27 In 2010 Intel said the original intent was to have one single connector technology that would let electrical USB 3 0 and piggyback on USB 3 0 or 4 0 DC power 28 Light Peak aimed to make great strides in consumer ready optical technology by then having achieved connectors rated for 7 000 insertions which matches or exceeds other PC connections cables that were tied in multiple knots to make sure it didn t break and the loss is acceptable and You can almost get two people pulling on it at once and it won t break the fibre They predicted that Light Peak cables will be no more expensive than HDMI 29 In January 2011 Intel s David Perlmutter told Computerworld that initial Thunderbolt implementations would be based on copper wires 28 The copper came out very good surprisingly better than what we thought he said 30 A major advantage of copper is the ability to carry power The final Thunderbolt standard specifies 10 W DC on every port See comparison section below Intel and industry partners are still developing optical Thunderbolt hardware and cables 31 The optical fiber cables would run tens of meters but would not supply power at least not initially 12 32 33 The version from Corning contains four 80 125 mm VSDN Very Short Distance Network fibers to transport an infrared signal up to 190 m 600 ft 34 The conversion of electrical signal to optical is embedded into the cable itself so the current MDP connector is forward compatible Eventually Intel hopes for a purely optical transceiver assembly embedded in the PC 33 The first such optical Thunderbolt cable was introduced by Sumitomo Electric Industries in January 2013 35 It is available in lengths of 10 m 30 ft 20 m 70 ft and 30 m 100 ft However those cables are retailed almost exclusively in Japan and the price is 20 to 30 times higher than copper Thunderbolt cables German company DeLock also released optical Thunderbolt cables in lengths of 10 m 30 ft 20 m 70 ft and 30 m 100 ft in 2013 priced similarly to the Sumitomo ones and retailed only in Germany 36 In September 2013 glass company Corning Inc released the first range of optical Thunderbolt cables available in the Western marketplace outside Japan along with optical USB 3 0 cables both under the brand name Optical Cables 18 Half the diameter of and 80 lighter than comparable copper Thunderbolt cables they work with the 10 Gbit s Thunderbolt protocol and the 20 Gbit s Thunderbolt 2 protocol and thus are able to work with all self powered Thunderbolt devices unlike copper cables optical cables cannot provide power 18 The cables extend the current 30 m 100 ft maximum length offered by copper to a new maximum of 60 m 200 ft This lets peripheral Thunderbolt devices be farther from their host device s Before 2020 there were no optical Thunderbolt 3 cables on the market However optical Thunderbolt 1 and 2 cables could be used at the time with Apple s Thunderbolt 3 USB C to Thunderbolt 2 adapters on each end of the cable This achieves connections up to the 60 m 200 ft maximum offered by previous versions of the standard 37 In April 2019 Corning showed an optical Thunderbolt 3 cable at the 2019 NAB Show in Las Vegas 38 Just over a year later in September 2020 Corning released their optical Thunderbolt 3 cables in lengths of 5 m 20 ft 10 m 30 ft 15 m 50 ft 25 m 80 ft and 50 m 160 ft 39 In the meantime Taiwanese company Areca released optical Thunderbolt 3 cables in April 2020 in lengths of 10 m 30 ft 20 m 70 ft and 30 m 100 ft 40 In early 2021 copper Thunderbolt 4 cables arrived from many companies at the 0 8 m 2 6 ft length Copper versions of Thunderbolt 4 cables offer full 40 Gbit s speed and support backward compatibility with all versions of USB up to USB4 DisplayPort Alternate Mode DP 1 4 HBR3 and Thunderbolt 3 Released in early 2021 they are also all to be available in three specified lengths 0 2 m 0 66 ft 0 8 m 2 6 ft and 2 m 6 6 ft with many companies initially offering 0 8 m 2 6 ft ones Copper Thunderbolt 4 cables up to 1 0 m 3 3 ft are passive cables while longer cables must integrate active signal conditioning circuitry 2 m 6 6 ft cables from CalDigit 41 and Cable Matters 42 are active cables Later on optical Thunderbolt 4 cables are targeting lengths between 5 m 20 ft to 50 m 160 ft for release at sometime in the future 43 Thunderbolt 1 Edit CNET s Brooke Crothers said it was rumored that the early 2011 MacBook Pro update would include some sort of new data port and he speculated it would be Light Peak Thunderbolt 44 At the time there were no details on the physical implementation and mock ups appeared showing a system similar to the earlier Intel demos using a combined USB Light Peak port 45 Shortly before the release of the new machines the USB Implementers Forum USB IF announced they would not allow such a combination port and that USB was not open to modification in that way Other implementations of the technology began in 2012 with desktop boards offering the interconnection now available 46 Apple stated in February 2011 that the port was based on Mini DisplayPort not USB As the system was described Intel s solution to the display connection problem became clear Thunderbolt controllers multiplex data from existing DP systems with data from the PCIe port into a single cable Older displays that using DP 1 1a or earlier must be located at the end of a Thunderbolt device chain but native displays can be anywhere along the line 12 Thunderbolt devices can go anywhere on the chain In that respect Thunderbolt shares a relationship with the older ACCESS bus system which used the display connector to support a low speed bus Apple states that up to six daisy chained peripherals are supported per Thunderbolt port 47 and that the display should come at the end of the chain if it does not support daisy chaining In February 2011 Apple introduced MacBook Pro 13 inch Early 2011 48 Macbook Pro 15 inch Early 2011 49 and Macbook Pro 17 inch Early 2011 50 featuring one Thunderbolt port In May 2011 Apple introduced iMac 21 5 inch Mid 2011 51 featuring one Thunderbolt port and iMac 27 inch Mid 2011 52 featuring two Thunderbolt ports In July 2011 Apple introduced Mac mini Mid 2011 53 MacBook Air 11 inch Mid 2011 54 MacBook Air 13 inch Mid 2011 55 and Apple Thunderbolt Display 56 featuring one Thunderbolt port In May 2011 Apple announced a new line of iMacs that include the Thunderbolt interface 57 The Thunderbolt port on the new Macs is in the same location relative to other ports and maintains the same physical dimensions and pinout as the prior MDP connector The main visible difference on Thunderbolt equipped Macs is a Thunderbolt symbol next to the port 11 The DisplayPort standard is partially compatible with Thunderbolt as the two share Apple s physically compatible MDP connector The Target Display mode on iMacs requires a Thunderbolt cable to accept a video in signal from another Thunderbolt capable computer 58 A DP monitor must be the last or only device in a chain of Thunderbolt devices Intel announced they would release a developer kit in the second quarter of 2011 59 while manufacturers of hardware development equipment have indicated they will add support for the testing and development of Thunderbolt devices 60 The developer kit is being provided only on request 61 In July 2011 Sony released its Vaio Z21 line of notebook computers that had a Power Media Dock that uses optical Thunderbolt Light Peak to connect to an external graphics card using a combination port that behaves like USB electrically but that also includes the optical interconnect required for Thunderbolt Thunderbolt 2 Edit In June 2013 Intel announced that the next version of Thunderbolt based on the controller code named Falcon Ridge running at 20 Gbit s is officially named Thunderbolt 2 and entered production in 2013 62 The data rate of 20 Gbit s is made possible by joining the two existing 10 Gbit s channels which does not change the maximum bandwidth but makes using it more flexible In June 2013 Apple announced Mac Pro Late 2013 63 featuring six Thunderbolt 2 ports In October 2013 Apple announced MacBook Pro Retina 13 inch Late 2013 64 and MacBook Pro Retina 15 inch Late 2013 65 featuring two Thunderbolt 2 ports In October 2014 Apple announced Mac mini Late 2014 66 and iMac Retina 5K 27 inch Late 2014 67 featuring two Thunderbolt 2 ports In March 2015 Apple announced MacBook Air 11 inch Early 2015 68 and MacBook Air 13 inch Early 2015 69 featuring one Thunderbolt 2 port At the physical level the bandwidth of Thunderbolt 1 and Thunderbolt 2 are identical and Thunderbolt 1 cabling is thus compatible with Thunderbolt 2 interfaces At the logical level Thunderbolt 2 enables channel aggregation whereby the two previously separate 10 Gbit s channels can be combined into a single logical 20 Gbit s channel 70 Intel says Thunderbolt 2 will be able to transfer a 4K video while simultaneously displaying it on a discrete monitor 71 Thunderbolt 2 incorporates DisplayPort 1 2 support which allows for video streaming to a single 4K video monitor or dual QHD monitors Thunderbolt 2 is backwards compatible which means that all Thunderbolt cables and connectors are compatible with Thunderbolt 1 The first Thunderbolt 2 product for the consumer market was Asus s Z87 Deluxe Quad motherboard announced on 19 August 2013 72 and the first system released with Thunderbolt 2 was Apple s late 2013 Retina MacBook Pro on 22 October 2013 73 Thunderbolt 3 Edit Thunderbolt 3 or 4 ports USB C Thunderbolt 3 or 4 connectorThunderbolt 3 is a hardware interface developed by Intel 74 It shares USB C connectors with USB 75 76 77 and can require special active cables for maximum performance for cable lengths over 0 5 meters 1 5 feet Compared to Thunderbolt 2 it doubles the bandwidth to 40 Gbit s 5 GB s It allows up to 4 lanes of PCI Express 3 0 32 4 Gbit s for general purpose data transfer and 4 lanes of DisplayPort 1 4 HBR3 32 40 Gbit s before 8 10 encoding removal and 25 92 Gbit s after for video 78 but the maximum combined data rate cannot exceed 40 Gbit s video data will be using all needed speed limiting PCIe data DP 1 2 support is mandatory while DP 1 4 is optional Other overheads are possible on PCIe data 1 5 of 128b 130b is also removed and Thunderbolt 3 protocol you either optimise for speed or for latency the last one gives only 21 6 Gbit s to 25 Gbit s 79 Thunderbolt 3 uses 64b 66b encoding after that which means the real rate is bigger than 40 Gbit s 2 times 20 625 Gbit s Intel s Thunderbolt 3 controller codenamed Alpine Ridge or the new Titan Ridge halves power consumption and simultaneously drives two external 4K displays at 60 Hz or a single external 4K display at 120 Hz or a 5K display at 60 Hz when using Apple s implementation for the late 2016 MacBook Pros instead of just the single display previous controllers can drive The new controller supports PCIe 3 0 and other protocols including DisplayPort 1 2 allowing for 4K resolutions at 60 Hz 80 Thunderbolt 3 has up to 15 watts of power delivery on copper cables and no power delivery capability on optical cables Using USB C on copper cables it can incorporate USB power delivery allowing the ports to source or sink up to 100 watts of power This eliminates the need for a separate power supply from some devices Thunderbolt 3 allows backwards compatibility with the first two versions by the use of adapters or transitional cables 81 82 83 Intel offers three varieties for each of the controllers 84 Double Port DP uses a PCIe 3 0 4 link to provide two Thunderbolt 3 ports DSL6540 JHL6540 JHL7540 Single Port SP uses a PCIe 3 0 4 link to provide one Thunderbolt 3 port DSL6340 JHL6340 JHL7340 Low Power LP uses a PCIe 3 0 2 link to provide one Thunderbolt 3 port JHL6240 This follows previous practice where higher end devices such as the second generation Mac Pro iMac Retina MacBook Pro and Mac Mini use two port controllers while lower end lower power devices such as the MacBook Air use the one port version Support was added to Intel s Skylake architecture chipsets shipping during late 2015 into early 2016 81 82 83 Devices with Thunderbolt 3 ports began shipping at the beginning of December 2015 including notebooks running Microsoft Windows from Acer Asus Clevo HP Dell Dell Alienware Lenovo MSI Razer and Sony as well as motherboards from Gigabyte Technology and a 0 5 m Thunderbolt 3 passive USB C cable from Lintes Technology 85 In October 2016 Apple announced MacBook Pro 13 inch 2016 2 Thunderbolt 3 Ports 86 which as the name indicates features two Thunderbolt 3 ports MacBook Pro 13 inch 2016 4 Thunderbolt 3 Ports 87 and MacBook Pro 15 inch 2016 88 which features four Thunderbolt 3 ports In June 2017 Apple announced iMac 21 5 inch 2017 89 iMac Retina 4K 21 5 inch 2017 90 iMac Retina 5K 27 inch 2017 91 which feature two Thunderbolt 3 ports as well as the iMac Pro 92 which featured four Thunderbolt 3 ports and was released in December 2017 In October 2018 Apple announced MacBook Air Retina 13 inch 2018 93 and Mac mini 2018 94 both featuring two Thunderbolt 3 ports In June 2019 Apple unveils Mac Pro 2019 95 and Mac Pro Rack 2019 96 featuring up to twelve Thunderbolt 3 ports and Pro Display XDR 97 with features one Thunderbolt 3 port both released in December 2019 In April 2021 Apple announced iPad Pro 11 inch 3rd generation 98 and iPad Pro 12 9 inch 5th generation 99 featuring one Thunderbolt 3 port In March 2022 Apple released Studio Display 100 featuring one Thunderbolt 3 port On 8 January 2018 Intel announced a product refresh codenamed Titan Ridge with enhanced robustness and support for DisplayPort 1 4 Intel offers a single port JHL7340 and double port JHL7540 version of this host controller and a peripheral controller supporting two Thunderbolt 3 ports JHL7440 The new peripheral controller can now act as a USB sink compatible with regular USB C ports 101 The Apple Pro Display XDR which macOS allows to connect using two HBR3 connections to a Mac doesn t support DSC That would be 51 84 Gbit s impossible for Thunderbolt 3 but it works because the two 3008 3384 10bpc 60Hz 648 91MHz signals of the XDR display only require 38 9 Gbit s total and Thunderbolt does not transmit the DisplayPort stuffing symbols used to fill the HBR3 bandwidth USB4 Edit Main article USB4 The USB4 specification was released on 29 August 2019 by USB Implementers Forum 102 based on the Thunderbolt 3 protocol specification 103 It supports 40 Gbit s 5 GB s throughput is compatible with Thunderbolt 3 and backwards compatible with USB 3 2 and USB 2 0 104 105 The architecture defines a method to share a single high speed link with multiple end device types dynamically that best serves the transfer of data by type and application USB4 supports DisplayPort 2 0 over its alternative mode 106 107 In November 2020 Apple announced MacBook Air M1 2020 108 MacBook Pro 13 inch M1 2020 109 and Mac mini M1 2020 110 featuring USB4 In April 2021 Apple announced iMac 24 inch M1 2021 111 featuring two USB4 ports USB4 PCIe Mode Edit USB4 makes the PCIe aspects of Thunderbolt open source PCIe USB devices can be released without Thunderbolt certification But notably those devices will not be allowed to use Thunderbolt branding However Thunderbolt 4 devices use PCIe Mode with added certification labeling and promoting backwards compatibility This means multiple rival devices may use different brandings to accomplish the same task USB4 PCIe devices can be backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 1 3 but are not required to do so USB4 PCIe Mode is not considered an Alt Mode like DP Alt Mode and Microsoft requires devices with USB4 to include PCIe support currently in order to be WHQL Windows certified PCs 112 113 114 115 116 Thunderbolt 4 Edit Thunderbolt 4 was announced at CES 2020 117 and the final specification was released in July 2020 118 The key differences between Thunderbolt 4 and Thunderbolt 3 are 119 a minimum bandwidth requirement of 32 Gbit s for PCIe link support for dual 4K displays DisplayPort 1 4 120 and Intel VT d based direct memory access protection to prevent physical DMA attacks Another major improvement is that Thunderbolt 4 now supports Thunderbolt Alternate Mode USB hubs Multi port Accessory Architecture and not just daisy chaining 3 4 Those hubs are backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 3 devices and can be backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 3 hosts Titan Ridge only with Alpine Ridge the additional downstream ports get downgraded to USB 3 121 122 The maximum bandwidth remains at 40 Gbit s the same as Thunderbolt 3 and four times faster than USB 3 2 Gen2x1 123 118 Supporting products began arriving in late 2020 and included Tiger Lake mobile processors for Project Athena notebooks and 8000 series standalone Thunderbolt controllers codenamed Goshen Ridge for devices and Maple Ridge for hosts USB4 supports DisplayPort 2 0 over its alternative mode DisplayPort 2 0 can support higher than 8K resolution at 60 Hz losslessly due to new UHBR 10 13 5 and 20 signaling standards DSC 1 2 used in DisplayPort 1 4 for that resolution is not lossless in 8 bit and 8K 60 Hz with 10 bit color and use up to 80 Gbit s effective bandwidth 77 37 Gbit s which is double the amount available to USB data because just as previously in DisplayPort 1 4 it sends almost all the data in one direction to the monitor and can thus use all four data lanes at once 124 Resolutions up to 16K 15360 8640 60 Hz display with 10 bit Y CbCr 4 4 4 or RGB are possible 125 In October 2021 Apple announced MacBook Pro 14 inch 2021 126 and MacBook Pro 16 inch 2021 127 featuring three Thunderbolt 4 ports In March 2022 Apple announced Mac Studio 2022 128 featuring up to six Thunderbolt 4 ports Thunderbolt 5 Edit On October 19 2022 Intel previewed the next generation of Thunderbolt aligned to the USB Implementers Forum s USB IF release of the USB4 2 0 specification It delivers up to 80 Gbit s of bi directional bandwidth allowing for up to two times faster data transfer speeds between future host device and external storage drives that support the standard compared to current Thunderbolt 4 speeds It will also have a mode allowing up to 120 Gbit s bandwidth for external displays three times Thunderbolt 4 speed allowing a host device to support up to dual 8K displays at 60Hz 129 The full specifications cover Supporting the latest version of USB4 2 0 80 Gbit s specification Two times the total bandwidth of Thunderbolt 4 to 80 Gbit s while providing up to three times the bandwidth to 120 Gbit s for video intensive uses Support for DisplayPort 2 1 Two times the PCI Express data throughput for faster storage and external graphics Works with existing passive cables up to 1 m 3 3 ft via a new signaling technology Compatible with previous versions of Thunderbolt USB and DisplayPort Supported by Intel s enabling and certification programsWhile a release date is not available Intel advised those interested to look for more detail on next generation Thunderbolt s official brand name features and capabilities in 2023 130 Royalty situation Edit On 24 May 2017 Intel announced that Thunderbolt 3 would become a royalty free standard to OEMs and chip manufacturers in 2018 as part of an effort to boost the adoption of the protocol 131 The Thunderbolt 3 specification was later released to the USB IF on 4 March 2019 making it royalty free to be used to form USB4 103 132 133 Intel says it will retain control over certification of all Thunderbolt 3 devices 134 Intel also states it employs mandatory certification for all Thunderbolt products 135 Before March 2019 there were no AMD chipsets or computers with Thunderbolt support released or announced due to the certification requirements Intel did not certify non Intel platforms However the YouTuber Wendell Wilson from Level1Techs was able to get Thunderbolt 3 support on an AMD computer with a Threadripper CPU and Titan Ridge add in card working by modifying the firmware indicating that the lack of Thunderbolt support on non Intel systems is not due to any hardware limitations 136 137 As of May 2019 it is possible to have Thunderbolt 3 support on AMD using add in cards without any problems 138 and motherboards like ASRock X570 Creator already have Thunderbolt 3 port 139 In January 2020 Intel certified 140 ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming ITX TB3 and now vendors are freely allowed to produce Thunderbolt controller silicon even though those ASRock motherboards used Intel Titan Ridge 141 Asus currently supports Thunderbolt 3 on AMD with the add in card Thunderboltex 3 TR being compatible with AMD motherboards and Ryzen 3 5 56xx ROG Strix B550 E Gaming ROG Strix B550 F Gaming Prime B550 PLUS TUF Gaming B550 Plus 142 The ASUS ProArt B550 Creator has 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports 143 Peripheral devices Edit A multiple hard disk storage device that attaches to a computer through a Thunderbolt connection This section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed April 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message The first Thunderbolt peripheral devices appeared in retail stores only in late 2011 following Apple s release of its first Thunderbolt equipped computer in early 2011 with MacBook Pro with the relatively expensive Pegasus R4 4 drive and Pegasus R6 6 drive RAID enclosures by Promise Technology aimed at the prosumer and professional market initially offering up to 12 TB of storage later increased to 18 TB Sales of these units were hurt by the 2011 floods in Thailand who manufacture much of the world s supply of hard drives resulting in a cut to worldwide hard drive production and a subsequent driving up of storage costs hence the retail price of these Promise units increased in response contributing to a slower take up of the devices It also took some time for other storage manufacturers to release products most were smaller devices aimed at the professional market and focused on speed rather than high capacity Many storage devices were under 1 TB in size with some featuring SSDs for faster external data access rather than standard hard drives Other companies have offered interface products that can route multiple older usually slower connections through a single Thunderbolt port In July 2011 Apple released its Apple Thunderbolt Display whose gigabit Ethernet and other older connector types made it the first hub of its type Later companies such as Belkin CalDigit Other World Computing Matrox StarTech and Elgato have all released Thunderbolt docks As of late 2012 few other storage devices offering double digit TB capacity had appeared Exceptions included Sonnet Technologies highly priced professional units and Drobo s 4 and 5 drive enclosures the latter featuring their own BeyondRAID proprietary data handling system Backwards compatibility with non Thunderbolt equipped computers was a problem as most storage devices featured only two Thunderbolt ports for daisy chaining up to six devices from each one In mid 2012 LaCie Drobo and other device makers started to swap out one of the two Thunderbolt ports for a USB 3 0 connection on some of their low to mid end products Later models had the USB 3 0 added in addition to the two Thunderbolt ports including those from LaCie on their 2big range Apple devices Edit Apple released its first Thunderbolt equipped computer in early 2011 with MacBook Pro and have continued to immediately update their devices with newer generations of Thunderbolt as soon as available List of Apple devices featuring Thunderbolt ports include 144 MacBook Pro Retina 13 inch Late 2012 to Early 2013 MacBook Pro Retina 15 inch Mid 2012 to Early 2013 MacBook Pro 17 inch Early 2011 to Late 2011 MacBook Pro 15 inch Early 2011 to Mid 2012 MacBook Pro 13 inch Early 2011 to Mid 2012 MacBook Air 13 inch Mid 2011 to Early 2014 MacBook Air 11 inch Mid 2011 to Early 2014 Mac Mini Mid 2011 to Late 2012 iMac 27 inch Mid 2011 to Late 2013 iMac 21 5 inch Mid 2011 to Mid 2014 The late 2013 Retina MacBook Pro was the first product to have Thunderbolt 2 ports following which manufacturers started to update their model offerings to those featuring the newer faster 20 Gbit s connection throughout 2014 Again among the first was Promise Technology who released updated Pegasus 2 versions of their R4 and R6 models along with an even larger R8 8 drive RAID unit offering up to 32 TBs of storage Later other brands similarly introduced high capacity models with the newer connection type including SanDisk Professional with their G RAID Studio models offering up to 24 TB and LaCie with their 5big and rack mounted 8big models offering up to 48 TB LaCie also offering updated designed versions of their 2big mainstream consumer models up to 12 TB using new 6 TB hard drives List of Apple devices featuring Thunderbolt 2 ports include 144 MacBook Pro Retina 15 inch Late 2013 to Mid 2015 MacBook Pro Retina 13 inch Late 2013 to Early 2015 MacBook Air 13 inch Early 2015 to 2017 MacBook Air 11 inch Early 2015 Mac Mini Late 2014 iMac Retina 4K 21 5 inch Late 2015 iMac 21 5 inch Late 2015 iMac Retina 5K 27 inch Late 2014 to Late 2015 Mac Pro Late 2013 Thunderbolt 3 was introduced in late 2015 with several motherboard manufacturers and OEM laptop manufacturers including Thunderbolt 3 with their products Gigabyte and MSI large computer component manufacturers entered the market for the first time with Thunderbolt 3 compatible components 145 146 Dell was the first to include Thunderbolt 3 ports in laptops with their XPS Series and their Dell Alienware range 147 Apple first included Thunderbolt 3 on Mac in 2016 Although Thunderbolt has initially had poor hardware support outside of Apple devices and has been relegated to a niche gadget port with the adoption of Thunderbolt 3 that uses the USB C connector standard meant that a much wider array of hardware was accepting of the market acceptance of the standard especially when it later became part of USB4 standard List of Apple devices featuring Thunderbolt 3 ports include 144 MacBook Pro 13 inch M1 2020 to M2 2022 MacBook Pro 16 inch 2019 MacBook Pro 15 inch 2016 to 2019 MacBook Pro 13 inch Four Thunderbolt 3 ports 2016 to 2020 MacBook Pro 13 inch Two Thunderbolt 3 ports 2016 to 2020 MacBook Air M1 2020 to M2 2022 MacBook Air Retina 13 inch 2018 to 2020 Mac Mini 2018 to M1 2020 iMac 24 inch M1 2021 iMac Retina 5K 27 inch 2017 to 2020 iMac Retina 4K 21 5 inch 2017 to 2019 iMac 21 5 inch 2017 iMac ProMac Pro 2019 Rack 2019 iPad Pro 12 9 inch 5th generation iPad Pro 11 inch 3rd generation Apple started to include Thunderbolt 4 on some of their devices starting in 2021 with MacBook Pro List of Apple devices featuring Thunderbolt 4 ports include 144 MacBook Pro 14 inch M1 2021 to M2 2023 MacBook Pro 16 inch M1 2021 to M2 2023 Mac Studio 2022 Mac Mini 2023 Security vulnerabilities EditVulnerability to DMA attacks Edit Thunderbolt 3 like many high speed expansion buses including PCI Express PC Card ExpressCard FireWire PCI and PCI X is potentially vulnerable to a direct memory access DMA attack If users extend the PCI Express bus the most common high speed expansion bus in systems as of 2018 update with Thunderbolt it allows very low level access to the computer An attacker could physically attach a malicious device which through its direct and unimpeded access to system memory and other devices would be able to bypass almost all security measures of the operating system allowing the attacker to read and write system memory potentially exposing encryption keys or installing malware 148 Such attacks have been demonstrated modifying inexpensive commodity Thunderbolt hardware 149 150 The IOMMU virtualization if present and configured by the BIOS and the operating system can close a computer s vulnerability to DMA attacks 149 but only if a malicious device can t alter the code that configures the IOMMU before the code is executed As of 2019 the major OS vendors had not taken into account the variety of ways in which a malicious device could take advantage of complex interactions between multiple emulated peripherals exposing subtle bugs and vulnerabilities 151 Some UEFI implementations offer Kernel DMA Protection Intel VT d based direct memory access DMA protection is a requirement for Thunderbolt 4 Certification 152 This vulnerability is not present when Thunderbolt is used as a system interconnection IPoTB supported on OS X Mavericks because the IP implementation runs on the underlying Thunderbolt low latency packet switching fabric and the PCI Express protocol is not present on the cable That means that if IPoTB networking is used between a group of computers there is no threat of such DMA attack between them 148 149 153 154 Vulnerability to Option ROM attacks Edit When a system with Thunderbolt boots it loads and executes Option ROMs from attached devices A malicious Option ROM can allow malware to execute before an operating system is started It can then invade the kernel log keystrokes or steal encryption keys 155 The ease of connecting Thunderbolt devices to portable computers makes them ideal for evil maid attacks 156 Some systems load Option ROMs during firmware updates allowing the malware in a Thunderbolt device s Option ROM to potentially overwrite the SPI flash ROM containing the system s boot firmware 157 158 In February 2015 Apple issued a Security Update to Mac OS X to eliminate the vulnerability of loading Option ROMs during firmware updates although the system is still vulnerable to Option ROM attacks during normal boots 159 Firmware enforced boot security measures such as UEFI Secure Boot which specifies the enforcement of signatures or hash allowlists of Option ROMs are designed to mitigate this kind of attack Vulnerability to data exposure attacks Thunderspy Edit In May 2020 the Thunderspy seven major security flaws were discovered in the Thunderbolt protocol which allow a malicious party to access all data stored in a computer even if the device is locked password protected and has an encrypted hard drive These vulnerabilities affect all Thunderbolt 1 2 and 3 ports 150 Thunderspy vulnerabilities can largely be mitigated using Kernel DMA Protection along with traditional anti intrusion hardware features 160 161 Cables EditSee also Copper vs optical Thunderbolt Ethernet adapterIn June 2011 the first 2 m 6 6 ft length Thunderbolt cable was released from Apple costing US 49 162 As an active cable it contains circuitry in its connectors In June 2012 Apple began selling a Thunderbolt to gigabit Ethernet adaptor cable for US 29 163 In the third quarter of 2012 other manufacturers started providing cables of varying lengths up to the maximum supported length of 3 m 9 8 ft while some storage enclosure builders began including a Thunderbolt cable with their devices In January 2013 Apple reduced the price of their 2 m 6 6 ft length cable to US 39 and added a half meter cable for US 29 164 Several other brands have released copper Thunderbolt cables with some going up to the maximum 3 metres 9 8 feet allowable for copper Thunderbolt 1 amp 2 cables Initially most devices did not come with an included Thunderbolt cable to keep selling cost lower hence the mass usage of Apple s cables or third party cables especially if a user wanted 3 m 9 8 ft length but most devices eventually began including some length of copper Thunderbolt cable with the product With the introduction of Thunderbolt 3 Intel announced that otherwise standard passive USB C cables would be able to connect Thunderbolt devices at lower speeds than full active Thunderbolt cables but still faster than USB 3 1 165 This allows for cheaper connections to new Thunderbolt devices with inexpensive USB C cables costing significantly less than active Thunderbolt cables Released from mid 2016 copper versions of Thunderbolt 3 cables were released at lengths up to 2 m 6 6 ft However shorter lengths up to 0 8 m 3 ft initially only available at up to 0 5 m 1 6 ft are passive cables offering the full 40 Gbit s speed 2 m 6 6 ft cables are available in two types passive ones offering only 20Gbit s speed but cheaper in cost and more expensive active 2 m 6 6 ft ones offering the full 40 Gbit s speed Additionally only the passive cables are able to offer compatibility with up to USB 3 20 Gbit s ports while active ones only support up to USB 2 0 480 Mbit s Much later on from April 2020 optical Thunderbolt 3 cables were finally released see Copper vs optical section above Copper versions of Thunderbolt 4 cables offer full 40 Gbit s speed and support backward compatibility with all versions of USB up to USB4 DisplayPort Alternate Mode DP 1 4 HBR3 and Thunderbolt 3 Released in early 2021 they are also all to be available in three specified lengths 0 2 m 0 66 ft 0 8 m 2 6 ft and 2 m 6 6 ft with many companies initially offering 0 8 m 2 6 ft ones Copper Thunderbolt 4 cables up to 1 0 m 3 3 ft are passive cables while longer cables must integrate active signal conditioning circuitry At some unspecified time in the future optical Thunderbolt 4 cables are targeting lengths between 5 m 16 ft to 50 m 160 ft 43 Controllers EditIntel Thunderbolt controllers Ver Model Ch Size mm Power W Family Releasedate Features1 82523EF 0 4 15 15 3 8 Light Ridge Q4 201082523EFL 3 2DSL2510 0 2 Eagle Ridge Q1 2011DSL2310 0 8 90 1 85 SFFDSL2210 0 1 0 5 60 0 7 Port Ridge Q4 2011 Device onlyDSL3510H 0 4 12 12 3 4 Cactus Ridge CancelledDSL3510L 2 8 Q2 2012DSL3310 0 2 2 1 Host onlyDSL4510 0 4 Redwood Ridge 2013DSL4410 0 2 10 10 Host only2 DSL5520 0 4 Falcon Ridge Q3 2013 Thunderbolt 2 20 Gbit s speed DP 1 2DSL5320 0 2 3 DSL6540 166 10 7 10 7 2 2 Alpine Ridge 167 Q4 2015 40 Gbit s speed PCIe 3 0 HDMI 2 0 LSPCon DP Protocol Converter DP 1 2 USB 3 1 100 W power delivery compatible with USB Power Delivery 168 169 DSL6340 170 0 1 1 7 Q1 2015 40 Gbit s speed DP 1 2JHL6240 171 1 2 Q2 2016 40 Gbit s speed DP 1 2 lead freeJHL6340 172 1 7JHL6540 173 0 2 2 2JHL7340 174 0 1 1 9 Titan Ridge Q1 2018 40 Gbit s speed DP 1 4JHL7540 175 0 2 2 4JHL7440 176 2 4 Q1 2018 40 Gbit s speed DP 1 4 optional USB C port compatibility backwards compatibility when a Thunderbolt 3 docking station is connected to a non Thunderbolt 3 computer4 JHL8340 177 0 1 Maple Ridge 2H 2020 40 Gbit s speed USB4 compliantJHL8540 178 0 2 10 7 10 7 Q4 2020JHL8440 179 0 4 10 7 10 7 Goshen Ridge Q3 2020 40 Gbit s speed USB4 compliant peripheral only with 4x Thunderbolt 4 ports for branching hub topology Tunnelling of DP1 4 USB 3 10G PCIe 32G Has PCIe 3 0 x1 and USB 3 10G native interfaces Devices controller aimed at computers accessoriesSources 180 See also EditApple Thunderbolt Display Computer bus DisplayPort Mini DisplayPort IEEE 1394 FireWire Interconnect bottleneck Lightning DockPort List of interface bit rates List of computer peripheral bus bit rates MacBook Pro Optical communication Fiber optic cable Parallel optical interface eGPU USB 3 0 USB4 USB CReferences Edit a b Apple Updates MacBook Pro with Next Generation Processors Graphics amp Thunderbolt I O Technology Press release Apple 24 February 2011 Archived from the original on 10 July 2011 Retrieved 17 August 2011 a b c d e Thunderbolt Technology Brief Intel Retrieved 1 October 2012 a b OWC Thunderbolt Hub Retrieved 19 November 2020 a b Thunderbolt 4 Press deck PDF Thunderbolt technology Retrieved 19 November 2020 a b Thunderbolt Device Driver Programming Guide Apple Retrieved 21 December 2011 Frequently Asked Questions FAQs Thunderbolt Technology Community thunderbolttechnology net Shamah David Thunderbolt 3 How USB cooperation could lead to 100 million connected computers soon ZDNet Retrieved 26 August 2021 Shah Agam 6 June 2013 Intel shows world s fastest thumb drive Computerworld Retrieved 26 August 2021 Frakes Dan 24 February 2011 What you need to know about Thunderbolt MacWorld Retrieved 17 April 2019 Cunningham Andrew USB 3 1 and Type C The only stuff at CES that everyone is going to use a b c Foresman Chris 24 February 2011 Thunderbolt smokes USB FireWire with 10 Gb s throughput Ars Technica Conde Nast Digital Retrieved 24 February 2011 a b c Dilger Daniel Eran 24 February 2011 Intel details Thunderbolt says Apple has a full year s head start AppleInsider Retrieved 25 February 2011 Nilsson LG 25 February 2011 Intel announces Thunderbolt VR Zone VR Media Archived from the original on 26 February 2011 Retrieved 27 February 2011 Light Peak Overview PDF Intel Retrieved 29 June 2011 White Paper The 50G Silicon Photonics Link PDF Intel Retrieved 29 June 2011 Thunderbolt trademark rights will be transferred from Apple to Intel AppleInsider 20 May 2011 Retrieved 16 June 2013 Sumitomo Electric Starts Selling Optical Thunderbolt Cable at Amazon Online Global Sei a b c Optical Cables by Corning launched as the first Thunderbolt all optical fiber cables Corning 11 September 2013 Retrieved 22 September 2013 Patel Nilay 24 September 2009 Video Intel s Light Peak running an HD display while transferring files on a hackintosh Engadget AOL Retrieved 25 February 2011 Ziller Jason 26 January 2010 Intel Light Peak Interconnect Technology Update YouTube Intel Event occurs at 1 20 Archived from the original on 23 March 2011 Retrieved 23 February 2011 Light Peak to Connect Consumer Devices at Record Speed on YouTube Light Peak to succeed USB 3 0 UK The Register 15 April 2010 Shiels Maggie 25 September 2009 Future is TV shaped says Intel BBC News Retrieved 27 September 2009 Collins Barry 4 May 2010 Intel shows off first Light Peak laptop PC Pro Dennis Publishing Retrieved 5 May 2010 Hollister Sean 14 September 2010 Intel s Light Peak optical interconnect shrinks slightly LaCie WD Compal and Avid begin prototyping Engadget AOL Retrieved 28 November 2010 Hachman Mark 24 February 2011 Intel Thunderbolt Rollout Won t Be Lightning Fast PC Mag Ziff Davis Retrieved 26 February 2011 Shankland Stephen 23 September 2009 Intel s Light Peak One PC cable to rule them all CNet News CBS Interactive Retrieved 28 November 2010 a b Crothers Brooke 29 September 2009 Sources Light Peak technology not Apple idea CNet News CNet Retrieved 23 February 2011 Branscombe Mary 5 August 2010 Intel Light Peak a tech guide 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Macrumors 28 March 2018 Retrieved 28 January 2019 Optical thunderbolt 3 cables from Corning Up to 60m NAB2019 NABShow Twitter Mat X 9 April 2019 Retrieved 11 June 2019 Corning s Optical Thunderbolt 3 Cables Now Available in Lengths From 5 to 50 Meters Macrumors 30 September 2020 Retrieved 8 October 2020 Optical Thunderbolt 3 Cables Begin Rolling Out in Lengths Up to 50 Meters Macrumors 26 March 2020 Retrieved 28 April 2020 Thunderbolt 4 USB 4 Cable 2m Active 40Gb s 100W 20V 5A CalDigit Cable Matters Active Thunderbolt 4 Cable Cable Matters a b Intel Thunderbolt 4 announcement press deck PDF Intel Thunderbolt 8 July 2020 Retrieved 23 April 2021 Crothers Brooke 19 February 2011 New high speed connection tech due from Apple CNet News CBS Interactive Retrieved 25 February 2011 Kim Arnold 19 February 2011 Apple to Introduce Light Peak High Speed Connection Technology Soon MacRumors Retrieved 25 February 2011 Smith Mat 21 May 2012 ASUS and MSI launch Thunderbolt motherboards tie for first place Engadget Thunderbolt Next Generation high speed I O technology Apple 24 February 2011 Archived from the original on 26 February 2011 Retrieved 25 February 2011 MacBook Pro 13 inch Early 2011 Technical Specifications support apple com Retrieved 6 September 2022 MacBook Pro 15 inch Early 2011 Technical Specifications support apple com Retrieved 6 September 2022 MacBook Pro 17 inch Early 2011 Technical Specifications support apple com Retrieved 6 September 2022 iMac 21 5 inch Mid 2011 Technical Specifications support apple com Retrieved 6 September 2022 iMac 27 inch Mid 2011 Technical Specifications support apple com Retrieved 6 September 2022 Mac mini Mid 2011 Technical Specifications support apple com Retrieved 6 September 2022 MacBook Air 11 inch Mid 2011 Technical Specifications support apple com Retrieved 6 September 2022 MacBook Air 13 inch Mid 2011 Technical Specifications support apple com Retrieved 6 September 2022 Apple Thunderbolt Display Technical Specifications support apple com Retrieved 6 September 2022 Apple Announces New iMac With Next Generation Quad Core Processors Graphics amp Thunderbolt I O Technology Apple Retrieved 10 May 2011 iMac Mid 2011 Target Display Mode does not accept video over a Mini DisplayPort cable Apple 14 July 2011 Retrieved 17 July 2011 Shah Agam 12 April 2011 Intel to Open up Thunderbolt Development This Quarter PC World PCWorld Communications Retrieved 13 April 2011 Holland Colin 12 April 2011 LeCroy lines up armada for Thunderbolt testing Retrieved 18 April 2011 Registration required for developer information Intel Retrieved 22 August 2012 Video Creation Bolts Ahead Intel s Thunderbolt 2 Doubles Bandwidth Enabling 4K Video Transfer amp Display Intel 4 June 2013 Mac Pro Late 2013 Technical Specifications support apple com Retrieved 6 September 2022 MacBook Pro Retina 13 inch Late 2013 Technical Specifications support apple com Retrieved 6 September 2022 MacBook Pro Retina 15 inch Late 2013 Technical Specifications support apple com Retrieved 6 September 2022 Mac mini Late 2014 Technical Specifications support apple com Retrieved 6 September 2022 iMac Retina 5K 27 inch Late 2014 Technical Specifications support apple com Retrieved 6 September 2022 MacBook Air 11 inch Early 2015 Technical Specifications support apple com Retrieved 6 September 2022 MacBook Air 13 inch Early 2015 Technical Specifications support apple com Retrieved 6 September 2022 Apple 2013 Thunderbolt Apple Retrieved 4 February 2014 Video Creation Bolts Ahead Intel s Thunderbolt 2 Doubles Bandwidth Enabling 4K Video Transfer amp Display intel com Retrieved 1 January 2016 Walton Jarred 19 August 2013 ASUS Introduces Z87 Deluxe Quad World s First Thunderbolt 2 Certified Motherboard AnandTech Retrieved 28 December 2013 Torres Edwin 28 January 2013 1 MacRumors Retrieved 28 January 2014 Intel Facebook Byrne Seamus 2 June 2015 One port to rule them all Thunderbolt 3 and USB Type C join forces CNET Retrieved 12 March 2018 Thunderbolt 3 is twice as fast and uses reversible USB Type C Engadget Thunderbolt 3 embraces USB Type C connector doubles bandwidth to 40Gbps arstechnica co uk 2 June 2015 Intel 7000 Series Thunderbolt 3 Controllers PDF Intel Thunderbolt 3 Technology Brief PDF Intel Thunderbolt 3 The USB C That Does It All Thunderbolt Technology Community Retrieved 24 November 2015 a b Leaked Info on Third Generation Thunderbolt Points to 40Gbps Transfer Speeds MacRumors 21 April 2014 Retrieved 19 November 2014 a b Next gen Thunderbolt details 40Gbps PCIe 3 0 HDMI 2 0 and 100W power delivery for single cable PCs Extreme Tech 22 April 2014 Retrieved 19 November 2014 a b Next gen Thunderbolt doubles speeds but changes the connector Ars Technica 22 April 2014 Retrieved 19 November 2014 Day 1 of Thunderbolt peripheral training Q4 15 final v1 0 PDF Thunderbolt technology Thunderbolt 3 devices Thunderbolt Technology January 2016 Retrieved 9 January 2016 MacBook Pro 13 inch 2016 Two Thunderbolt 3 ports Technical Specifications 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XDR Technical Specifications Apple Retrieved 6 September 2022 iPad Pro 11 inch 3rd generation Technical Specifications support apple com Retrieved 6 September 2022 iPad Pro 12 9 inch 5th generation Technical Specifications support apple com Retrieved 6 September 2022 Studio Display Technical Specifications Apple Retrieved 6 September 2022 Ziller Jason New Intel Thunderbolt 3 controllers offer DisplayPort 1 4 and basic peripheral compatibility with USB C computer ports Thunderbolt Technology Intel Retrieved 15 January 2018 USB Promoter Group USB4 Specification USB implementers forum 29 August 2019 a b Bright Peter 4 March 2019 Thunderbolt 3 becomes USB4 as Intel s interconnect goes royalty free Ars Technica Retrieved 4 March 2019 Grunin Lori 4 March 2019 USB4 marries Thunderbolt 3 for faster speeds and smarter transfers CNET Retrieved 4 March 2019 Brant Tom 4 March 2019 Thunderbolt 3 Merges With USB to Become USB4 PC Magazine Retrieved 4 March 2019 VESA Releases Updated DisplayPort Alt Mode Spec to Bring DisplayPort 2 0 Performance to USB4 and New USB Type C Devices VESA Interface Standards for The Display Industry 29 April 2020 Retrieved 22 November 2021 Thunderbolt 4 Explained Tripp Lite Tripp Lite Website Retrieved 20 December 2021 MacBook Air M1 2020 Technical Specifications support apple com Retrieved 6 September 2022 MacBook Pro 13 inch M1 2020 Technical Specifications support apple com Retrieved 6 September 2022 Mac mini M1 2020 Technical specifications support apple com Retrieved 6 September 2022 iMac 24 inch M1 2021 Technical Specifications support apple com Retrieved 6 September 2022 USB type C system overview PDF USB USB4 Systems PCIe Tunneling Support Microsoft USB4 is Coming Here is What You Need to Know Black box DisplayPort Alt Mode 2 0 Spec Released Defining Alt Mode for USB4 Anand tech USB4 vs USB C Linux hint Owen Malcolm 7 January 2020 Intel confirms Thunderbolt 4 on way with four times USB 3 speed Apple Insider Retrieved 7 January 2020 a b 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and prettier screens but oddly lack Skylake Retrieved 30 September 2015 a b Graham Robert 24 February 2011 Thunderbolt Introducing a new way to hack Macs Errata Security Retrieved 5 March 2011 a b c Sevinsky Russ 1 August 2013 Funderbolt Adventures in Thunderbolt DMA Attacks PDF Black Hat Briefings Las Vegas a b Porter Jon 11 May 2020 Thunderbolt flaw allows access to a PC s data in minutes The Verge Retrieved 11 May 2020 Thunderclap Exploring Vulnerabilities in Operating System IOMMU Protection via DMA from Untrustworthy Peripherals NDSS Symposium Retrieved 21 January 2020 Thunderbolt 3 vs Thunderbolt 4 Technology What s the Difference Retrieved 23 February 2023 Thunderbolt how it works Intel 2014 Archived from the original on 29 October 2014 Retrieved 1 May 2018 Sevinsky Russ 1 October 2013 Black Hat USA 2013 Funderbolt Adventures in Thunderbolt DMA Attacks Archived from the original on 3 November 2021 Retrieved 16 July 2014 Heasman John 2007 Hacking the Extensible Firmware Interface PDF Black Hat Snare 2012 Mac EFI rootkits PDF Black Hat Hudson Trammell 27 December 2014 Thunderstrike EFI firmware rootkits for MacBooks Chaos Communication Congress US CERT NIST 30 January 2015 CVE 2014 4498 The Thunderstrike issue About the security content of OS X Yosemite v10 10 2 and Security Update 2015 001 Apple 4 February 2015 Ruytenberg Bjorn Thunderspy 2 Kernel DMA Protection for Unpatched Thunderbolt Systems a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Kernel DMA Protection Windows 10 Microsoft 365 Security docs microsoft com Foresman Chris 30 June 2011 The technology inside Apple s 50 Thunderbolt cable Retrieved 2 July 2011 van Beijnum Iljitsch 20 June 2012 Hands on Apple s Thunderbolt Gigabit Ethernet adapter Ars Technica Gurman Mark 10 January 2013 Apple slashes price on Thunderbolt cable releases additional shorter model 9to5Mac Anthony Sebastian 2 June 2015 Thunderbolt 3 embraces USB Type C connector doubles bandwidth to 40Gbps Ars Technica UK Intel JHL6540 Thunderbolt 3 Controller Product Specifications intel com Next Gen Intel Alpine Ridge Thunderbolt Controller Detailed techpowerup com Intel 6000 Series Thunderbolt 3 Controllers PDF Alpine Ridge 頻寬可達 40Gb s 新一代 Thunderbolt 晶片將具更多功能 VR Zone 中文版 vr zone com 19 April 2014 Intel DSL6340 Thunderbolt 3 Controller Product Specifications intel com Intel JHL6240 Thunderbolt 3 Controller Product Specifications intel com Intel JHL6340 Thunderbolt 3 Controller Product Specifications intel com Intel JHL6540 Thunderbolt 3 Controller Product Specifications intel com Intel JHL7340 Thunderbolt 3 Controller Product Specifications intel com Intel JHL7540 Thunderbolt 3 Controller Product Specifications intel com Intel JHL7440 Thunderbolt 3 Controller Product Specifications intel com Intel unveils the Thunderbolt 4 spec which AMD believes it can use pcworld com Intel Corporation 16 December 2020 Intel JHL8540 Thunderbolt 4 Controller Product Specifications intel com Intel Corporation 23 September 2020 Intel JHL8440 Thunderbolt 4 Controller Product Specifications intel com Nilsson LG Intel cans 3 4W TDP Cactus Ridge Thunderbolt chip VR Zone Archived from the original on 25 March 2012 Retrieved 30 March 2012 Nilsson LG Thunderbolt roadmap unveiled new features coming to Apple et al VR Zone Archived from the original on 7 May 2012 Retrieved 24 July 2012 Chen Monica Intel to release new Thunderbolt chip in 2Q13 Digitimes Retrieved 24 July 2012 Nilsson LG Intel finally shipping 2nd gen Thunderbolt controllers just in time for new Macs VR Zone Archived from the original on 20 October 2012 Retrieved 14 August 2012 Shimpi Anand New Thunderbolt Controllers DSL4510 4410 and Future 20 Gbps Falcon Ridge TB Controller Announced AnandTech Retrieved 8 April 2013 Verry Tim 15 September 2013 IDF 2013 Products With 20Gbps Thunderbolt 2 Appear At IDF 2013 PC Perspective Retrieved 14 October 2013 Products Formerly Falcon Ridge Intel retrieved 14 October 2013 New Intel Thunderbolt 3 controllers offer DisplayPort 1 4 and basic peripheral compatibility with USB C computer ports Further reading EditZiller Jason 2 June 2015 Thunderbolt 3 The USB C That Does It All thunderbolttechnology net Intel a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Adapters for the Thunderbolt 3 or USB C port on your Mac apple com Apple 11 August 2021 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thunderbolt interface Thunderbolt official site Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Thunderbolt interface amp oldid 1161229053, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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