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Intel has officially announced the latest generation of the Thunderbolt™ port, Thunderbolt™ version 5. This is an update to the industry-leading port that will, among other things, double its throughput.
The most powerful port is about to become even better.
Intel is in the process of developing the latest version of its Thunderbolt™ interface standard, Thunderbolt™ 5. The company announced that Thunderbolt™ 5 will be released next year, 2024.
Built around the universal USB-C connector, Thunderbolt™ is the most versatile data port available, combining reliable data transfer speeds, incredible support for multiple high-resolution displays, charging and daisy-chaining. All this in one USB-C port.
Thanks to this power and versatility, Thunderbolt™ has become the port of choice for professionals, whether they work at their desk or on the go.
In addition to fast data transfers and support for high-resolution displays, Thunderbolt™ also provides peace of mind... unlike USB-C.
While many USB-C products are only compatible with the connector type and do not provide standards such as transfer, Thunderbolt™ is the standard. Any hardware™ – drive, dock, cable or host device – must meet Intel's stringent certification requirements to be sold as a Thunderbolt product. They ensure that any product bearing the Thunderbolt™ name meets the performance specifications for a given generation of Thunderbolt™.
This means that when you purchase a Thunderbolt™ product, you know it will meet your specific requirements and operate with a high degree of reliability and performance.
No one knows this better than companies producing equipment with the Thunderbolt™ logo, including OWC. It is an expert in Thunderbolt™, offering more Thunderbolt™ products than any other manufacturer. As you might expect, they have already started working on implementing Thunderbolt™ 5 in new products. We're so excited about the possibilities of this new technology that we wanted to share some information with you about it.
What is the situation with Thunderbolt™ 3 and Thunderbolt™ 4?
While these ports were designed for very different purposes, the previous and current generations of Thunderbolt™ – Thunderbolt™ 3 and Thunderbolt™ 4, respectively – have one thing in common: bandwidth.
Both Thunderbolt™ 3 and Thunderbolt™ 4 are based on PCIe Gen 3 and offer bandwidth up to 40 Gb/s. In other words, both Thunderbolt™ 3 and Thunderbolt™ 4 can allocate or consume data transfer rates of up to 40 Gbps.
Thunderbolt™ 4 introduced the hub chipset architecture, enabling new types of hubs and docks with multiple Thunderbolt™ ports. In the current situation, the Thunderbolt™ 3 port is best for those who value speed and connect, for example, mass storage directly to the port, while Thunderbolt™ 4 is better for the latest solutions of docking stations and hubs.
How Thunderbolt™ 5 will change reality
While previous generations of Thunderbolt™ were based on PCIe Gen 3, Thunderbolt™ 5 is based on updated USB and DisplayPort and PCIe Gen 4 standards. Thanks to the new chipset architecture, Thunderbolt™ 5 enables the creation of uncompromising devices.
No compromises… today
However, thanks to much thoughtful and painstaking engineering, OWC already offers uncompromising Thunderbolt™ devices thanks to the flexibility of the Thunderbolt™ 3 chipset.
Because Thunderbolt™ 3 allows the Thunderbolt™ 3 device itself to access all four PCIe lanes, you can divide the available bandwidth however you want. This gives you the ability to create Fast Thunderbolt™ 3 Drives, Thunderbolt™ 3 Docking Stations, and Fast Thunderbolt™ 3 Drives that also have docking capabilities.
Take the OWC ThunderBlade for example. It is a fast external Thunderbolt™ drive with transfer speeds of up to 2800 Mb/s. It also has an additional Thunderbolt™ port on the back, allowing you to daisy-chain up to five (5) additional Thunderbolt™ devices.
OWC has also taken this approach to its Thunderbolt™ 3 docking stations. The Thunderbolt™ Pro Dock combines the Thunderbolt™ 3 chipset with its own chipset to create a device that is not only capable of connecting a display, three (3) USB 3.0 devices, one (1) USB-C device and SD card, but also supports 10Gb Ethernet and has a built-in CFexpress reader.
Double the bandwidth, double the fun
Returning to the improvements of Thunderbolt™ 5, when the latest version of the Thunderbolt™ standard debuts, it will double the amount of available bidirectional bandwidth from the 40 Gbps found in Thunderbolt™ 3 and Thunderbolt™ 4 devices to 80 Gbps.
Doubling the available data bandwidth will provide more options for bandwidth- and data-intensive devices such as Thunderbolt™ drives and high-resolution displays. The additional bandwidth will be useful not only for connecting higher resolution displays, but also drives that require more data than before.
Speaking of displays, Thunderbolt™ 5 will support DisplayPort 2.1 connectivity and will also allow for unidirectional bandwidth of up to 120 Gbps. This flexibility from 80Gbps to 120Gbps of bandwidth is realized when Thunderbolt™ 5 detects heavy video usage.
According to Intel, this bandwidth flexibility is made possible by how Thunderbolt™ 5 allocates bandwidth. During normal use, Thunderbolt™ 5 allows for bidirectional throughput of 80 Gbps: two 40 Gbps lanes per lane in one direction and two 40 Gbps lanes per lane in the other direction.
However, Thunderbolt™ 5 can also dynamically balance bandwidth when it detects heavy video usage, such as when connected to an 8K monitor. In this case, Thunderbolt™ rebalances the available bandwidth by allowing three 40 Gbps PCIe lanes in one direction (120 Gbps total) and one 40 Gbps lane in the other direction.
Finally, Thunderbolt™ 5 will also enable devices to deliver up to 240W of power – more than twice what is currently possible. Devices that choose to deliver this amount of power will provide significantly more available, spare power to power and/or charge connected devices.
Backward compatibility
The other good news about Thunderbolt™ 5 is that it should be backwards compatible with both Thunderbolt™ 3 and Thunderbolt™ 4, including Thunderbolt™ cables available today up to 1.8 meters in length. As we learn more, we'll be sure to provide an update on backwards compatibility.
When will Thunderbolt™ 5 arrive?
The first Thunderbolt™ 5 products are expected to arrive in 2024. However, it will definitely not be the beginning of the year.
OWC will be ready when Thunderbolt™ 5 arrives in future generations of computers and mobile devices. It will continue to offer products with the best and most innovative implementations of this versatile platform, such as Thunderbolt Go Dock, Gemini and ThunderBlade.
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