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Intel Adopts USB-C Connector For 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3, Supports USB 3.1, DP 1.2
MojoKid writes: The high speed Thunderbolt interface standard, which is used for everything from hyper-fast external storage solutions to external graphics cards, has been slow to take off. You can blame the high-priced Thunderbolt peripherals and the uber-expensive cables (at least when compared to your garden-variety USB cables). For most people, USB 3.0 is "good enough" and making a huge investment into the Thunderbolt ecosystem has been reserved for those in the professional video editing arena. However, Intel is looking to change all of that with Thunderbolt 3. Thunderbolt 3 once again doubles the maximum bandwidth, this time jumping from 20Gbps to a whopping 40Gbps. While that is impressive in its own right, the truly big news is that Thunderbolt 3 is moving away from the Mini DisplayPort connector and is instead adopting the USB-C connector. As a result Thunderbolt will also support USB 3.1 (which is currently spec'd at 10Gbps) and can optionally provide up to 100W of power (in compliance with the USB Power Delivery spec) to charge devices via USB-C (like the recently introduced 12-inch Apple MacBook).
When 2x makes the difference between driving a screen at 30Hz vs. driving it at 60Hz, I'll take 2x.
And Thunderbolt 2 came out less than two years ago. How long has it taken to go from 1000BASE-T to 10GBASE-T?
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
What are the security implications of a single cable? If I plug in my laptop to charge in an East Molvanian airport, will the outlet try to infect my computer with a low-level virus that attacks the data ports used for negotiating amperage?
There were good reasons to separate power and different kinds of data.
Just buy or make a cable that doesn't connect to the data ports.
Comsidering I am still seeing mini-USB products being sold, and it seems designed, I would not announce the demise of micro-USB so soon.
Not everyone needs more than one.
Whenever you post to /., remember that YOU'RE the weird one. You've got more rigorous demands than most people. There are lots and lots of people that don't need more than one port, and will be delighted that they don't have to even think about what sort of connector they'll need for whatever peripheral they have. Everything will come with USB-C, they've only got one port and nothing to sort out.
For those of us that need more, there are plenty of options, but man, I have lots of people in my life that need ZERO ports on their laptop.
Apple DOES NOT have an exclusive on thunderbolt.... It is more expensive to implement than USB and users have not been clamoring for it because USB tends to be "good enough" for most users. You can get thunderbolt in motherboards -- but they tend to be top of the line motherboards and not all of them.