 |
| Source: Intel. Infographic reviewing Thunderbolt milestones. |
Intel then created Thunderbolt to consolidate all input/output needs with one connector. At its launch, Thunderbolt could transfer a full-length, high-definition movie in less than 30 seconds and back up a full year of continuous MP3 music playback in just over 10 minutes.
Today, the technology is called Thunderbolt 4, with 4x as much overall bandwidth at the port compared to the original Thunderbolt. It can support two 4K displays, while charging a notebook at the same time. The connector form factor is now Type C to allow for thinner-and-lighter notebooks and single-cable docking.
Thunderbolt is now required on Intel Evo and vPro laptops, and will soon be supported on Chrome devices.
“Thunderbolt’s simplicity, reliability, and performance are important whether you are working or learning at home, or you are creating content or you are a gamer. You can do all of those things with a single Thunderbolt connection,” said Jason Ziller, GM, Client Connectivity Division at Intel.
Any product using the Thunderbolt name or logo has passed a certification test that includes electrical and functional testing. More than 1,000 computers and 1,000 accessories have been Thunderbolt-certified to date.
“Intel looks forward to continuing to work with the industry on innovation and adoption of Thunderbolt,” said Ziller.
“We expect Thunderbolt will keep up with monitors as we look to 8K and 16K, external SSDs that are nearly doubling in speed every year, and much more.”
SSD stands for solid state drive, a type of storage.
