Intel stepped up today, to deliver an exciting announcement surrounding the release of Thunderbolt technology to the USB Promoter Group. An act that will help contribute to the growing pressure of better evolving the technology that surrounds us every day.
This will open up the opportunity to include TB technology in literally all USB-C (USB Type-C) devices from this point forward, without the need for manufacturers to pay any royalties on the technology. Making it free for manufacturers to harness this means that they would be insane not to include TB in any USB-C device launched from here on out.
“Releasing the Thunderbolt protocol specification is a significant milestone for making today’s simplest and most versatile port available to everyone. This, in combination with the integration of Thunderbolt 3 into upcoming Intel processors is a win-win for the industry and consumers.”
–Jason Ziller, general manager, Client Connectivity Division at Intel
Intel is working to integrate Thunderbolt 3 support directly into future CPUs, beginning with their 10nm “Ice Lake” processor family, which means all systems using these chips in the future will have native support for Thunderbolt without the need of a separate TB chipset on the motherboard.
All if this is to ensure a more widely acceptance and support of the TB protocol in future devices, and to help strengthen the technology as it grows.
The USB Promoter Group has also announced that they plan to release the upcoming USB4 specification soon, and that it will be based upon the TB protocol by default. This goes along with recent news surrounded changes to naming of USB 3.x formats, where USB 3.2 is taking over for 3.0 and 3.1, re-titling the formats to USB 3.2 Gen 1 and USB 3.2 Gen 2, as well as the new 20 Gbps format that will now be USB 3.2 Gen 2×2.
Don’t worry, you’re not the only one confused by that last part It almost feels like the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF–who is in control of this) hired someone from Microsoft to be in charge of naming things. Thankfully that’s not the case, else that would mean it would all be re-branded three more times within the next few years, and then eventually discontinued and abandoned. In this case, it is just one confusing switch up on how things are named, and a future of incredibly fast data transfer and function versatility as TB makes its way hopefully into every future USB device from here on out.
Ad: Shop TB3 devices on Amazon today!
