Intel announces the next generation of Thunderbolt

Intel has revealed the Thunderbolt 5 Connectivity Standard that aims to deliver significant improvements in connectivity speed for computer users.

The new generation of Thunderbolt delivers 80 Gbps bi-directional bandwidth. It can be enhanced further with the Bandwith Boost feature, which pushes the speed to 120 Gbps.

As compared to the previous version, Thunderbolt 5 has twice the total bandwidth, which means it can handle more data in both directions, and it offers a Bandwidth Boost feature that can make video-intensive tasks up to three times faster, reaching speeds of up to 120 Gbps.

The PCI Express data throughput has doubled, making storage and external graphics operations faster. Thunderbolt 5 is built on industry standards like USB4 V2, DisplayPort 2.1, and PCI Express Gen 4. It's fully compatible with previous Thunderbolt versions.

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The Thunderbolt Networking bandwidth has also doubled, enabling high-speed connections between PCs. It uses a new signaling technology called PAM-3 to achieve these performance improvements, and it works well with current printed circuit boards, connectors, and passive cables up to 1 meter in length.