Ultrabooks was one of the more popular categories at CES 2012 and when we look forward at the next generation we can count on some new functionality. Intel’s high-speed interface Thunderbolt is one of the news many are contemplating.
Intel will launch the new Ivy Bridge architecture in Q2 and at the same time a wave of new notebooks are slated to appear in the premium segment, many being Ultrabook models, but also sporting Thunderbolt. Exactly when the first Thunderbolt models will appear on the market is unclear, but it should be in Q2 and then put an end to Apple’s exclusive use of the new and exciting high-speed interface.
ASUS, Lenovo and Acer are all mentioned by DigiTimes in the sum of the latest rumors. With a price premium of 20 dollar per system it will be far from all ultrabooks and components that will have Thunderbolt support. Gigabyte is also mentioned among motherboard makers that are interested in Thunderbolt, but we sawe back at CES that also MSI is bringing Thunderbolt to desktops.
Thunderbolt on Apple MacBook Pro.
Thunderbolt uses the PCI Express interface for data transfers and a physical DisplayPort connector to enable transfers of everything from network traffic to keyboard commands and high resolution video. Thunderbolt or “Light Peak”, Intel’s code name will use optic fibre in the future, but has to settle for copper in the meantime, and can reach up to 10 Gigabit per second in full duplex.
