Thunderbolt 5 is currently the most popular physical connection for your PC. This Intel technology has been around since 2011, with successive iterations leading up to Thunderbolt 4.
Although Thunderbolt 4 was only announced in 2020 and first appeared on laptops with Intel’s 11th Gen Tiger Lake platform (since upgraded to Alder Lake systems), rumors of a new Thunderbolt 5 specification have been heard since 2021, when an Intel executive accidentally leaked some details.
Here is everything you need to know about the next generation of port technology.
Thunderbolt 5 vs. Thunderbolt 4
Thunderbolt 5 details are scarce, but it is expected to replace Thunderbolt 4 as the best next-generation physical connection. We know that Thunderbolt 5 is being developed behind the scenes at Intel and that it will double the bandwidth of TB4, reaching up to 80Gbps.
That’s a significant increase, but it’s not the first time Thunderbolt’s bandwidth has been doubled.
Thunderbolt 1 was capable of 10Gbps speeds, which were doubled to 20Gbps just three years later with Thunderbolt 2. Two years later, Thunderbolt 3 doubled to 40Gbps.
Thunderbolt 4 maintained the same 40Gbps bandwidth as Thunderbolt 3, but it improved in other areas. It increased video support by doubling it, allowing for dual 4K displays with 60Hz refresh rates from a single port. The minimum bandwidth was increased from 16Gbps to 32Gbps. It also added some new threat detection technology to better protect your PC from connected compromised accessories.
Thunderbolt 4 docking stations with three downstream TB4 ports and a host cable up to two meters in length are available. Daisy-chaining, charging, and multi-port configurations are all possible with the right Thunderbolt 4 hardware, and Thunderbolt 5 isn’t expected to change that.
Thunderbolt 5 is being tested using PCIe and an external SSD during a recent trip to Israel to visit the Intel fabrication plant as part of Intel’s Tech Tour 2022. It’s not much, but it’s all we’ve got so far, aside from last year’s leaked images.
If you want to learn more about Thunderbolt technology, check out our sibling article about everything you need to know about Thunderbolt 4.
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Laptops that will come with Thunderbolt 5
Thunderbolt 5 is still in its early stages, with Intel developing it behind the scenes. There has been no word on when it will be available for PCs. When Thunderbolt 5 is officially released, it is expected that Intel’s latest mobile platform will be upgraded to the best Windows laptops.
Thunderbolt 4 is the next best thing until an official announcement and release. According to Intel, 90% of laptops with 12th Gen Core CPUs have Thunderbolt 4, more than doubling the previous count in recent years.
And PCs aren’t the only Thunderbolt 4 devices that have grown in popularity; accessories have increased by 40% year over year. Docks, hard drives, external GPU enclosures, capture cards, monitors, and other peripherals are all on the rise.
While many low-cost laptops still use plain USB-C, you can find some genuinely low-cost devices with upgraded ports. Keep in mind that the AMD platform is still a no-go for Thunderbolt. Because of Intel’s licensing fees, AMD mostly sticks with a USB4 alternative.
Would you like to read more about Thunderbolt 5-related articles? If so, we invite you to take a look at our other tech topics before you leave!
