Intel officially unveils Thunderbolt 5 with record speeds

Intel officially unveiled the fifth generation of Thunderbolt 5 connectivity technology based on ultra-fast USB-C wired connectors, which deliver unprecedented data transfer speeds of up to 120 Gbps, allowing optical support for gaming monitors with an image refresh rate of up to 540. Hz, with power delivery speeds of up to 240W for charging.

Intel collaborated with Apple to develop the first generation of Thunderbolt 1 and 2 USB-C connectors, while Intel continued to upgrade based on the same technology used in the beginnings, to launch the fourth generation and the new Thunderbolt 5 today.

Intel announced the new innovation via a blog on the official website, in which it confirmed that the Thunderbolt 5 connection technology was developed based on USB fourth generation version 2 connection technologies, and will be fully compatible with previous versions.

While the fourth generation of Thunderbolt 4 connectivity offers data transfer speeds of up to 40 GB per second, the new fifth generation will provide many times the speed, up to 120 GB, or 80 GB in two-way data transfer at the same time.

Intel said that Thunderbolt 5 connectivity technology will be ideal for advanced displays, as it will facilitate the operation of a display with a resolution exceeding 16K and a refresh rate of up to 540 Hz.

We can also connect computers to several screens at the same time, and it will be capable of transferring content with up to 8K resolution to two screens at the same time, and 4K resolution to 3 screens at the same time with an image change rate of up to 144 Hz (the previous generation Thunderbolt 4 supported connecting two 4K screens and an image refresh rate 60 Hz only).

As for power transfer, Intel says that modern technology is capable of charging devices with a power transfer of a minimum of 140 watts and up to 240 watts.

Although it was officially announced and Intel confirmed that it is completely ready, there are no technical devices for USB communication technologies, fourth generation version 2, at the present time, and promises were made by the company itself that a device that supports this communication will not come before next year 2024, and therefore it will not be There are devices eligible to take advantage of Thunderbolt 5’s superior capabilities until next year.