Apple Officially Confirmed Silicon Macs will Support Intel’s Thunderbolt Connection
Last month, Apple had announced its transition from Intel processors to its ARM chips, called Apple Silicon. Yesterday, Apple has confirmed yet another crucial aspect of this transition, about the future of Thunderbolt connection. Intel’s Thunderbolt is expected to continue to be present in Apple Silicon Macs.
Later this year, Apple will be rolling out big to Mac’s up-coming lineup. However, since the announcement users were concerned if the new Mac models will be compatible with Thunderbolt devices. Thunderbolt is a hardware interface that has been developed by a collaboration between Intel and Apple.
On Wednesday, Intel has offered some crucial key insight into Thunderbolt 4. In January, the company is had initially unveiling it at CES back. The latest version of the connection standard isn’t faster/ than its predecessor. However, there are many key improvements on-board that are worth noting. These include updated system requirements, double the minimum video, and data requirements of Thunderbolt 3.
Additionally, it supports one 8K display or two 4K displays, support for docks with up to four Thunderbolt 4 ports, PCIe at 32 Gbps for storage speeds up to 3,000 MBps, and PC charging on at least one computer port. It requires Intel VT-d-based direct memory access (DMA) to prevent physical DMA attacks. When connected to a Thunderbolt dock, users can also wake their computer from sleep by touching the mouse or keyboard.
According to the reports, the new version of Thunderbolt will be compatible with Thunderbolt version 3 and old USB connections. It is expected to arrive some time later in 2020. While this move marks a key shift in the longstanding relationship between Intel and Apple, it will be interesting to know whether Apple will continue to support this latest connection on ARM-based Macs.
In a statement, the company restated its commitment to connection and said, “Over a decade ago, Apple partnered with Intel to design and develop Thunderbolt, and today our customers enjoy the speed and flexibility it brings to every Mac. We remain committed to the future of Thunderbolt and will support it in Macs with Apple silicon.”