Intel demonstrates next-gen Thunderbolt prototype capable of up to 120 Gbps ^↺

Intel this week demonstrated the next generation of its Thunderbolt standard. During the presentation, Intel confirmed that the next iteration of Thunderbolt doubles the speeds of Thunderbolt 4 and will support the latest versions of  the USB4 and DisplayPort standards.

Per Intel, the next version of Thunderbolt doubles Thunderbolt 4's speed, pushing up to 80 Gbps of bi-directional bandwidth. The new version also supports up to 120 Gbps for "video-intensive usages," meaning it should provide more than enough speed for high-end display setups.

Additionally, the new version of Thunderbolt will support both the latest versions USB4 and DisplayPort 2.1, allowing for all three specs to use the USB-C form factor for their connection. The next generation of Thunderbolt will remain backward-compatible with prior versions of Thunderbolt, DisplayPort, and USB. It will also work with existing passive cables, provided they are 1 meter in length or less, thanks to a new signaling protocol.

Intel is targetting the growing gaming and content creation markets with Thunderbolt, as evidenced by the increased data speeds and higher bandwidth for high-res displays. Intel mentioned as much during its presentation, highlighting use cases like transferring 8K video files (which are four times larger than 4K video) and connecting 2K 480 Hz or 4K 240 Hz monitors with a single cable.

Jason Ziller, the general manager of Intel's Client Connectivity Division, stated:

Intel has always been the industry pioneer and leader for wired connectivity solutions, and Thunderbolt is now the mainstream port on mobile PCs and integrated into three generations of Intel mobile CPUs. We’re very excited to lead the industry forward with the next generation of Thunderbolt built on the USB4 v2 specification, advanced to this next generation by Intel and other USB Promoter Group members.