Intel has finally announced Thunderbolt 4 after a teaser back in January at CES 2020. The Chipmaker teased the latest connectivity standard at the time of Tiger Lake mobile PC processors launch announcement without revealing any details. Now every bit of information about the Thunderbolt 4 has been officially revealed by the Santa Clara based silicon giant.
What is Thunderbolt 4?
The fourth-generation cable connective solution from Intel promises to deliver improved minimum performance of data transfer on the single cable. The Thunderbolt 4 technology is compliant with USB 4, DisplayPort and PCI Express (PCIe) comes integrated with Intel’s latest Tiger Lake processors.
The new Thunderbolt 4 solution offers 40Gbps data transfer speeds that remains similar to the previous generation. The biggest advantage of Thunderbolt 4 is that with this new universal cable connectivity solution one can hook up two 4K display or an 8K display and delivers twice improved) data speeds through PCIe. The Thunderbolt 4 can deliver data transfer speeds up to 32Gbps.
How many Thunderbolt 4 ports can there be on PC or a Laptop? Can I Charge my laptop though Thunderbolt 4?
Intel also provided us with the answers to these common questions. With Thunderbolt 4, there can be up to four ports on a machine. Out of these, one of the Thunderbolt 4 port will offer laptop charging.
Are Thunderbolt 4 and USB Type C the same? Will I get thunderbolt 4 transfer speeds on my Type C cable?
While both ports look the same but Thunderbolt 4 offers superior transfer speed and power delivery as compared to Type C. The Thunderbolt 4 is backward compatible and also works with USB C cables and devices.
How Secure is Thunderbolt 4?
Intel claims its new connectivity standard is secured against direct memory attacks (DMA) where hackers steal data event from locked or encrypted storage. The Thunderbolt 4 uses Intel VT-d for protection against DMA attacks.
Which PC or Laptop has Thunderbolt 4?
Intel has just announced Thunderbolt 4 so OEMs will take time to come up with Thunderbolt 4 powered machines. Lenovo has already confirmed that it is working on a machine with Thunderbolt 4. You can expect Thunderbolt 4 ports in upcoming Tiger Lake processor-based machines.
