Thunderbolt

Thunderbolt™ technology is a transformational I/O innovation that provides a leap in performance over current I/O technologies with 10 Gbps of full-duplex bandwidth per channel. It significantly simplifies the end-user experience by concurrently supporting data (PCI Express*) and display (DisplayPort) connections over a single cable. Thunderbolt products may be connected using electrical or optical cables. Thunderbolt technology enables flexible and innovative system designs by allowing multiple, high-performance, PCI Express and DisplayPort devices to attach to a computer through a single physical connector.

For example, with Thunderbolt™ technology, you can use the lightest, thinnest laptop and yet connect to high-performance peripherals, turning your laptop into a powerful PC – with just a single cable. Thunderbolt™ cables expand a thin and light laptop to a high-resolution display and high-performance storage in a simple daisy chain.

According to the announcement of Intel representative, Dave Salvator, by the end of 2012 Thunderbolt technology is expected to be much improved. Data transfer speed will achieve 100 Gbps. But even now this technology can be considered a serious alternative to USB 3.0 interface, which speed is 5 Gbps that is twice less.