Apple promises to support Thunderbolt on AMR Macs
Apple silicon will still work with Intel’s port standard
Image Courtesy Apple: Digital Trends
Apple promises to support Thunderbolt on AMR
Apple is migrating from intel chipset to there owned new custom-designed and developed ARM chips– but it seems that Apple isn’t just leaving its customers in the lurch, and announced that, latest apple silicon computer with ARM chips will still support Intel’s Thunderbolt USB-C connectivity, despite the lack of Intel processors.
Over the Years, Apple is working with Intel to develop Thunderbolt. which is admired for its 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,” commented an Apple spokesperson”.
While there was some concern that Apple might be losing support for Thunderbolt on its upcoming Macs, the fact that Apple is sticking with the standard makes a lot of sense, given that it had helped develop the original Thunderbolt standard in collaboration with Intel.
Despite that hands in hands collaboration still, some of the apple products lack Thunderbolt. Apple has yet to offer all technical support to all and any device. Minus all other devices powered by Intel chips. Apple’s ARM-based iPad Pro, in particular, stands out as featuring a regular USB-C port, not a Thunderbolt 3 connector. Apple’s ARM-based Developer Transition Kit also only features standard USB-C ports.
Image Courtesy Apple: Tom’s Hardware
The news comes as Intel detailed its upcoming Thunderbolt 4 standard, which will be based on the USB4 spec standard and which uses the same USB-C connector that Thunderbolt 3 already does today. Both Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 offer more guaranteed features (like the ability to power external monitors or charge laptops).
Compared to the standard USB 3 & USB4 which offer a consistency that regular USB-C.
Thunderbolt 4,
In particular, offers the same 40 Gbps speeds that Thunderbolt 3 had offered but adds even stricter hardware requirements for manufacturers: devices will have to be able to support either two 4K displays or one 8K display and allow for PCIe data transfer speeds of up to 32 Gbps — which should be a boon for external storage and external GPUs.
Apple is expected to launch its first ARM-based Macs before the end of 2020.
Apple’s transition to its own processes will take about 3 years.
