Apple’s new MacBook Pro models feature the super-fast Thunderbolt peripheral port, using a standard that the computer company developed with Intel. Now Intel says its upcoming chipsets will support both the new USB 3.0 standard and Thunderbolt. The news comes shortly after competitor Advanced Micro Devices said it will support USB 3.0, beginning with its A75 and A70M chipsets.
Intel’s announcement represents the first time that both technologies will be supported in a chipset. Some high-end PCs already feature USB 3.0, but with controllers from third-party suppliers. At Intel’s developer conference in Beijing, Kirk Skaugen, a vice president in the Intel Architecture Group, said this week that USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt will be supported in the upcoming Ivy Bridge platform. Ivy Bridge, scheduled for release next year, is the successor to the Sandy Bridge processors that are now appearing in new PCs.
‘Complementary’ Technologies
Skaugen told the conference that Intel believes the two technologies are “complementary.” Intel currently provides some support for USB 3.0 in some of its desktop motherboards, but the technology is delivered through a separate, non-Intel part, not integrated into the silicon as it will be in Ivy Bridge.
USB 3.0, which is also known as SuperSpeed USB, is about 10 times faster than the current version of USB, but only about half as fast as Thunderbolt. USB 2.0 began appearing in Intel-based devices in 2002 and offers up to 480 megabits per second transfer rates. USB 3.0 provides up to 4.8 gigabits per second, and Thunderbolt features up to 10 gigabits.
Additionally, USB 3.0 provides at least 80 percent additional power to a peripheral such as a hard drive, compared with USB 2.0.
But Thunderbolt has another advantage: It can carry HD digital video and audio. This means the port can be used for a display or a high-speed storage device, or…
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