Thunderbolt technology is what was Intel’s Light Peak. It’s not an Apple technology, but rather the culmination of Intel’s handiwork in combination with Apple’s mini DisplayPort. While Light Peak was developed to work over fiber (literally for light speeds), Thunderbolt is implemented over copper. Despite this, you’re still getting bi-directional (in and out as they.

Thunderbolt 3 offers a connection with state-of-the-art speed and versatility. Delivering twice the bandwidth of Thunderbolt 2, it consolidates data transfer, video output and charging in a single compact connector. And with the integration of USB-C, convenience is added to the speed of Thunderbolt to create a truly universal port.

The original Thunderbolt port was the brainchild of a partnership between Intel and Apple to create a new peripheral-connection technology that would support audio, video, data, and power in a single cable. Wave goodbye to the miscellaneous cable box! Thunderbolt (previously called Light Peak) is a new peripheral-connection technology, developed by Intel with collaboration from Apple, that combines data, video, audio, and power in a single. Its inclusions across the entire Mac line make Thunderbolt 3 docks usable in many instances, but arguably its main audience is for buyers of the MacBook Pro range, to expand the selection of ports.

Supports up to four 4K displays or up to two 6K displays¹

Connect new and existing devices

Blackmagic eGPU and eGPU Pro. More power to every pixel.

Blackmagic Design has created two external GPUs (eGPUs) ideal for your Thunderbolt 3–enabled Mac.² So you can have desktop-class graphics performance without giving up the portability of a notebook. Housed in an all-in-one aluminium enclosure, Blackmagic eGPUs are powerful yet quiet, charge your Mac using Thunderbolt 3, and have built-in I/O connections to drive both a Thunderbolt 3 display and VR accessories simultaneously. Choose the Blackmagic eGPU to accelerate pro apps and enjoy super-smooth gaming, or the Blackmagic eGPU Pro for the ultimate workstation-class graphics performance for your pro app workflows and VR content creation.

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View pricing for Blackmagic eGPU Pro

Transferring data at speeds of up to 40 Gb/s, which is two times faster than Thunderbolt 2 and eight times faster than USB 3, Thunderbolt 3 delivers the fastest connection to any dock, display or device. You can also daisy-chain up to six Thunderbolt devices through a single port without needing a hub or a switch. So connecting a storage device to your computer, and then a display to your storage device, works as it’s meant to — with powerful throughput.⁸

Less than one minute to copy 25,000 photos

6K resolution. 20.4 million pixels.
One remarkable cable.

Thunderbolt 3 provides twice the display bandwidth of Thunderbolt 2, enabling your Mac to support up to four 4K displays or up to two 6K displays.¹ Which means that with two Thunderbolt controllers in the 16-inch MacBook Pro, you can send graphics to dual 6K displays for the perfect high-resolution photo and video editing setup. Thunderbolt 3 connects to DisplayPort displays and monitors with a cable, while supporting HDMI and VGA displays with the use of an adapter.

With Thunderbolt 3, a single USB‑C port can deliver power in both directions. So a port can charge a device or, alternatively, be charged by one. And it’s capable of delivering up to 100 watts of power, so a single cable can be used to connect to a dock or display and charge your MacBook Pro or MacBook Air simultaneously.

Up to 15W for
bus-powered devices

Up to 15W for bus-powered devices

Compatible with your existing devices.

Thunderbolt 3 with USB-C technology is a truly universal connection. With the help of an adapter or cable, you can connect just about any of your devices, including your existing Thunderbolt 2 devices.

Displays

Plug into displays using HDMI, VGA, DVI, DisplayPort or Thunderbolt.

iOS Devices

Connect to iOS devices like iPhone and iPad.

Accessories

Use peripherals compatible with USB‑A, SD, Micro‑B and Mini‑B.

Performance

Connect external graphics processors like the Blackmagic eGPU and external hard drives for extra storage.

The Thunderbolt 3 (USB‑C) ports on MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac Pro, iMac and Mac mini are fully compatible with your existing devices and displays. Use the chart below to find out which adapter or cable you’ll need to connect to the ports on all your favourite devices.

Shop adapters

Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB‑C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter

USB‑C

USB-A

Lightning

Micro-B

Mini-B

Ethernet

HDMI

Apple USB‑C Digital AV Multiport Adapter or
USB‑C to HDMI adapter

DisplayPort

VGA

Apple USB‑C VGA Multiport Adapter or
USB‑C to VGA adapter

SD

DVI

Get the accessories, cables and adapters you need.

Equipped with Thunderbolt 3, your Mac is ready to connect to a broad ecosystem of devices.

Shop all Mac accessories

Cables are an annoyance -- unglamorous but necessary for our digital lifestyle to function. Despite secondary status in our computerized world, however, cable technology -- or input/output (I/O) technology -- has had to sprint to support the increasingly sophisticated barrage of computers, televisions, smartphones and other devices. So, what's the next step forward in I/O? According to Apple and Intel, it's Thunderbolt, a collaboration between the two titans.

On the surface, Thunderbolt resembles familiar technologies like USB, but its speed, simplicity and versatility ultimately set it apart from older I/O innovations. Originally developed under the code name Light Peak, Thunderbolt carries both data and display signals over a single cable while simultaneously providing 10 watts of power to peripherals [source: Apple].

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What's more, Thunderbolt gets along with its peers. It's dual-protocol, meaning that it works with PCI Express and DisplayPort -- established technologies designed for connecting computer components and external displays, respectively.

It's fast, too. Thunderbolt's data transfer rate of about 10 Gbps is twice the speed of USB 3.0, allowing users to snag a high-definition movie off of an external hard drive in about 30 seconds [source: Intel]. Users can also connect Thunderbolt peripherals in a daisy chain configuration, so an external hard drive connected to a video capture device that's linked to a display could all occupy just one port on your computer.

Thunderbolt For Mac

Next, we'll talk about how Thunderbolt moves media so quickly and blaze through a downside or two.

What Is The Thunderbolt For Mac Computers

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Thunderbolt owes its speed and versatility to a couple of things. First, the cables are made of multiple copper wires capable of sending information both to and from devices simultaneously. As Intel and Apple continue to develop this thruway for data, those cables might switch over to being fiber-optic instead of copper, enabling even higher data transfer speeds and longer cable lengths. Second, Intel has developed a specialized chip that integrates with all Thunderbolt technology and controls how information is passed to and from devices while identifying and splitting out multiple types of signals. This allows a wide array of devices to all use the same port despite requiring completely different types of signals.

Apple was so convinced that the I/O system represents the future of connectivity that it included a Thunderbolt port across its entire line of Macs, from the high-end MacBook Pro to the entry-level Mac mini. That move gives everyone, from novice users to seasoned Apple professionals, access to Thunderbolt, though the technology proves particularly useful for demanding tasks like video editing.

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Still, like all new technologies, widespread adoption will take time. As of August 2011, only a few compatible devices were already on the marketplace, including hard drive arrays from Pegasus and Apple's own 27-inch (69-centimeter) Thunderbolt display. However, because Thunderbolt connectors are the same size as a mini DisplayPort connectors, monitors using DisplayPort are backward-compatible with Thunderbolt-enabled computers. Apple also makes a variety of adaptors that allow users to hook devices that use FireWire, HDMI and other technologies to their Thunderbolt port.

For all of its potential, Thunderbolt does have a few downsides. Its peripherals and cables were fairly expensive out of the gate. For instance, the cables debuted at $49, and Apple's Thunderbolt display approached a thousand dollars, or about two to three times more expensive than a monitor with similar specs from another maker. Those prices might change with the ripple of adoption though. And because it's built around PCI Express, Thunderbolt won't likely make its way to iOS devices (ones that run on Apple's mobile operating system) like the iPhone or the iPad since they're based on a different technology.

If Thunderbolt does take off, however, you can expect to see peripherals designed from the ground up to take advantage of its strengths, while devices that depend on older I/Os might begin to look a bit dated. So while the technology has a long way to go before it's ubiquitous, with support from the same company that made USB a technological mainstay, Thunderbolt has a very bright future.

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More Great Links

Sources

• Apple. 'Introducing Thunderbolt.' (Aug. 21, 2011) http://www.apple.com/thunderbolt/
• Branscombe, Mary. 'Intel Light Peak: a tech guide.' ZDNet UK. Aug. 5, 2010. (Aug. 21, 2011) http://www.zdnet.co.uk/reviews/adapters/2010/08/05/intel-light-peak-a-tech-guide-40089748/
• DisplayPort. 'FAQ.' (Aug. 21, 2011) http://www.displayport.org/consumer/?q=content/faq
• Foresman, Chris. 'The technology inside Apple's $50 Thunderbolt cable.' arstechnica. July 2011. (Aug. 23, 2011)
• Foresman, Chris. 'Thunderbolt smokes USB, FireWire with 10Gbps throughput.' ars technica. March 2011. (Aug. 21, 2011) http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/02/thunderbolt-smokes-usb-firewire-with-10gbps-throughput.ars
• Frakes, Dan and Dan. Moren. 'What you need to know about Thunderbolt.' Macworld. Feb. 24, 2011. (Aug. 21, 2011) http://www.macworld.com/article/158145/2011/02/thunderbolt_what_you_need_to_know.html
• Intel. 'Thunderbolt Technology.' (Aug. 21, 2011) http://www.intel.com/technology/io/thunderbolt/index.htm
• Ragaza, Laarni Almendraia. 'Apple Launches First Thunderbolt Display.' PCMAG.com. July 20, 2011. (Aug. 21, 2011) http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2388781,00.asp
• SearchNetworking.com. 'Protocol.' October 2000. (Aug, 21, 2011) http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/protocol