CES 2020: Thunderbolt 4 Announced by Intel, Will Offer Same Speed as Thunderbolt 3

Intel claims that Thunderbolt 4 will be four times faster than USB 3.1 which offers 10Gbps data transfer speeds. This means that Thunderbolt 4 will top out at 40Gbps speeds.

By Tasneem Akolawala | Updated: 9 January 2020 14:00 IST

CES 2020: Thunderbolt 4 Announced by Intel, Will Offer Same Speed as Thunderbolt 3

Thunderbolt 4 should be introduced with Tiger Lake CPUs

Highlights

Thunderbolt 4 details are very scarce at the moment
Intel says more details on Thunderbolt 4 will be shared later
The company also announced 10nm Tiger Lake CPUs at CES

At CES 2020, Intel announced its Tiger Lake CPUs, and these new processors will come with Thunderbolt 4 support. The next-gen external connector from Intel is confirmed to come with the new 10nm CPUs this year, but the chipmaker has avoided revealing too many details as of now. Intel claims that Thunderbolt 4 will be four times faster than USB 3.1 which offers 10Gbps data transfer speeds. This means that Thunderbolt 4 will top out at 40Gbps speeds, similar to that of the four-year-old Thunderbolt 3.

While Thunderbolt 4 is supposedly not faster than Thunderbolt 3, updating the version number could mean few tweaks are well in store. Intel is remaining mystical on the details for now, but the company should shed some light once its launch nears. Intel spokeswoman Sarah Kane told CNET that the company plans to share more details on Thunderbolt 4 later. She claims, “It standardises PC platform requirements and adds the latest Thunderbolt innovations.”

Thunderbolt ports are found on premium devices like Apple's MacBook laptops and Dell's XPS laptops, but haven't been adopted as widely as Intel would've hoped. USB continues to be strong competition with the USB 4 announced last year. USB 4 should arrive in products this year, and claims to offer 40Gbps data transfer speeds, similar to that of Thunderbolt 3.

The upcoming 10nm Tiger Lake CPUs will feature integrated Xe graphics, improved AI integrations and native Thunderbolt 4 and Wi-Fi 6 for connectivity. The company says that manufacturers will start receiving Tiger Lake CPUs in summer 2020, so laptops with the new processors can be expected to launch sometime by the end of this year.

Will OnePlus Concept One be the most exciting announcement from CES 2020? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.