Intel fully open Thunderbolt technology: fusing with USB 4 from the bottom

Intel officially announced that it will open Thunderbolt protocol specification for USB Promoter Group, so manufacturers can create chips and devices compatible with Thunderbolt standards free of charge.
At the same time, USB Promoter Group announced the upcoming USB 4 standard based on Thunderbolt protocol for the first time, achieving the integration of Thunderbolt protocol and USB protocols, and enhancing the compatibility between products based on USB Type-C interface.

In fact, the existing USB Type-C interface has been fused with Thunderbolt 3 to some extent. As Intel fully opens up Thunderbolt technology authorization, the two will be integrated from the bottom of the protocol, which benefits from each other. The transmission speed of USB 4 can be doubled with Thunderbolt 3, up to 40 Gbps, and its power supply can be up to 100W. Meanwhile, Thunderbolt 3 can speed up its popularization with the help of USB.
Traditional A and B interfaces have been completely abandoned in USB 3.2 and the USB 4 being developed, while Type-C will become the only interface because of super-high speed and dual-channel transmission. Of course, another advantage of this new interface is that it can be inserted at will without distinguishing the front and back.

Intel believes that Opening Thunderbolt protocol specification is a significant milestone, which will provide the simplest and most functional ports for all to use today. The upcoming 10nm Ice Lake processor will also support Thunderbolt 3 natively, thus creating win-win situation for industry and consumers.
According to the data released by Intel, Thunderbolt 3 has been fully supported in Windows 10, MacOS and Linux systems. The number of PCs using this interface continues to double every year, and has reached tens of millions. At present, all the latest Macs and more than 400 Windows PCs have Thunderbolt 3 interfaces. At the same time, the number of Thunderbolt 3 peripherals also has doubled continuously every year. Nowadays, there are more than 450 certified devices, including docking station, display, storage, external graphics card.