What is 'Thunderbolt' Technology?

What is 'Thunderbolt' Technology?

• Thunderbolt is a technology developed by Intel, which is basically a hardware interface (a port at the side of your laptop!), similar to USB which allows external components or devices to be connected to a computer.

• This technology widely made use of by Apple in their laptops and their Mac minis and Mac pros.

• It follows 2 Protocols: PCI express: for connecting external components such as portable hard-drives and connecting those External high performance GPUs to your system etc. and Display Port: For (you Guessed it!) external monitors.

What makes it so important that you should notice?

It is Fast!! The transfer rate in 10GBps. Twice as fast as USB 3.0. It can transfer a movie to your hard-drive in a matter of seconds!!. Just Have a look at the chart below:

The cables that connect to those ports are expensive and start from a price around 50$ and go even more. These consist of Thunderbolt transceiver ICs equipped inside them, to help with the High- Data rate bi-directional transmission,for signal boosting and signal detection without errors. 

Have a look at the Transceiver IC I was talking about:

Here is a Block Diagram of the whole Thunderbolt system:

If you are wondering what Thunderbolt Controller is...

It is  like a building block for Thunderbolt products.

It contains:

• The protocol Adapters i.e Display Port and PCI Express.
• The Ports!!
• A high-performance, cross-bar Thunderbolt protocol switch.

Why only Apple? and why not Others?

This Incredible technology comes with a Price!!.

The peripherals that connect to these thunderbolt ports are expensive just like the Thunderbolt Ports themselves.

As these High Speed data transfers are an not a necessary for everyone, So other OEMs have chosen  the inexpensive USB 3.0 technology instead.