Intel Announces Next-Gen Thunderbolt 5 Protocol Coming in 2024

Intel just put the wraps off Thunderbolt 5, the next generation of its connectivity protocol coming in 2024. Considering that Intel originally created its Thunderbolt technology in partnership with Apple, the timing of this announcement a couple of hours ahead of Apple’s iPhone 15 keynote is quite interesting.

“Thunderbolt products have become mainstream in the PC marketplace, with leading PC accessory vendors worldwide adopting the standard to reach hundreds of millions of PC users active today. Thunderbolt 5 will build on this extensive base and continue to deliver on the vision of one USB-C port and cable that can do it all – simplifying the PC experience for users around the globe while still providing the highest quality and performance possible,” Intel said in a press release today.

Intel has designed Thunderbolt 5 to provide up to three times more bandwidth compared to the 40 Gbps supported by Thunderbolt 3 and 4. In practice, Thunderbolt 5 provides 80 Gbps of bi-directional bandwidth, but there’s optional support for 120 Gbps for video-intensive usages. This is enough bandwidth to support multiple 8K monitors, or three 4K displays with a 144 Hz refresh rate.

For creators, Thunderbolt also delivers 64Gb/s of data bandwidth for connecting external SSDs and GPUs thanks to PCIe Gen4 support. Moreover, Thunderbolt 5 enables up to 240W charging, up from 100W with Thunderbolt 4. This will likely help to eliminate proprietary laptop chargers that some PC manufacturers still use.

With Thunderbolt 5, Intel will once again offer the most versatile USB-C-based connectivity technology, and the first PCs and accessories to support the new protocol will start shipping next year. Thunderbolt 5 will also maintain compatibility with previous versions of Thunderbolt and USB.