Today, Intel demonstrated an early prototype of next-generation Thunderbolt™ in action, aligned to the USB Implementers Forum’s (USB-IF) release of the USB4 v2 specification this week.

Next-generation Thunderbolt will deliver 80 gigabits per second (Gbps) of bi-directional bandwidth and enable up to 120 Gbps for the best display experience, providing up to three times the capability of today’s technologies to meet the growing needs of content creators and gamers, all while maintaining compatibility with previous versions of Thunderbolt and USB.

Today's prototype demonstration marks a major milestone in the journey to delivering next-generation Thunderbolt to the industry. The bandwidth needs of content creators and gamers are increasing significantly for high-resolution displays, low latency visuals, and the backup or transfer of huge video and data files. Next-generation Thunderbolt will deliver up to three times the capability of Thunderbolt™ 4 and make creating and gaming more efficient and immersive. In addition to supporting the latest version of USB4, the next generation of Thunderbolt will include improvements across a variety of areas including:

• Two times the total bandwidth of Thunderbolt 4 to 80 Gbps, while providing up to three times the bandwidth to 120 Gbps for video-intensive usages.
• Support for the newly released DisplayPort 2.1 for the best display experience.  

• Two times the PCI Express data throughput for faster storage and external graphics. 
• Works with existing passive cables up to 1m via a new signaling technology.

• Compatible with previous versions of Thunderbolt, USB and DisplayPort.
• Supported by Intel’s enabling and certification programs.

(Click on image to Enlarge)