Leaked Info on Third-Generation Thunderbolt Points to 40Gbps Transfer Speeds

Intel's third-generation Thunderbolt technology could see throughput increase to 40Gbps, double the current capacity of Thunderbolt 2, first introduced in Macs last fall, according to leaked information posted on a Chinese technology site [Google Translate].

Thunderbolt 3
The site says Intel's new Thunderbolt controller, code-named Alpine Ridge, will see power consumption reduced by 50 percent, support for PCIe generation-3, and charging capacities of up to 100 watts. Backward compatibility will be maintained through the use of connector adapters, but the new Thunderbolt connector itself will be reduced in size.

Last April, Intel first announced Thunderbolt 2 in April before seeing it move to the Mac in October. There is no indication of when the third-generation of Thunderbolt could make its way to consumers.

Popular Stories

Aston Martin CarPlay Ultra Screen

Apple's CarPlay Ultra to Expand to These Vehicle Brands Later This Year

Sunday February 1, 2026 10:08 am PST by
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly nine months later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon. In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. In his Powe...
Apple Logo Black

Apple Just Made Its Second-Biggest Acquisition Ever After Beats

Thursday January 29, 2026 10:07 am PST by
Apple today confirmed to Reuters that it has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli startup that is working on artificial intelligence technology for audio. Apple paid close to $2 billion for Q.ai, according to sources cited by the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone and audio brand Beats in 2014. Q.ai has...
Apple Logo Black

Apple's Next Launch is 'Imminent'

Sunday February 1, 2026 12:31 pm PST by
The calendar has turned to February, and a new report indicates that Apple's next product launch is "imminent," in the form of new MacBook Pro models. "All signs point to an imminent launch of next-generation MacBook Pros that retain the current form factor but deliver faster chips," Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on Sunday. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

Apple Changes How You Order a Mac

Saturday January 31, 2026 10:51 am PST by
Apple recently updated its online store with a new ordering process for Macs, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro. There used to be a handful of standard configurations available for each Mac, but now you must configure a Mac entirely from scratch on a feature-by-feature basis. In other words, ordering a new Mac now works much like ordering an...
Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

New MacBook Pros Reportedly Launching Alongside macOS 26.3

Sunday February 1, 2026 5:42 am PST by
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips alongside macOS 26.3, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "Apple's faster MacBook Pros are planned for the macOS 26.3 release cycle," wrote Gurman, in his Power On newsletter today. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated for the macOS 26.3 software cycle, which runs from...

Top Rated Comments

SoAnyway Avatar
154 months ago
Thunderbolt 3 is nice but the Thunderbolt 1 ports in my 2011 iMac are still virgins. :o
Score: 56 Votes (Like | Disagree)
odedia Avatar
154 months ago
Can't they just release 1 version and get it over with? All these revisions just make it impossible to take this technology to mainstream adoption. The biggest advantage of USB 2.0 wasn't the technology, it was the fact that it stuck around for over 10 years.
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I like bananas Avatar
154 months ago
But i just bought a mac pro.

It's at times like these we do appreciate that the Mac Pro, being a professional computer, is expandable!

Oh, wait...
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
goobot Avatar
154 months ago
Why are they iterating so rapidly with versions of Thunderbolt?
Because no one is using it and Intel thinks that is because of speed?:confused:

Just make it affordable. All this speed means nothing if no one can afford to use it.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
teknikal90 Avatar
154 months ago
Can't they just release 1 version and get it over with? All these revisions just make it impossible to take this technology to mainstream adoption. The biggest advantage of USB 2.0 wasn't the technology, it was the fact that it stuck around for over 10 years.
At first i was like wtf....i remember usb 2.0 being released to mainstream users in like 2003 and only now are we seeing usb 3.0 to be mainstream...meanwhile thunderbolt is getting new versions year over year.
at first i thought that sucks for developers and users/adopters/buyers...

but then i realized since the ports dont change and everything is backwards compatible.....this is actually good news.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
genovelle Avatar
154 months ago
Why are they iterating so rapidly with versions of Thunderbolt?
Because when they showed the first version they said it was capable of 100 Gbps and that they would ramp it quickly. Which they are doing. They actually designed it to be much faster from the start instead of being pushed by other competing tech.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)