Cable Matters, a leader in providing top-tier connectivity solutions, today announced the launch of its groundbreaking Thunderbolt 5 cable manufactured by Lintes Technology Co., Ltd. The cable is available in 3 different lengths: 1 foot, 1.6 feet and 3.3 feet. This latest innovation delivers unparalleled performance, supporting up to 80 Gbps of bi-directional data transfer and up to 120 Gbps of video bandwidth, a substantial leap from the previous Thunderbolt 4 technology.

The new Thunderbolt 5 cable by Cable Matters represents a significant advancement in connectivity technology, offering increased bandwidth and power delivery capabilities. The Bandwidth Boost technology enables the cable to transmit up to 120 Gbps for the best display experience, providing up to 3 times increase over Thunderbolt 4's maximum bandwidth. This enhancement is particularly beneficial for demanding applications such as high-resolution video streaming, extensive data transfer, and high-speed gaming.

Today, Intel announced Thunderbolt Share, a new software solution enabling PC-to-PC experiences that fundamentally change the way users interact with two PCs. Thunderbolt Share is offered with select PCs and accessories with Thunderbolt 4 or Thunderbolt 5 ports, enabling responsive screen-sharing and fast PC-to-PC file transfers for more flexible and productive workflows.

"We are excited to continue to lead the industry in connectivity solutions with Thunderbolt technology. Thunderbolt Share delivers on our aspiration to bring innovative solutions to the market and deliver new experiences for users to get the most out of their PCs. Now users can seamlessly access one PC from another at Thunderbolt technology speeds. It truly changes how users can be more productive and efficient," said Jason Ziller, Intel vice president and general manager of the Client Connectivity Division.

Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, today unveiled the Razer Blade 18 (2024) - the pinnacle of high-performance gaming laptops. Building on the success of the award-winning Blade 16 and Blade 14 unveiled at CES 2024, the Blade 18 sets a new benchmark for gaming and creative work with its unrivaled desktop-grade performance, housed within a sleek anodized aluminium unibody form factor.

"The Blade 18 embodies Razer's relentless drive to push the boundaries of what a gaming laptop can be, with a host of world's first innovations," says Travis Furst, Head of Notebook & Accessories Division at Razer. "We are excited to deliver the Blade 18 as it ushers in a new era of Razer products equipped with Thunderbolt 5, including upcoming cutting-edge Thunderbolt accessories. With these innovations, the Blade 18 blurs the line between desktop performance and mobile convenience, ensuring our users are equipped with nothing but the absolute best to dominate in gaming and creativity."

erial leaker @yuuki_ans on X/Twitter has released details on Intel's upcoming Barlow Rridge Thunderbolt 5 controller which will be known as the JHL9580 or JHL9540 depending on the SKU. The good news is that Intel has finally moved to PCIe 4.0 for the bus interface, which was expected due to the increased bandwidth on offer by Thunderbolt 5 over Thunderbolt 3 and 4. Barlow Ridge will use a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface to connect to the host and it appears that the earlier leak that suggested native Thunderbolt support in Arrow Lake-S might be incorrect, as there are diagrams showing Barlow Ridge connected to Arrow Lake-S CPUs.

Besides the faster bus, Thunderbolt 5 brings asymmetrical data transmission support which means that for display applications there will be a 120/40 Gbps mode, whereas for data only applications Thunderbolt 5 will deliver a symmetrical 80 Gbps mode. We should point out that this only appears to apply to the JHL9580 SKU, which also supports 40 Gbps USB4 speeds, whereas the JHL9540 for some reason remains a Thunderbolt 4 controller. That said, both of the Barlow Ridge SKUs get support for 20 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, something that was lacking in previous Thunderbolt implementations. There will also be support for DisplayPort 2.1 via DP Alt Mode with full UHBR20 support when used with a DP80 certified cable. Actual data transfers are limited to the 64 Gbps PCIe 4.0 interface to the host system, just like USB4, but this does at least give Thunderbolt 5 extra head room for display data even in symmetrical mode. The Barlow Ridge controllers appear to be connected directly to the Arrow Lake-S CPUs via the PCIe 4.0 x4 interface, much in the same way USB4 host controllers connect to AMD's Ryzen 7000-series CPUS.

Other World Computing (OWC)—the leading end-to-end ecosystem solution provider of computer hardware, accessories, and software for both consumers and professionals - demonstrated three new cutting-edge Thunderbolt 5 devices at CES and Pepcom - two state-of-the-art multiport docks and a bus-powered portable storage solution - all powered by the latest Thunderbolt technology from Intel. For over a decade, OWC has led the way in creating innovative Thunderbolt solutions and that tradition continues with solutions designed to harness the lightning-fast data transfer rates and high-resolution display support of Thunderbolt 5. The new docking and storage solutions will quickly become the focal point for user's computer setups and workflows.

"We've been at the forefront, embracing new Thunderbolt technologies early on, and take pride in providing the most extensive range of Thunderbolt solutions globally," said Larry O'Connor, Founder and CEO of OWC. "Introducing Thunderbolt 5 to our customers is an exciting venture, enabling us to create even more innovative products."

IOGear unveiled a handful products relevant to content creators and creative professionals on the move, at the 2024 International CES. The star attraction here is the Quantum Thunderbolt 5 Dock Pro. It plugs into a Thunderbolt 5 upstream port, putting out three Thunderbolt 5 downstream ports, with display passthrough of dual 8K @ 60 Hz or triple 4K @ 120 Hz. The dock doesn't support the 120 Gbps Bandwidth Boost feature being mooted by Intel, but you'll definitely get 80 Gbps per direction. Also shown was the Quantum Thunderbolt 4 Mini Dock, which supports up to one 8K @ 30 Hz display stream or dual 4K @ 60 Hz, within its 40 Gbps switching bandwidth. Both docks are TAA compliant.

Next up, we have the IOGear Upstream Pro 4-port HDMI to UVC mixer, which mixed and captures non-DRM HDMI inputs to PGM UVC video at resolutions of up to 4K @ 30 Hz. The Upstream Pro Seamless 2-port webcam matrix lets you switch between multiple web cameras within a live stream, so you can change the shot while you're live. There are also some handy adapters and cables. IOGear specializes in ports, cables and adapters of all shapes and sizes.

At CES 2024, Razer has updated its Blade laptop family spanning across various sizes, and even got a chance to present a "world's first" feature in a gaming product. The star of the Razer booth is the company's flagship Blade 16 laptop, which now supports 240 Hz refresh rate in its 16-inch OLED display format. Being the first to get there, Razer offers a high refresh rate at 2560 x 1600 QHD+ resolution. In addition to 0.2 ms response time and DCI-P3 100% color gamut, the display had VESA ClearMR 11000 and DisplayHDR True Black 500 certifications. At the center of the laptop is the 14th Gen Intel Core i9-14900HX processor, paired with up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU with 175 Watt TGP. Pricing starts at $2999 for lower-end configurations and is available now.

Thunderbolt 5 is almost upon us. The new specification offers 80 Gbps bi-directional transfers, with up to 120 Gbps per-direction through lane asymmetry. The new Thunderbolt 5 + 8K60 Display Docking Station from j5create (model: JTD5172) takes advantage of Thunderbolt 5 to wire out next-gen connectivity. It plugs into one Thunderbolt 5 upstream port, putting out three downstream Thunderbolt 5. Each of the three double up as USB. You also have four type-A USB 3.2 ports, two each of 10 Gbps and 5 Gbps. When connected to a 2-pin power brick, the dock puts out a high-powered USB-PD 3.1 port with 140 W delivery. An SD/microSD 4.0 card reader, stereo audio through 4-pole 3.5 mm jack, and a 2.5 GbE wired networking interface make for the rest of it.

Intel earlier this week updated its desktop processor product stack with the introduction of the 14th Gen Core "Raptor Lake Refresh" processors. During our coverage of the processor, we erroneously mentioned that the processor supports the upcoming Thunderbolt 5 connectivity standard. Intel reached out to us for a correction, which revealed an interesting detail. Apparently, 14th Gen Core desktop processors do not support Thunderbolt 5, even though Intel has their own TB5 controller design codenamed "Barlow Ridge". However, these won't arrive before Q1 2024, the currently shipping "Maple Ridge" controller has only support for Thunderbolt 4. But even once Barlow Ridge is available, they will not be compatible with "Raptor Lake Refresh" socketed desktop processors.

Intel announced the Thunderbolt 5 standard in September, around the same time, it provided a technical reveal of its upcoming Core "Meteor Lake" mobile processors. The new standard provides a generational doubling in bandwidth to 80 Gbps (per direction), but relies on an exotic new feature called Bandwidth Boost. With this feature enabled, users get 120 Gbps of bandwidth in a particular direction, and 40 Gbps on its opposite direction.

Today, Intel announced Thunderbolt 5 - the next generation of Thunderbolt - and demonstrated a prototype laptop and dock. Thunderbolt 5 promises to deliver significant improvements in connectivity speed and bandwidth benefits for computer users.

"Thunderbolt 5 will provide industry-leading performance and capability for connecting computers to monitors, docks, storage and more. Intel is excited to continue our tradition of leadership for wired connectivity solutions. Thunderbolt is now the mainstream port for connectivity on mobile PCs, and delivering the next generation of performance with Thunderbolt 5 will provide even more capability for the most demanding users," said Jason Ziller, general manager of the Client Connectivity Division at Intel.

Intel Client Computing Group Executive Vice President & GM Gregory Bryant has recently published and deleted an image that appears to show the specifications of a next-generation Thunderbolt technology. The photo was taken at an Intel R&D facility in Israel and shows a poster highlighting "80G PHY Technology" which signifies that Intel is working on an 80 Gbps physical layer. This speed represents a doubling of the existing Thunderbolt 3/4 which runs at 40 Gbps while still working over a USB-C connection. These speeds can be achieved with novel PAM-3 Pulse Amplitude Modulation technology which allows for 50% more bits to be sent per cycle compared to the NRZ technology currently used while limiting the increased complexity that would be introduced with PAM-4. Intel appears to have a working test chip manufactured on the N6 node at TSMC which is showing promising results however we don't expect this technology to reach consumer devices for some time.