This move toward open source didn’t mean, however, that Intel stopped developing its traditionally proprietary Thunderbolt specification. (And yes, the USB team dropped the space in 'USB4.' That's not a typo.) Indeed, the fates and directions of the two new '4' specs are intertwined. Intel opened up the Thunderbolt 3 protocol to USB's controlling consortium (the USB-IF (Opens in a new window)) for royalty-free use in the development of next-generation USB4, delivering faster speeds and interoperability to USB4 devices. The story of the latest flavor of the Thunderbolt interface-Thunderbolt 4-starts with a change in direction, however. This port looks like one of the new-style, oval USB Type-C connectors, but it does a bunch more: It can carry a video signal using the DisplayPort protocol, charge connected devices, and allow for data transfers at speeds beyond what simple USB can manage. How to Set Up Two-Factor Authenticationįor anyone who has used a Mac laptop in recent years, or a top-end Windows notebook, Thunderbolt 3 has probably been on their radar-and perhaps had them scratching their heads regarding what it can do.

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