Learn about Intel's Thunderbolt technology, which is now present in MacBooks Pro [atualizado]

While Apple updated its website with information about the new MacBooks Pro, this morning, Intel held an event to introduce the world to Thunderbolt technology that was previously known as "Light Peak". I imagine the face of those who screamed "fake" up and down, in the rumors of yesterday.

Logo - Thunderbolt

Initially it was thought that Thunderbolt would use the same USB connector standard, however, as we pointed out earlier, the forum of technology implementers opposed the idea and, working together with Apple, Intel decided to adopt the connector format Mini DisplayPort. As a result, the same port is used both for connecting external monitors and for transferring data at high speed.

Thunderbolt port on MacBook Pro

Forget USB 3.0, Forget FireWire 800, Forget eSATA: Thunderbolt is composed of two symmetrical channels (bi-directional) with transfer rates of 10Gbps each. It offers direct PCI Express connectivity to high performance peripherals, such as RAID sets, in addition to supporting conventional USB / FireWire devices and Gigabit Ethernet networks, using adapters.

According to Intel, Thunderbolt is capable of downloading a full HD movie (~ 15GB) in less than 30 seconds, or backing up an entire year of continuous MP3 audio in just over ten minutes. Imagine when it starts to be used to sync iGadgets.

Thunderbolt operating diagram

Thunderbolt is an I / O technology (input and output, or I / O) capable of working with monitors in high definition, not only on DisplayPort but also HDMI, DVI and VGA again, with the use of special adapters.

One of the coolest aspects of technology, in my opinion, is its ability to create chains of up to six interconnected devices, that is, just one port per computer enough. See an example of this in the video below:

The cables used to connect devices to Thunderbolt ports can be either electrical or optical.

MacBook Pro with Thunderbolt

The new MacBooks Pro are just the beginning of the Thunderbolt story on Macs. From now on, you can wait for its implementation on every new computer launched by Apple.

Other PC makers are also likely to start adopting Thunderbolt in their lines starting this year, but I bet it will rock even in 2012.

Update (s 18h44)

O AppleInsider notes that other PC makers are only expected to start implementing Thunderbolt on their lines in a few months' time, which means that Apple should have a kind of exclusivity in the technology for about a year.