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  • What is the Thunderbolt technology developed by Intel Corp.?
  • How does it compare to USB 3.0?
  • If it really is as fast as is claimed , why hasn't it replaced USB 3.0?
Infusion of Wormwood n Asfodel
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    I'm unclear about the details of the [actual problem](http://electronics.stackexchange.com/help/dont-ask) you are trying to solve. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_(interface)) is often a useful starting point for general broad questions that need essay-like long answers. – RedGrittyBrick Aug 16 '13 at 07:48
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    http://xkcd.com/927/ – jippie Aug 16 '13 at 07:52
  • It is not compatible w/ USB devices, so if I purchase a laptop w/ 4 ports, I can have 4 USB ports (And use all my USB devices at the same time) 4 Thunderbolt ports (And use none of my current USB hardware, e.g. mouse, keyboard, external HDD), or a mix of ports so you never have enough of the kind that you need (Welcome to 1995, it wasn't fun then and it won't be fun now.) – shieldfoss Aug 16 '13 at 07:55
  • @RedGrittyBrick I want a simple explanation that would display the differences and trade-offs while using a thunderbolt over USB 3.0 or vice versa. – Infusion of Wormwood n Asfodel Aug 16 '13 at 08:19

1 Answers1

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Thunderbolt is a communication protocol and interconnect developed by Intel. The main advantage of thunderbolt (especially Thunderbolt 2) is its enormous bandwidth: 10 GB/s (20GB/s for Thunderbolt 2).

However, Thunderbolt is not a cheap interconnect. Both the Thunderbolt controllers (usually integrated into Intel's chipsets) and cables are costly.

The process of adoption of a new communication protocol is always slow. Thunderbolt was released in 2011 (if I'm not mistaken) and is gradually getting more widespread support.

However, it is not that the fastest interconnect will eliminate the need in a slower one. The competition between interconnects and protocols has always been more than just an engineering battle. There are marketing, economical, political and psychological factors involved here, therefore it is impossible to predict which interconnect will get the most widespread use in, say, 3 years.

On the other hand, one does not need to be a prophet to estimate what will happen in the nearest future: due to widespread adoption of USB2.0 interconnect, the fact that USB3.0 is backward compatible with USB2.0 and the fact that USB2.0 is forward compatible with USB3.0 (at bandwidth of USB2.0 though), USB3.0 will be the main peripheral interconnect for at least one year from now.

For the comparison of Thunderbolt against USB 3.0 follow this link.

Vasiliy
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