Thunderbolt 3 Speed Is Capped on Apple’s 12-Inch MacBook

Apple wanted to bring revolutionary technology with its new super slim 12-inch MacBook and it did with the USB Type-C port. Unfortunately, those of you wanting to reach top speeds with Thunderbolt 3 will have to wait a bit longer, according to Intel.

Intel announced that its Thunderbolt 3 can transfer up to 40 Gbps, an enormous amount of data, but we won’t see that speed just yet. Though the company did make a smart move to merge the connectors with the USB Type-C protocol, we will only see it work at USB 3.0 speeds for now. This means only 5 Gbps transfer rates will apply when using Thunderbolt 3 on a USB Type-C connector, which is pretty disappointing.

However, this roadblock will not sit around forever. The Thunderbolt 3 speeds will be capped until manufacturers upgrade their controllers to support the enormous 40 Gbps transfer rates, so current MacBooks and even Google’s Pixel will just have to do with 5 Gbps speeds for now. In order to achieve top speeds, Thunderbolt 3 ports are still the best way and can be distinguished from normal USB Type-C connections by their proprietary Thunderbolt logo.

On the other hand, once proper controllers will be added to future MacBooks and other laptops, Thunderbolt 3 will make a huge difference. For example, Thunderbolt 3 is currently able to connect two 4K monitors simultaneously to a computer and is able to transfer a 4K movie in just 30 seconds. In addition, the Thunderbolt 3 is able to output up to 100 watts and is also able to handle 8K video with ease, so there’s a lot of potential in the tech.

Thank you PCWorld for providing us with this information