Intel is expected to bring its new Thunderbolt I/O technology to PC’s in April 2012. The super-fast data transfer tech has only been available in certain Apple products, but it is now expected to be rolled out to the PC market.
According to Digitimes, Intel is ready to starting bringing the new tech, which is expected to replace USB, to PC’s that carry the new 22nm Ivy Bridge processors, which will also available in April.
Intel is hoping that if they get Thunderbolt out to as many devices as possible this will give them the edge over its fierce rival USB 3.0, which is another next-gen I/O tech – but Intel is supporting both technologies with Ivy Bridge processors.
Both technologies offer incredible transfer speeds compared to FireWire and the current king USB 2.0. USB 3.0 is ten times faster than the current tech, with Thunerbolt twice as fast again – but the beauty of Thunderbolt is that any one machine would only need one port.
Thunderbolt device’s come with both an in and out port, which means instead of having five peripherals plugged into the back of your PC, you can daisy chained them together with only one device having to be attached to your machine.
Back in September, Asus and Acer announced they’d be launching Thunderbolt-compatible PC products in 2012, so expect these two to be among the front runners in April when products start appearing.
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