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Intel

276 'Intel' stories August 2010 - April 2011
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Thunderbolt uptake expected as Intel promises development kits

Avatar for 9to5 Staff Apr 13 2011 - 3:27 am PT
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Thunderbolt interconnect, a technology jointly developed by Apple and Intel which debuted February 24 on the new MacBook Pros, will become widely available to third-parties this quarter via the official development kit, Intel said yesterday. This is important for Mac users eager to take advantage of this technology.

Even though pundits had initially slammed Intel for limiting Thunderbolt to the new MacBook Pros, even saying this would spell doom for the new technology, the early release of an SDK means we can expect a lot of Thunderbolt-enabled products by the year’s end. In addition to Mac notebooks, Intel is working with other players to embrace Thunderbolt. At NAB 2011 several video and storage companion products from AJA, BlackMagic, Matrox, Sonnet, G-Tech, Promise and La Cie are being demoed.

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Matrox announces 7 Thunderbolt products

Avatar for Seth Weintraub Apr 10 2011 - 4:32 pm PT
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image via Allan Tepper

We’re getting some information out of NAB that Matrox just announced it will be first to market with 7 products on built on Thunderbolt including an adapter that will allow all older MXO family products to work with Thunderbolt enabled Macs.

Update: Matrox just updated its Facebook Page with this:

Exiting News from Matrox just released at NAB: Thunderbolt support for all existing and new MXO2 Products! Full Connectivity with all platforms for video playback, capture and streaming, on laptops or desktops (PC & MAC). Thunderbolt adapter can be purchased separately for existing MXO2 Owners, or can be bundled with any new MXO2 Product.


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iFixit tears down the new MacBook Pros

Avatar for Seth Weintraub Feb 24 2011 - 8:50 pm PT
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The iFixit MacBook Pro Quad-Core Intel i7-2630QM Mobile Processor (labeled as 2V041112A0127) isn’t chock full of surprises but here’s what they found:

  • AMD Radeon HD 6490M GPU (labeled as AMD 216-00809000)
  • Quad-Core Intel i7-2629M Mobile Processor (labeled as 2V041112A0127)
  • Broadcom BCM57765B0KMLG Integrated Gigabit Ethernet and Memory Card Reader Controller
  • Intel L051NB32 EFL (we assume this is the Thunderbolt port controller) – pictured below
  • Parade PS8301 U08FUC
  • TDK 6T213HF 1045 H


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First Thunderbolt products already available from LaCie and Promise

Avatar for Seth Weintraub Feb 24 2011 - 12:39 pm PT
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LaCie is one of the first Light Peak partners to announce a Thunderbolt Drive with their Little Big Disk SSDs which promise to deliver absurd data speeds.   Speaking of Promise, they also have a Thunderbolt RAID device in the works, the very same one that Apple posted on their Thunderbolt page (below) which appears to be on the beefier side.

Neither have prices or shipping dates but if you have to ask how much these cost…


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A good demonstration of Light Peak/Thunderbolt

Avatar for Seth Weintraub Feb 23 2011 - 12:28 pm PT
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What I don’t immediately understand is how this is going to work with my current MacBook Pro/monitor setup. It would seem that if I got a new MBP and a Thunderbolt external hard drive that the hard drive would have two Thunderbolt ports and I could daisy chain them, still using my current monitor? Or do I have to buy a new monitor that understands Thunderbolt? Anyone?

Also, while we are on the subject, this new cable would allow you to put your noisy Mac Pro in a basement/closet somewhere and just run a cable up through the floor to your monitor/keyboard/trackpad/peripherals.

Now that that is in your head, imagine what a company of 5,000 could do with this tech (after some serious rewiring).

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Is this the new MacBook Pro Thunderbolt port?

Avatar for Seth Weintraub Feb 23 2011 - 4:22 am PT
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In the New MacBook Pro leaked box picture it said that the Thunderbolt port was also the Mini DisplayPort.  So that makes the below picture a bit more manageable on the brain.  Notice the Thunderbolt is where the Display port is/used to be:

(click twice for full sized image)

We’re still trying to wrap our heads around this.  Will there be a new MiniDisplayPort switch/cable that connects to your monitor and then connects to other devices?    Discuss below…


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CES: Light Peak ain't ready for prime time

Avatar for 9to5 Staff Jan 6 2011 - 4:45 am PT
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We’ve been hoping Light Peak might make an appearance in new Macs since the technology first made an appearance working with a lab demo Mac Pro in 2009. We’ve been excited for the super-fast and super-flexible connectivity standard ever since — now it seems there’s a way to go before its ready to hit the market, according to Intel.


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