Intel makes Thunderbolt 5 official, promising speeds of up to 120Gbps

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Illustration of the Thunderbolt 5 cable
Image: Intel
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Intel is making Thunderbolt 5 official today with promises of up to 120Gbps speeds, theoretical support for 540Hz gaming monitors, 240 watts of charging power, and much more. While the Thunderbolt 5 specification is now official, accessories and PCs won’t debut with support for Thunderbolt 5 until 2024.

Built on USB4 v2, Thunderbolt 5 will be compatible with previous versions of Thunderbolt and USB. While Thunderbolt 4 supported up to 40Gbps speeds, Thunderbolt 5 can transmit data at 80Gbps or up to 120Gbps in a Bandwidth Boost mode. This mode requires a high-bandwidth display; otherwise, Thunderbolt 5 supports 80Gbps bidirectional speeds.

Image: Intel
Thunderbolt 5 has some big bandwidth boosts.

Thunderbolt 5…

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