Thunderbolt 5: Intel leaks new standard with 80 Gbit/s and USB Type-C

The fifth generation of Intel’s Thunderbolt technology is said to be a quantum leap. On his trip through Israel, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Client Computing Group, Gregory M. Bryant, leaked exciting details about Thunderbolt 5.

80G PHY: Thunderbolt 5 with speed record

While Gregory M. Bryant was sharing impressions of his Israel trip via Twitter, the EVP accidentally leaked details of the new Thunderbolt 5 standard, internally named “80G PHY.”

Shortly after, the photo showing the successor to Thunderbolt 4 was already deleted again. However, Anandtech managed to take a screenshot of it beforehand. According to the photo, Intel plans to double the data rate in the generation change: Thunderbolt 5 is supposed to reach a full 80 Gbit/s and continue to rely on USB Type-C, while the pulse amplitude modulation PAM-3 will be used.

Day 1 with the @intel Israel team in the books. Great views…incredible opp to see @GetThunderbolt innovation …a validation lab tour and time with the team…can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings! pic.twitter.com/GKOddA6TNi

– Gregory M Bryant (@gregorymbryant) August 1, 2021

This speed will be achieved primarily through a new type of encoding and decoding. According to the description, a corresponding test chip is manufactured in the 6nm process – since Intel itself does not manufacture corresponding chips, it is assumed that these are contributed by TSMC.

It is currently unclear when a presentation of the Thunderbolt 5 technology can be expected. There were five years between the 40 Gbit/s fast Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4. The latter was only introduced in 2020 and currently serves as the basis for the current USB4 standard.