Thunderbolt (interface)

Thunderbolt
Production history
Designer	Apple; Intel;
Manufacturer	Various
Produced	Since 24 February 2011
Superseded	IEEE 1394 (FireWire); ExpressCard;
General specifications
Length	Up to 3 metres (10 ft) (copper); Up to 60 metres (200 ft) (optical);
Width	7.4 mm plug (8.3 mm receptacle)
Height	4.5 mm plug (5.4 mm receptacle)
Hot pluggable	Yes
Daisy chain	Up to 6 devices; Thunderbolt 4: Hub support;
External	Yes
Audio signal	Via DisplayPort protocol or USB-based external audio cards. Supports audio through HDMI converters.
Video signal	Via DisplayPort protocol
Pins	Thunderbolt 1 and 2: 20; Thunderbolt 3, 4 and 5: 24;
Connector	Thunderbolt 1 and 2: Mini DisplayPort; Thunderbolt 3, 4, and 5: USB-C;
Electrical
Max. voltage	18 V (bus power)
Max. current	550 mA (9.9 W max.)
Data
Data signal	Yes
Bitrate	Thunderbolt 1: 2 channels, 10 Gbit/s each (20 Gbit/s in total); Thunderbolt 2: 20 Gbit/s in total; Thunderbolt 3 and 4: 40 Gbit/s bidirectional; Thunderbolt 5: 80 Gbit/s bidirectional;
Protocol	Thunderbolt 1: x4 PCI Express 2.0 DisplayPort 1.1a; Thunderbolt 2: x4 PCI Express 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2; Thunderbolt 3: x4 PCI Express 3.0, DisplayPort 1.2, USB 3.1 Gen 2; Thunderbolt 4: x4 PCI Express 3.0, DisplayPort 2.0, USB4; Thunderbolt 5: x4 PCI Express 4.0, DisplayPort 2.1, USB4;
Pinout
Pin 1	GND
Pin 2	HPD
Pin 3	HS0TX(P)
Pin 4	HS0RX(P)
Pin 5	HS0TX(N)
Pin 6	HS0RX(N)
Pin 7	GND
Pin 8	GND
Pin 9	LSR2P TX
Pin 10	GND
Pin 11	LSP2R RX
Pin 12	GND
Pin 13	GND
Pin 14	GND
Pin 15	HS1TX(P)
Pin 16	HS1RX(P)
Pin 17	HS1TX(N)
Pin 18	HS1RX(N)
Pin 19	GND
Pin 20	DPPWR
	This is the pinout for both sides of the connector, source side and sink side. The cable is actually a crossover cable. It swaps all receive and transmit lanes; e.g. HS1TX(P) of the source is connected to HS1RX(P) of the sink.

Thunderbolt is the brand name of a hardware interface for the connection of external peripherals to a computer. It was developed by Intel in collaboration with Apple.^[7]^[8] It was initially marketed under the name Light Peak, and first sold as part of an end-user product on 24 February 2011.^[1]

Thunderbolt combines PCI Express (PCIe) and DisplayPort (DP) into two serial signals,^[9]^[10] and additionally provides DC power via a single cable. Up to six peripherals may be supported by one connector through various topologies. Thunderbolt 1 and 2 use the same connector as Mini DisplayPort (MDP), whereas Thunderbolt 3, 4, and 5 use the USB-C connector, and support USB devices.

^ ^a ^b "Apple Updates MacBook Pro with Next Generation Processors, Graphics & Thunderbolt I/O Technology" (Press release). Apple. 24 February 2011. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Thunderbolt – Technology Brief". Intel. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
^ Cite error: The named reference TB 4 hub was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference TB4 Press deck was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b "Thunderbolt Device Driver Programming Guide". Apple. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
^ Cite error: The named reference faq was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Shamah, David. "Thunderbolt 3: How USB cooperation could lead to 100 million connected computers soon". ZDNet. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
^ Shah, Agam (6 June 2013). "Intel shows 'world's fastest thumb drive'". Computerworld. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
^ Frakes, Dan (24 February 2011). "What you need to know about Thunderbolt". MacWorld. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
^ Cunningham, Andrew. "USB 3.1 and Type-C: The only stuff at CES that everyone is going to use".

[2011mbp-1] "Apple Updates MacBook Pro with Next Generation Processors, Graphics & Thunderbolt I/O Technology" (Press release). Apple. 24 February 2011. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2011.

[intelbrief2012-2] "Thunderbolt – Technology Brief". Intel. Retrieved 1 October 2012.

[TB_4_hub-3] Cite error: The named reference TB 4 hub was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[TB4_Press_deck-4] Cite error: The named reference TB4 Press deck was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[programmingguide-5] "Thunderbolt Device Driver Programming Guide". Apple. Retrieved 21 December 2011.

[faq-6] Cite error: The named reference faq was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[7] Shamah, David. "Thunderbolt 3: How USB cooperation could lead to 100 million connected computers soon". ZDNet. Retrieved 26 August 2021.

[8] Shah, Agam (6 June 2013). "Intel shows 'world's fastest thumb drive'". Computerworld. Retrieved 26 August 2021.

[9] Frakes, Dan (24 February 2011). "What you need to know about Thunderbolt". MacWorld. Retrieved 17 April 2019.

[cunningham2015-10] Cunningham, Andrew. "USB 3.1 and Type-C: The only stuff at CES that everyone is going to use".

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Production history

Designer	Apple Intel
Manufacturer	Various
Produced	Since 24 February 2011; 13 years ago (2011-02-24)^[1]
Superseded	IEEE 1394 (FireWire) ExpressCard
General specifications
Length	Up to 3 metres (10 ft) (copper) Up to 60 metres (200 ft) (optical)^[2]
Width	7.4 mm plug (8.3 mm receptacle)
Height	4.5 mm plug (5.4 mm receptacle)
Hot pluggable	Yes
Daisy chain	Up to 6 devices^[2] Thunderbolt 4: Hub support^[3]^[4]
External	Yes
Audio signal	Via DisplayPort protocol or USB-based external audio cards. Supports audio through HDMI converters.
Video signal	Via DisplayPort protocol
Pins	Thunderbolt 1 and 2: 20 Thunderbolt 3, 4 and 5: 24
Connector	Thunderbolt 1 and 2: Mini DisplayPort Thunderbolt 3, 4, and 5: USB-C
Electrical
Max. voltage	18 V (bus power)
Max. current	550 mA (9.9 W max.)
Data
Data signal	Yes
Bitrate	Thunderbolt 1: 2 channels, 10 Gbit/s each (20 Gbit/s in total)^[5] Thunderbolt 2: 20 Gbit/s in total Thunderbolt 3 and 4: 40 Gbit/s bidirectional Thunderbolt 5: 80 Gbit/s bidirectional
Protocol	Thunderbolt 1: x4 PCI Express 2.0^[5] DisplayPort 1.1a^[2] Thunderbolt 2: x4 PCI Express 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2 Thunderbolt 3: x4 PCI Express 3.0, DisplayPort 1.2,^[6] USB 3.1 Gen 2 Thunderbolt 4: x4 PCI Express 3.0, DisplayPort 2.0, USB4 Thunderbolt 5: x4 PCI Express 4.0, DisplayPort 2.1, USB4
Pinout
Pin 1	GND	Ground
Pin 2	HPD	Hot plug detect
Pin 3	HS0TX(P)	HighSpeed transmit 0 (positive)
Pin 4	HS0RX(P)	HighSpeed receive 0 (positive)
Pin 5	HS0TX(N)	HighSpeed transmit 0 (negative)
Pin 6	HS0RX(N)	HighSpeed receive 0 (negative)
Pin 7	GND	Ground
Pin 8	GND	Ground
Pin 9	LSR2P TX	LowSpeed transmit
Pin 10	GND	Ground (reserved)
Pin 11	LSP2R RX	LowSpeed receive
Pin 12	GND	Ground (reserved)
Pin 13	GND	Ground
Pin 14	GND	Ground
Pin 15	HS1TX(P)	HighSpeed transmit 1 (positive)
Pin 16	HS1RX(P)	HighSpeed receive 1 (positive)
Pin 17	HS1TX(N)	HighSpeed transmit 1 (negative)
Pin 18	HS1RX(N)	HighSpeed receive 1 (negative)
Pin 19	GND	Ground
Pin 20	DPPWR	Power
This is the pinout for both sides of the connector, source side and sink side. The cable is actually a crossover cable. It swaps all receive and transmit lanes; e.g. HS1TX(P) of the source is connected to HS1RX(P) of the sink.