Monday saw Intel take the covers off of Thunderbolt Networking, which allows a Mac and PC to transfer data at up to 10 gigabits over an emulated Ethernet connection.
Mac users with Thunderbolt 2-equipped Macs running the latest version of Apple’s desktop operating system, OS X Mavericks, will be able to take advantage of the feature as soon as Intel makes it available, the chipmaker said in a release. A PC driver allowing data transfer across operating systems will be available “soon.”
Although Thunderbolt already had the ability to carry networking signals, it was practically limited to a 1 gigabit per second throughput. While Thunderbolt Networking increases that limit by an order of magnitude, it appears to be limited to two computers for now.
No date has been given for when Thunderbolt Networking will become widely available. Intel is currently giving demos of the technology at the annual National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas. It’s believed that the increased transfer speed will be widely appreciated, as the industry moves toward ultra-high resolution 4K video, and it’s resulting increase in video file sizes.
