Your Exclusive Sneak Peek at Our Game-Changing Thunderbolt 5 Solutions

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The OWC booth at Pepcom (foreground) with a preproduction Thunderbolt 5 drive (inset).

As you know, Thunderbolt 5 is coming. The next generation of Intel’s breakthrough data port standard will be its most versatile to date, doubling bandwidth for faster, more reliable data transfer speeds, and improved support for high-resolution displays and pass through charging.

Here at OWC, we offer more Thunderbolt products than any other manufacturer. So, as the Thunderbolt experts, our engineering teams here at OWC are hard at work putting the finishing touches on our Thunderbolt 5 solutions. In fact, these products are so close to finished that we decided to give attendees to Pepcom and CES a preview and demonstration of these cutting-edge Thunderbolt 5 devices.

During both shows we demonstrated the capabilities of two Thunderbolt 5 multiport docks and one bus-powered Thunderbolt 5 drive. Each of these devices harness the bandwidth-doubling power of Thunderbolt 5.

Prototype Thunderbolt 5 drive and dock, side by side. These are preproduction models and may differ from the final products. Image credit: Mitsuru Utsunomiya/PC Watch

Because the previous two generations of Thunderbolt were based on PCIe Gen3, they offered 40Gbps of bandwidth for connected devices. Thunderbolt 5, on the other hand is based on updated USB4, DisplayPort 2.1 standards, and PCIe Generation 4. This allows Thunderbolt 5 to boost bi-directional bandwidth to allow for data transfer rates of up to 80Gbps.

A preproduction OWC Thunderbolt 5 drive. As a Thunderbolt 5 device, the drive will support data transfer speeds up to 80Gbps. (Pen for scale.)

But that’s not all. Because of the growing need for improved support for multiple high-resolution displays in many professional workflows, Thunderbolt 5 also includes support for a Bandwidth Boost feature. When Thunderbolt 5 detects video-intensive usage, it is able to flex bandwidth from 80Gbps to 120Gbps, allowing it to support multiple 8K monitors, three 4K monitors at 144Hz, and refresh rates up to an incredible 540Hz for gamers.

Ports on one of our preproduction Thunderbolt 5 docks. Thunderbolt 5 allows for bandwidth flexing up to 120Gbps to support 8K displays. Image credit: Prototype Thunderbolt 5 drive and dock, side by side. These are preproduction models and may differ from the final products. Image credit: Mitsuru Utsunomiya/PC Watch

This Bandwidth Boost illustrates well the extreme flexibility of Thunderbolt 5 and how much benefit users will receive thanks to the doubling of available bandwidth. This flexibility is made possible by Thunderbolt 5 ability to dynamically rebalance bandwidth, allowing for three PCIe lanes at 40Gbps to flow in one direction (120Gbps total), and one lane at 40Gbps to flow in the other direction.

Finally, Thunderbolt 5 will also enable devices to supply up to 240w of available power—more than double the amount currently possible. This makes Thunderbolt 5 the no-compromise, total package data port: reliable, high-speed data transfer; high-resolution, high refresh rate monitors; and powerful pass through charging—all in a single, flippable, reversible cable.

“We’ve been at the forefront, embracing new Thunderbolt technologies early on, and take pride in providing the most extensive range of Thunderbolt solutions globally,” says Larry O’Connor, Founder and CEO of OWC. “Introducing Thunderbolt 5 to our customers is an exciting venture, enabling us to create even more innovative products.”

Keep your eyes peeled for OWC’s new Thunderbolt 5 solutions later this summer at macsales.com.

1 Comment

Kelv1n says:

July 16, 2024 at 9:18 am

Please tell me the Dock has 10GbE NIC? I’m a huge fan of your TB3 Pro Dock, to be honest, with TB5, you could add 2x10GbE.

I’m pretty appaled by the state of the Dock industry at present, I’m not sure if vendors are just trying to use up existing stock, but only including 2.5GbE (and often still 1GbE), and expecting people to pay £400-600..