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Thunderbolt 5 is REAL
Intel’s Next-Gen Thunderbolt Technology
Free the Flow
With a total of 80 Gbps of bi-directional bandwidth, Thunderbolt 5 has 2x the bandwidth of previous generations. That means Thunderbolt 5 enables drives and hubs that don’t just move data faster, they move more data faster, sending your workflow into a bottleneck-free bliss.
Powering Performance for Creators and Gamers
Depending on your host connection, Thunderbolt 5 supports the maximum bandwidth available:
Peep Every Pixel
Nothing can complicate a desk setup faster than adding multiple displays to your workflow. Not only does a Thunderbolt 5 hub or dock make it easy to connect multiple Thunderbolt displays—such as Apple’s Studio Display or Pro Display XDR—with the addition of intelligent bandwidth scaling and DisplayPort 2.1 support, Thunderbolt 5 can support multiple high-resolution, high refresh rate monitors with ease.
Ports for Days… and Years
Built atop PCIe Gen 4, Thunderbolt 5 gives you the flexibility to connect all of your tools. And with expansive hubbing capability and the assurance of forward and backward compatibility with past and future Macs, Thunderbolt 5 is a future-proof investment in your Apple workflow.
Reinventing the Daisy Chain… Again
Get more out of your ports with enhanced daisy chaining capability. With all that new extra bandwidth, Thunderbolt 5 makes daisy chain performance between hubs, drives, and displays even better.
Check Out OWC's Thunderbolt 5 Gear!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How fast is Thunderbolt 5?
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What is the difference between Thunderbolt 5 and Thunderbolt 4?
The main difference between Thunderbolt 4 and Thunderbolt 5 is all of that new available bi-directional bandwidth. By increasing bandwidth from 40Gbps to 80Gbps, Thunderbolt 5 provides more headroom for data-hungry devices such as Thunderbolt drives and high-resolution displays. Plus, Thunderbolt 5 has a special new ability to intelligently scale available bandwidth all the way up to 120Gbps when it notices video-intensive use.
What Macs have Thunderbolt 5 support?
Thunderbolt 5 ports can be found on Macs with M4 Pro and M4 Max chips.
How many displays can I connect to my Mac over Thunderbolt 5?
The number of displays you can connect to a Mac over Thunderbolt 5 depends on the version of Apple M-Series chip inside your Mac, the display’s resolution, and the display’s refresh rate. Remember, only Macs with the M4 Pro and M4 Max currently support Thunderbolt 5.
In general, Macs with Apple’s M4 Max chip support connecting up to four (4) external displays while Macs with the M4 Pro chip support connecting up to three (3) external displays. You’ll need to check Apple’s tech specs for your Mac to see the exact number of displays your Mac supports and the supported combinations of resolution and refresh rate.
What do you mean by uni-directional, bi-directional, and intelligently scaling bandwidth?
Thunderbolt 5 devices have a special new feature that allows them to increase available bandwidth from 80Gbps of bi-directional bandwidth all the way up to 120Gbps of uni-directional bandwidth. When Thunderbolt 5 notices video-intensive use it dynamically rebalances 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.
Are Thunderbolt 5 devices compatible with Thunderbolt 4 and Thunderbolt 3 devices?
Yes! That’s part of the beaty of Thunderbolt. If you’re a Mac user, Thunderbolt 3, 4, and 5 devices play together nicely. Windows users have several compatibility exceptions they need to be aware of, however. You can check out our full guide to Thunderbolt compatibility for more.
What is daisy chaining?
Daisy chaining takes advantage of the extra Thunderbolt ports some Thunderbolt devices have. For instance, if you connect a Thunderbolt drive like the OWC ThunderBlade to your computer, you can connect another device to the extra port on the ThunderBlade—thus creating a daisy chain of devices.
How many devices can I daisy chain together with Thunderbolt 5?
Thunderbolt 5 supports daisy chains of up to six devices via one port on your host device.