Apple Releases New MacBook Pros…. But That’s Not The Real Story

This week, Apple released new MacBook Pros. The specs are here, and some early benchmarks show they’re screaming fast. But there’s one area that you really need to focus on. That is a new feature on these MacBook Pros called Thunderbolt. What is that you ask? Simple. It’s based on Intel’s Light Peak technology and the technology essentially combines PCI Express and DisplayPort into one protocol, allowing displays and other peripherals to be driven off of the same bus. Want to plug in a monitor? Go ahead. Want two monitors? Go ahead. Want two monitors and a external hard drive? Go ahead. How fast is it? How does 10 Gbps sound? Makes USB 3.0 sound slow doesn’t it? All of this comes via a single DisplayPort connector. Impressive isn’t it? Want stuff to plug into Thunderbolt? Lacie and Promise have committed to make devices that exploit this technology. Expect more to appear shortly.

Now here’s the big news. Apple in my opinion is several months to a year ahead of every other computer manufacturer when it comes to the use of this technology. You’ll have to buy a new Mac (for now) to get one as there are no plans to have any sort of upgrade path for existing Macs or PC for that matter. But that happens when a technology leap like this takes place.

I can’t wait to get my hands on one.

 

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