Mac Thunderbolt Ports Compatible with Upcoming Fiber Optic Cables

From DailyTech: Intel announced that Apple's present Mac computers will have Thunderbolt ports that are compatible with fiber optic cables.

Fiber optic cables will offer faster data transfer speeds, and will be able to provide data transfers over distances of "tens of meters," according to Macworld. Current copper cables, on the other hand, provide data transfers over distances of up to six meters, and offer slower data speeds than optical cables.

The Thunderbolt interconnect technology based on copper, which has a transfer data speed of 10Gbps between host and external gadgets, was released on the MacBook Pro in February 2011. Optic cables are expected to be released next year.

While there are many advantages to optical cables, there is one major downfall: cost. Optical cables will only take off if people are willing to pay for faster data transfers, and adoption of the technology could take years.

But Apple is pushing the adoption of optic cables through its Thunderbolt ports, which are compatible. Also, Asustek Computer and Acer will offer PCs with optic-compatible Thunderbolt ports as well, which are expected to be released next year.

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