The new Thunderbolt 5 standard is coming. What's new?

Thunderbolt 5 will be integrated into new devices in 2024 and will offer up to 3 times faster speeds than Thunderbolt 4, with data transfer rates of up to 120 gigabits per second (Gbps).

Thunderbolt 4 didn't bring many significant improvements over Thunderbolt 3. It was created primarily to force computer manufacturers to adhere to stricter technical standards than they had with Thunderbolt 3. But the new Thunderbolt 5 standard brings some massive bandwidth improvements. Thunderbolt 5 will offer 80 Gbps of bilateral bandwidth, and with Bandwidth Boost it will provide up to the already mentioned 120 Gbps.

Thunderbolt 5 can provide 240W of charging power for Mac or Windows computers. Apple's 16-inch MacBook Pro currently supports 240W PD 3.1, but not through its Thunderbolt 4 port, which is rated for PD 3.0 and limited to 100W. Thunderbolt 5 could thus greatly increase charging power.

Thunderbolt 5 also supports DisplayPort 2.1, and the current Thunderbolt 4 standard supports HBR3 version 1.4. DisplayPort 2.1 supports a maximum resolution of 10K (10240 x 4320 at 60 Hz) on a single display. DisplayPort 1.4, meanwhile, supports 8K resolution. It also includes an improved version of Display Stream Compression (DSC 1.2a) that improves bandwidth management.

We can expect Thunderbolt 5 to be released in conjunction with a similar but not identical next version of USB4, currently known as USB4 V2. It will most likely be the USB5 version. Intel says that the increase in speed with Thunderbolt 5 is necessary to meet the "growing needs of content creators and gamers", so it is not intended for users of office programs or browsers.

Such astonishing speeds will enable ultra-high-resolution displays, low-latency graphics for an immersive gaming experience, and backup or transfer of huge video and data files. Thunderbolt 5 should also support much higher refresh rates for 4K and 8K monitors.