Everything You Need to Know about Thunderbolt 4
New Thunderbolt 4 features
Thunderbolt 4 does add some new features, too (both host and device-based), such as:
Host
Where Thunderbolt 3 was required to support only one external 4K monitor, now every Thunderbolt 4 laptop has to support up to two 4K displays or one 8K display.
Thunderbolt 4 now ensures that you can wake a computer with the shake of a mouse or the tap of a keyboard on Thunderbolt 4 docks. This wasn’t always the case with Thunderbolt 3.
Thunderbolt 4 is also a more data-safe technology, as it requires Intel VT-d-based direct memory access (DMA) protection, also known as DMA remapping.
Thunderbolt 4 requires storage speeds up to 3,000MBps, which is double the minimum requirements of Thunderbolt 3. With Thunderbolt 4, you will have all four lanes of PCI Express available – so PCIe can use up to 32Gbps of the total 40Gbps Thunderbolt bandwidth. With Thunderbolt 3, depending on your laptop manufacturer and model, some would only see 16Gbps of PCIe bandwidth.
Cable + Device
Another advantage of Thunderbolt 4 is that cables can be up to 2 meters long and still handle 40Gbps bandwidth and DisplayPort capability. Previously, passive Thunderbolt 3 cables had to be less than 1 meter to handle full bandwidth and support DisplayPort.
Device
You’ve always been able to “daisy chain” Thunderbolt devices, but with Thunderbolt 4 hubbing, you can now have up to four Thunderbolt ports in a hub or dock – each in a separate “branch” that can be disconnected without affecting any of the other Thunderbolt devices connected in other ports.
Thunderbolt 4 does add some new features, too (both host and device-based), such as:
Host
Where Thunderbolt 3 was required to support only one external 4K monitor, now every Thunderbolt 4 laptop has to support up to two 4K displays or one 8K display.
Thunderbolt 4 now ensures that you can wake a computer with the shake of a mouse or the tap of a keyboard on Thunderbolt 4 docks. This wasn’t always the case with Thunderbolt 3.
Thunderbolt 4 is also a more data-safe technology, as it requires Intel VT-d-based direct memory access (DMA) protection, also known as DMA remapping.
Thunderbolt 4 requires storage speeds up to 3,000MBps, which is double the minimum requirements of Thunderbolt 3. With Thunderbolt 4, you will have all four lanes of PCI Express available – so PCIe can use up to 32Gbps of the total 40Gbps Thunderbolt bandwidth. With Thunderbolt 3, depending on your laptop manufacturer and model, some would only see 16Gbps of PCIe bandwidth.
Cable + Device
Another advantage of Thunderbolt 4 is that cables can be up to 2 meters long and still handle 40Gbps bandwidth and DisplayPort capability. Previously, passive Thunderbolt 3 cables had to be less than 1 meter to handle full bandwidth and support DisplayPort.
Device
You’ve always been able to “daisy chain” Thunderbolt devices, but with Thunderbolt 4 hubbing, you can now have up to four Thunderbolt ports in a hub or dock – each in a separate “branch” that can be disconnected without affecting any of the other Thunderbolt devices connected in other ports.
