Apple & Intel Develop 10Gbps Light Peak Universal Connector

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You can’t say you’re not excited about the prospect of USB 3.0. The new standard is official and all we need now are gadgets capable of using it. We have shown you the other day the first USB 3.0 hard drive, the Freecom XS 3.0, and we can expect even more USB 3.0-ready devices to appear in the following months. But how successful will USB 3.0 really be? Sure it’s 10 times faster than USB 2.0 but do you know what’s coming? It’s called Light Peak and it’s the hottest new connector in town.
Light Peak is an out of the box idea conceived by Apple in 2007 and developed by Intel at Apple’s request. Light Peak is a new optical standard that’s currently developed for future Apple ultrathin laptops and tablets but it will surely become more popular than that. It’s not just a simple new connector; it’s an universal connector which will offer 10Gbps speeds. Imagine having a couple of Light Peak ports available that would be able to handle FireWire, USB, Display Interface and even Ethernet.

The prospect of not having to worry that your slimmest laptop can’t play nice with all your other equipment is certainly very interesting. And it’s not just Apple computers that will use Light Peak ports as Intel will probably offer it to other platforms too. Who would be able to refuse a speedy Light Peak port? Every computer maker out there will want to offer it to their customers once Intel makes it available.

Does that mean that you shouldn’t upgrade to USB 3.0? Absolutely not! It’s going to be a while until Apple can release Light Peak so why miss out on USB 3.0? We’re probably going to see Light Peak next fall the when the new Macs will hit the streets just in time for school. Then in 2011 a low-power version of Light Peak will hit handhelds and cell phones (think iPhone 5th generation.) Of course, at this time we don’t have any specific details about these upcoming products.