Monday, September 5, 2011

Apple consider USB 3.0?

Our pal on LG Nilsson on VR Zone has posted a story that apparently Apple are taking a look at integrating USB 3.0 technology on some of their products.  Apple has so far resisted USB 3.0 in favor its proprietary ThunderBolt connectivity, co-developed with Intel. The motive for this change if heart is apparently price, as USB 3.0 controller chips are now approaching very affordable levels; were ThunderBolt controllers cost 10 to 15 dollars, USB 3.0 equivalents arte a fraction of the price at around two to three dollars a piece.

APPLE-horz

In addition, USB 3.0 offers end users better compatibility than ThunderBolt, with the standard becoming more mature with more and more USB 3.0 compliant devices appearing on the market. If Apple drops its ThunderBolt-only policy, this will help to propel USB 3.0 further as the de-facto, and indeed ‘universal’ standard. Which is good news as far as we are concerned.

GIGABYTE was one of the first motherboard manufacturers to integrate USB 3.0 controllers on its motherboards, with most of today’s boards boasting several USB 3.0 ports on the back panel IO and pin headers for front panel chassis ports. Let’s hope that Apple soon sees the wisdom of having USB 3.0 connectivity on its products, so that the advantages of fast data transfers and charging can become even more universal.

gbt-usb

For those of you who are interested, check out our USB 3.0 certification page. The list of certified USB 3.0 devices is now as long as your arm, and growing. Let’s hope we’ll one day see Apple devices listed there too.

Source: VR Zone

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