
Thunderbolt 3 becomes USB4, royalty-free - yssrn
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/03/thunderbolt-3-becomes-usb4-as-intels-interconnect-goes-royalty-free/
======
HeWhoLurksLate
Is anybody else here still really confused by USB-IF's decisions recently?
From what I can tell:

Formerly-USB_3.0 was "USB_3.1 Gen1" is now _USB 3.1_

Formerly-USB_3.1 was "USB_3.1 Gen2" is now _USB 3.2 Gen2_

The new thing, which is essentially a double-width now- _USB-3.2 Gen2_ bus, is
_USB Gen2x2_ "

Mix this with a new connector, and we now have:

USB-type-C, _but it 's actually USB-2.0 in a Type-C connector_

USB-type-C Thunderbolt, which is USB-type-C plus Thunderbolt, which can then
carry DisplayPort.

USB-type-C:

and probably a million different implementations of power over USB-type-C.

Dear Intel, please keep the Thunderbolt name and numbering scheme!

Thunderbolt (1) (Mini-DisplayPort connector)

Thunderbolt 2 (Mini-DisplayPort connector)

Thunderbolt 3 (uses USB-Type C)

Theirs is _so_ much better.

 _Edited more than once for formatting._

~~~
TylerE
Disappointed, but not confused. The USB team has consistently screwed the
pooch so it’s not surprising when they do it again.

------
Leace
I've been using Thunderbolt 3 for years now (through Dell's TB16 dock station
and XPS 9350) and have mixed feelings about it. It's definitely cool to
connect only one wire and have everything plugged in but it leaves much to be
desired in practice.

For example, currently the dock frequently disconnects and reconnects itself
on OS start. I've reproduced it on Windows and on Linux. Another thing is that
the connector is kind of brittle. I get it that now everything goes through it
but sometimes touching it by accident (e.g. when putting a glass of water)
disconnects everything once in a while. Sometimes the USB 3.0 part of the dock
doesn't start. Requires powering the entire dock off and on again. Again,
reproduced in Windows and Linux and over several iterations of the hardware
(both the dock and my laptop). This is just a couple of issues I've got now,
it was worse before.

What started as a nice idea doesn't work for me in practice and I'll be sure
that my next computer will be just a regular PC keeping the setup boring and
simple.

I'm wonder what are your experiences with Thunderbolt 3 in daily usage? (if
possible please mention your setup).

~~~
wslh
Using Dell XPS 13 (9365) and Dell TB16 in Windows with three monitors. My
experience is great except for months where USBs were not recognized and I
couldn't use the dock because I couldn't use the keyboard and mouse. I assume
the problem was fixed after some drivers/firmware updates. I continue to see
some issues that I can tolerate.

I love the vision of the Thunderbolt technology because you can have a
standard way to switch your notebook to a desktop mode using a single cable
but at the same time it is clear that Windows and Windows based notebooks live
in "no man's land", there is no good integration and nobody to blame about the
hardware and software integration.

I imagine in the future you can have good eGPU support and may be additional
processors.

~~~
Leace
Thanks for sharing your setup & experience!

------
Matthias247
I found the title a bit misleading. It suggests that USB4 might get a synonym
for Thunderbolt 3. But it seems more like the technology will get incorporated
to a certain extend into USB4.

As long as it hasn't been exactly specified what gets included, it is probably
too soon to assume that USB4 will always be compatible with Thunderbolt3.

------
MR4D
HA! They followed my naming convention !! (
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19258939](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19258939)
)

Ok, that's probably just a coincidence...but still. :)

~~~
yssrn
The funny thing is that "USB4" doesn't have a space in the name while "USB
3.2", which they just rebranded everything else as last week, has a space. It
has to be some kind of magnificent troll.

~~~
MR4D
It's almost as if a secret RS-232 spy got onto the naming committee and is
doing everything possible to derail the standard and bring back the parallel
port.

~~~
bestham
But RS-232 is serial. Maybe the IEEE 1294 guy joined the committee?

------
robbiet480
Marco Arment is going to have a fit on this week's ATP.

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ksec
If only they could mandate the use of USB-C Connector with a certain level of
quality assurance. Otherwise we might get another renaming.

USB 3.0 -> USB 3.1 Gen 1 -> USB 3.2 Gen 1 -> USB 4.0 Gen 1

And we might end up with USB Type A Cable that only support USB 4.0 Gen 1.

------
ris
So... USB4 will be hideously insecure by default?

~~~
bjoli
Is Thunderbolt worse than USB??!

Edit: my god. It is just like a hot-pluggable PCI. DMA for everyone!

~~~
linksnapzz
IIRC, Firewire had/has the same issue; DMA from whereever you please...this
was known years ago, but I guess this is a hard problem to solve for high-
bandwidth low-latency IO devices....

