“Remember how Intel showed off its new, advanced optical standard — Light Peak — this past week on a Hackintosh? Well it turns out there’s more to that story than you probably know, and it all leads back to some revealing facts about the connection… literally and figuratively. Engadget has learned — thanks to an extremely reliable source — that not only is Apple complicit in the development of Light Peak, but the company actually brought the concept to Intel and asked them to create it. More to the point, the new standard will play a hugely important role in upcoming products from Cupertino,” Joshua Topolsky reports for Engadget.
“According to documents we’ve seen and conversations we’ve had, Apple had reached out to Intel as early as 2007 with plans for an interoperable standard which could handle massive amounts of data and ‘replace the multitudinous connector types with a single connector (FireWire, USB, Display interface).’ From what we’ve learned, the initial conversations (and apparent disagreements) were had directly between Steve Jobs and Paul Otellini. If you were wondering about that Apple-blue motherboard we saw at IDF or the aforementioned Hackintosh demo, this should explain everything,” Topolsky reports. “Cupertino apparently had specific demands for the standard, including the desire for a single port solution, and an insistence that optical was the only logical choice for such a connector type. Based on the documents we had a look at, the short-term plans seem to involve a one-size-fits-all solution (somehow allowing for multiple connections but avoiding ‘double dongles’) which would enable users to connect a variety of devices into a single Light Peak port, while slightly longer-term plans will mean Light Peak obviates the need for almost every type of connector you use today. Translation: Apple products in the near future could come equipped with only a Light Peak port (or ports) to handle your networking, display driving, and general connectivity.”
Topolsky reports, “What happens next, however, is where the story really gets interesting. Based on what we’ve learned, Apple will introduce the new standard for its systems around Fall 2010 in a line of Macs destined for back-to-school shoppers — a follow-up to the ‘Spotlight turns to notebooks’ event, perhaps. Following the initial launch, there are plans to roll out a low-power variation in 2011, which could lead to more widespread adoption in handhelds and cellphones. The plans from October 2007 show a roadmap that includes Light Peak being introduced to the iPhone / iPod platform to serve as a gateway for multimedia and networking outputs. While the timing doesn’t line up, a low-powered Light Peak sounds like the kind of technology that would be perfect for a device with a need for broad connectivity but limited real estate for ports… like a tablet.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “James W.” for the heads up.]
It certainly would make sense, as Apple, or rather Steve, has long had an obsession with simpler, smaller and faster cabling solutions.
@Cubert: “deflicted”?
it would seem that even if Apple pushed and prodded Intel, and even gave them the requirements, it was Intel that implemented Light Peak, therefore it is Intel’s innovation.
Without somebody with industry wide influence, Light Peak would take the same route as FireWire. FireWire was great, but it WAS an Apple invention and it didn’t gain sufficient traction.
USB was Intel’s invention, Apple was an early adopter. USB doesn’t have the same performance as FireWire, but it was cheaper and with Intel’s backing, it came to dominate.
Apple probably realizes that if they want an interconnection standard to take hold so that the peripheral makers adopt it, then it has to be backed and manufactured by somebody other than Apple.
Light Peak is clearly aimed at USB 3 and FireWire 3200. Nobody is going to beat USB 2 at cost but performance is another matter.
Further, combined connectors with fiber optics and conventional connector pins are common. I would expect that the Light Peak connector has some metal contacts as well to provide power.
– gws
Everyone’s assuming there will be adaptors to continue to use legacy USB/FW/etc products. Apple has been known to draw the line and leave “old” technology instantly behind.
This will probably happen someday, but probably not on the first systems that have Light Peak. I would expect to see Light Peak added in addition to legacy ports for a while at least on systems that have room for multiple ports. I would also expect to see a Light Peak “octopus” released by somebody that piggybacks FireWire, USB, DV, DisplayPort , eSata and other interfaces on Light Peak.
Eventually, if Light Peak works out, those legacy ports will start to fade away, especially on systems like the MBA which don’t have room for anything else.
It appears to be too much of a coincidence that Apple started pushing on Intel at about the same time that the MBA was being developed. There must have been a lot of teeth gnashing at Apple when it became obvious that to make the thinner hardware that they really wanted to make, there simply wasn’t going to be room for lots of ports.
– gws
@cogitoergomac,
Don’t ask me, ask Frank.
One Port To Rule Them ALL.
It would be a huge thing for Apple to again lead in the development of environmentally happy products.
Basically consolidating almost all desktop cables into renewable fibre-optic [glass] and insualtion [plastic/nylon] instead of the multiple combinations and fittings that exist today.
Winner!
“complicity |kəmˈplisitē|
noun
the state of being involved with others in an illegal activity or wrongdoing : they were accused of complicity in the attempt to overthrow the government.
ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from Middle English complice [an associate,] from Old French, from late Latin complex, complic- ‘allied,’ from Latin complicare ‘fold together’ (see complicate ). Compare with accomplice .”
I may be naive or something but being responsible for the development of a new standard for transferring data at high speed hardly qualities as “an illegal activity or wrongdoing”.
The way I understand it… the way it makes sense to me, is to replace all the myriad protocols INSIDE the computer with Light Peak. Instead of a USB bus, a FireWire bus, an eSATA bus, a PCI bus, you have Light Peak set up to carry the data to and fro. On the outside, you see the same ports, but on the inside, you’ve got a dramatic decrease in complexity.
Think “DisplayPort”. Instead of having digital video in a computer converted to analog just to convert it BACK to digital, it’s a new paradigm where the communication remains digital, thus cutting down on the number of parts. This would be similar in that, instead of each protocol needing it’s own traces on the motherboard, you just have Light Peak and “translation” nodes for each port you want.
Of course, this is just how I see it… what it actually is could likely be completely different!
Something faster than USB can’t come too soon on the iPhone/iPod. As the capacity of these devices grows and grows, syncing becomes ever more painfully slow. Too bad Firewire didn’t become a standard across the entire PC industry – if so, we would probably have a Firewire plug on iPods and fast syncing. As it is, Apple had to go with USB to maintain compatibility with all the PCs out there.
How about “bus-powering” devices like a mouse or better an external HDD.
Sure enough someone will make a “superhub” with 32 USB-2 ports, 8 FW400, 4 FW800, 2 DVI and a GB Ethernet.
Isn’t wireless the future???
It’s all about the bandwidth.
Trains may be able to travel 300km/h, but if there’s only two tracks, the number of people(bits) transported is still limited.
But if you could have 500 sets of tracks… now you’re talking about a fast transfer.
My iPod DOES have FireWire. It was omitted after the 4G iPod probably for cost reasons and that the majority of iPod uses have Windoze machines, few of them have FireWire.
Or the Mac is under the table…
MDN Magic word “makes” as in “makes you wonder at the itelect of the people writing this stuff”