Light Peak: a technology sought by Apple
Presenting this week's Light Peak, the fact that this technology is unveiled on a computer running Mac OS X, had not gone unnoticed
In fact, it seems that this is anything but random. This is not the first time that Apple and Intel are working on standard connectors: the first iMacs were among the first to adopt USB computers developed by Intel, and had greatly helped to popularize the norm. This time, according to En gadget, Apple is said to have asked Intel to work on this technology in 2007. The goal for Apple is to replace all the connectors (network, USB, FireWire, video out) by a single connector Light Peak.
The technology for Apple would have many advantages: greater simplicity for users, economies of scale (a standard four instead of three) and performance (Peak Light achieves 10 Gbps of throughput and up to 100 Gbps in the next ten years).
In short, this could be a major revolution in our computers, and, beginning in the fall of 2010. If Apple actually uses this technology is that the Cupertino company will to USB 3.0 or FireWire 1600?
But Light Peak would not only invade our Mac, it could also be a place in the iPod, iPhone and even a shelf for easy connection with a particular screen or TV.
The goal is to use optical fiber instead of copper to transfer information. Copper has capabilities that are approaching the end of life, with the democratization of HD flows, storage spaces that require multiple terabytes of appropriate transfer, etc ... The optical fiber has a reputation for being fragile; it seems that it is inappropriate for home use as a cable media, however, Intel has worked hard to make the Light Peak is sufficiently flexible and robust. It was announced that the connector to be connected to bear both 7000 and wound up being a diameter of 2 cm without problème1.
Light Peak is able to support multiple protocols, which means that a single cable, the technology could replace FireWire, USB, Display Port, Jack (socket), Ethernet, SATA connectors and more at speeds that will amount to the 100 Gigabits per second. With its multi-protocol and quality of its flexibility, this universal connector can be any type of transit data according to the needs of the device. Thus, an instructor may use a rate of 8 Gbit / s while a hard drive less swift will only 1Gbit / s.