Intel has unveiled its Thunderbolt Share know-how, which makes use of the bandwidth on supply from Thunderbolt 4 and 5 ports to share and sync knowledge, and management two PCs with one keyboard and mouse.
It isn’t the primary method to hyperlink two PCs. I’ve used crossover cables in years previous, and I recall utilizing a USB hyperlink gadget a few decade again, however this technique seems like will probably be the best approach but to hyperlink two PCs collectively. It isn’t fairly a plug and play resolution although, as it can want a software program app to work.
At its most elementary, Thunderbolt Share is a good way to share knowledge between two computer systems that might remove the necessity to use flash drives or exterior laborious drives to switch knowledge. It helps drag and drop performance, and automated folder sync. I actually like the concept of utilizing this to switch Steam backups between benchmarking programs!
Past knowledge sharing, Thunderbolt Share helps distant entry, so you may management a second PC utilizing one monitor, keyboard and mouse. It helps display sharing at as much as 1080p at 60fps. Assist for 1440p or 4K could be good, however that is one thing that might come sooner or later.
Thunderbolt Share might be licensed with Thunderbolt equipment. Docks could be probably the most logical instance, whereas issues like displays with a number of Thunderbolt ports might use it too. Because it’s an Intel know-how, and separate from USB4, AMD homeowners seem like out of luck, a minimum of for now.
Intel emphasizes the safety facets of Thunderbolt Share. It helps VT-d and Home windows Person Entry Management. And, sharing knowledge over a cable is inherently safer than utilizing WiFi, a large space community or the cloud.
Aside from a few checks with exterior GPUs in years previous, I’ve by no means used a Thunderbolt gadget on any of my residence programs. I fairly like how this sounds, and this may be the primary time I think about using Thunderbolt on a day-to-day foundation. We’ll have to attend and see simply how the app performs in observe earlier than giving it the thumbs up although.
Intel says Thunderbolt Share shall be provided on choose PCs and equipment beginning within the second half of 2024. Lenovo, Acer, MSI, Razer, Kensington, Belkin, Promise, Plugable, OWC and others are on board, with extra bulletins to return.
