ThunderBolt Products Starting to Roll Out at NAB

135913 274945096 500
Pegasus R4 RAID w/ Thunderbolt, photo by @josh_diamond

The 2011 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) trade show is underway. While the event is primarily targeted at Audio/Video/Film professionals, Apple fans will be interested to see that companies are finally starting introduce Thunderbolt-compatible devices into the market. Jigsaw Broadcast posts a brief summary of the some of Thunderbolt solutions introduced so far. They include products from AJA, Blackmagic, Promise, and Matrox. All are targeted at video professionals, but finally shows some industry adoption of the new connectivity standard.

Apple and Intel launched Thunderbolt alongside the new MacBook Pro revisions in February. Thunderbolt promises faster connectivity than USB 3.0 and FireWire and we expect it to be included in all future Mac products.

Promise was one of the first companies that announced support for RAID Thunderbolt drive enclosures back in February. Those enclosures aren't yet shipping, but at least a couple of early prototypes are being demoed on the NAB floor. @sforde reports on one at the Adobe booth:

Wow! We have 1 of only 2 promise raids in world with thunderbolt at the Adobe booth at #NAB. CS5.5 screams on it.

The other must be at the Blackmagic booth which is pictured above. Meanwhile, the big anticipated news from NAB is Apple's announcement of a new version of Final Cut Pro. That news should arrive tomorrow night if rumors prove true.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro

Popular Stories

iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Intel Inside iPhone Feature

Apple's Return to Intel Rumored to Extend to iPhone

Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone. In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
ive and altman

Jony Ive's OpenAI Device Barred From Using 'io' Name

Friday December 5, 2025 6:22 am PST by
A U.S. appeals court has upheld a temporary restraining order that prevents OpenAI and Jony Ive's new hardware venture from using the name "io" for products similar to those planned by AI audio startup iyO, Bloomberg Law reports. iyO sued OpenAI earlier this year after the latter announced its partnership with Ive's new firm, arguing that OpenAI's planned "io" branding was too close to its...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
Photos App Icon Liquid Glass

John Gruber Shares Scathing Commentary About Apple's Departing Software Design Chief

Thursday December 4, 2025 9:30 am PST by
In a statement shared with Bloomberg on Wednesday, Apple confirmed that its software design chief Alan Dye will be leaving. Apple said Dye will be succeeded by Stephen Lemay, who has been a software designer at the company since 1999. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Dye will lead a new creative studio within the company's AR/VR division Reality Labs. On his blog Daring Fireball,...
maxresdefault

iPhone Fold: Launch, Pricing, and What to Expect From Apple's Foldable

Monday December 1, 2025 3:00 am PST by
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone next year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that 2026 could indeed be the year that Apple releases its first foldable device. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that ...
Apple John Ternus 2019

Will John Ternus Really Be Apple's Next CEO?

Friday December 5, 2025 9:01 am PST by
There is uncertainty about Apple's head of hardware engineering John Ternus succeeding Tim Cook as CEO, The Information reports. Some former Apple executives apparently hope that a new "dark-horse" candidate will emerge. Ternus is considered to be the most likely candidate to succeed Cook as CEO. The report notes that he is more likely to become CEO than software head chief Craig Federighi, ...
ios 18 to ios 26 upgrade

Apple Pushes iPhone Users Still on iOS 18 to Upgrade to iOS 26

Tuesday December 2, 2025 11:09 am PST by
Apple is encouraging iPhone users who are still running iOS 18 to upgrade to iOS 26 by making the iOS 26 software upgrade option more prominent. Since iOS 26 launched in September, it has been displayed as an optional upgrade at the bottom of the Software Update interface in the Settings app. iOS 18 has been the default operating system option, and users running iOS 18 have seen iOS 18...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 Release Candidates to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Wednesday December 3, 2025 10:33 am PST by
Apple today seeded the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 updates to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming two weeks after Apple seeded the third betas. The release candidates represent the final versions of iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found during this final week of testing....

Top Rated Comments

diamond.g Avatar
191 months ago
Drive arrays can easily exceed 10 Gbps - today a 2 drive RAID 0 array can hit 10 Gbps.

Single drives faster than TBolt already exist - 12 Mbps SSD drive (http://www.fusionio.com/products/iodriveduo/).

TBolt devices haven't even hit the market, but TBolt is already too slow for many uses.

12Mbps? you sure you didn't mean 1.5GBs?
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AidenShaw Avatar
191 months ago
Ummm, look around

Would be a while before we see any 10Gbps SSDs (hard drives will never be that fast)

Drive arrays can easily exceed 10 Gbps - even with spinning hard drives. Today a 2 SSD drive RAID 0 array can hit 10 Gbps with consumer-grade drives.

Single drives faster than TBolt already exist - 12 Gbps SSD drive (http://www.fusionio.com/products/iodriveduo/) 48 Gbps SSD drive (http://www.fusionio.com/products/iodriveoctal/).

TBolt devices haven't even hit the market, but TBolt is already too slow for many uses.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)