Intel today previewed the next generation of Thunderbolt, which would enable ultra-fast data transfer speeds and improved external display support on future Macs that incorporate the standard when it launches in 2023 or later.
The next generation of Thunderbolt will deliver up to 80 Gbps of bandwidth in each direction, allowing for up to 2× faster data transfer speeds between future Macs and external storage drives that support the standard compared to current speeds. The next generation of Thunderbolt will also have a mode that allows for up to 120 Gbps bandwidth for external displays, which would allow a Mac to support up to dual 8K displays at 60Hz.
The latest 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are equipped with Thunderbolt 4/USB4 ports with up to 40 Gbps of bandwidth in each direction.
Currently, no Macs support 8K displays on a plug-and-play basis. The latest 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models support up to two or three external displays at up to 6K@60Hz depending on whether the laptop is configured with the M1 Pro or M1 Max chip.
The next generation of Thunderbolt is based on the newly released USB4 version 2.0 and DisplayPort 2.1 specifications, and it is backwards compatible with previous versions of Thunderbolt, USB, and DisplayPort. Intel plans to share more details about the next generation of Thunderbolt's official name, features, and capabilities in 2023.
Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:07 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple today updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, which is also available in updated iPad Pro and Vision Pro models.
In addition, the base 14-inch MacBook Pro can now be configured with up to 4TB of storage on Apple's online store, whereas the previous model maxed out at 2TB. However, the maximum amount of unified RAM available for this model remains 32GB.
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Apple today announced the next-generation iPad Pro, featuring the custom-designed M5, C1X, and N1 chips.
The M5 chip has up to a 10-core CPU, with four performance cores and six efficiency cores. It features a next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerator in each core, allowing the new iPad Pro to deliver up to 3.5x the AI performance than the previous model, and a third-generation ray-tracing ...
Wednesday October 15, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by Juli Clover
We didn't get a second fall event this year, but Apple did unveil updated products with a series of press releases that went out today. The M5 chip made an appearance in new MacBook Pro, Vision Pro, and iPad Pro models.
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We've rounded up our coverage and highlighted the main feature changes for each device below.
MacBook Pro
M5...
Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec).
The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing...
Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year.
The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:14 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple today updated the Vision Pro headset with its next-generation M5 chip for faster performance, and a more comfortable Dual Knit Band.
The M5 chip has a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, and a 16-core Neural Engine, and we have confirmed the Vision Pro still has 16GB of RAM.
With the M5 chip, the Vision Pro offers faster performance and longer battery life compared...
Thursday October 16, 2025 8:31 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with an M5 chip, and there are two key storage-related upgrades beyond that chip bump.
First, Apple says the new 14-inch MacBook Pro offers up to 2× faster SSD performance than the equivalent previous-generation model, so read and write speeds should get a significant boost. Apple says it is using "the latest storage technology," ...
Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:59 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
The new 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M5 chip does not include a charger in the box in European countries, including the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, and others, according to Apple's online store.
In the U.S. and all other countries outside of Europe, the new MacBook Pro comes with Apple's 70W USB-C Power Adapter, but European customers miss out....
Apple's AirPods Max have now been available for almost five years, so what do we know about the second-generation version?
According to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the new AirPods Max will be lighter than the current ones, but exactly how much is as yet known. The current AirPods Max weigh 0.85 pounds (386.2 grams), excluding the charging case, making it one of the heavier...
Tuesday October 14, 2025 4:35 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple is going to launch a new version of the MacBook Pro as soon as tomorrow, so we thought we'd go over what to expect from Apple's upcoming Mac.
M5 Chip
The MacBook Pro will be one of the first new devices to use the next-generation M5 chip, which will replace the M4 chip.
The M5 is built on TSMC's more advanced 3-nanometer process, and it will bring speed and efficiency improvements. ...
If im in the Apple Store and I move the pointer on a Mac Studio with Pro Display XDR and compare it to moving the pointer on a M1 MacBook Pro, the XDR feels like the pointer is underwater- slow and sluggish. Same for all 4k screens I try and exacerbated if MacOS is performing scaling. Now we're cueing up 8k.
Wonder if that will ever be worked out? "Supporting" a screen is one thing, but I still have to pass if it feels sluggish. Is it just me?
An M1 MacBook Pro has a 120Hz display, while the Pro Display XDR is 60Hz. Could that make the difference?
