This week I'm going to revisit the article we published on our audioXpress website on June 3, 2015, immediately after Intel made the official announcement at the Computex show in Taipei.

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You read it right! Thunderbolt 3 is going to be compatible with USB-C. In fact, it's going to use the same connector!

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Maybe it was because it was announced in Asia and the Internet was buzzing with something else that week, but it seems that one of the most interesting technology stories of the year went unnoticed. I've also heard some "audio experts" stating things like, "changing the USB connector? What's wrong with what we have?" and "why would we need 40 Gbps (or even 10 Gbps for that matter...)" for "just audio?"

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Those must be the same guys who ordered the 3.5 mm jack-to-USB adapter for reasons they will never confess...

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The shocking news for audio enthusiasts who just invested a few thousand dollars on a new USB DAC is that the technology world no longer revolves around home audio appliances. The good news is... yes, you will be able to get an adapter for that...

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But let's get to the point. This Intel announcement means the technology world will get much simpler all around. Intel's Thunderbolt technology already supports all data protocols including PCIe, Gigabit Ethernet, Firewire, and eSATA. But it didn't support USB. Now, with the Thunderbolt 3 announcement, this means we can get all the benefits with one compact port that does it all - "the fastest and most versatile connection to any dock, display, or data device," as Intel describes it.

For the first time, one computer port connects to Thunderbolt devices, every display, and billions of USB devices. A single cable now provides four times the data and twice the video bandwidth of any other PC cable, while also supplying up to 100 W of power.

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This will also enable a streamlined evolution for all sorts of devices, from mobile "things" to large size 4K TV sets. There will be an easy way to integrate technology, starting with having video (Thunderbolt supports DisplayPort, DVI, HDMI, and even VGA displays via adapters). And we can daisy-chain up to six devices on a single cable connection. This is big news for storage and all video and audio production systems. And just think about the potential for streaming high-resolution audio.

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Not so much the question of bandwidth but the possibility of actually replacing the messy USB audio class specification with all its synchronization of audio datastreams and codec/DAC configuration problems, plus the limitations of point-to-point connections, with a true AoIP network protocol. Still maintaining compatibility with USB sources, but actually allowing the accuracy, reliability, high channel counts, and high-resolution audio data rates, including multiple-rate DSD in a fully transparent network protocol.

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And because Apple was involved with Intel in this technology development, we will also feel the benefits between platforms, including support on Microsoft Windows 10 machines and all non-Apple smartphones adopting the USB Type-C specification. By adopting the new reversible USB-C connector and introducing compatibility with USB 3.1, suddenly everything starts to make so much more sense!

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According to Intel, initial products with Thunderbolt 3 are expected to begin shipping before the end of 2015 and ramp up in 2016.