Intel Light Peak tech coming—will Apple follow?
will Apple follow? — A technology developed by Intel and backed by Apple is expected to appear earlier than previously thought, paving the way for very-high-speed connections on both PCs and Macs. — Light Peak is now on track to appear in products in the first half of 2011 …
Context & Ripple Effects
Light Peak has traveled from rumor to shipping schedule in about a year. In September 2009 Engadget reported that Apple dictated the technology to Intel, which CNET's own sources quickly contested, saying it was not Apple's idea; by May 2010 Intel was showing off a working Light Peak laptop prototype. The new reporting moves the timeline up: products are now expected in the first half of 2011 rather than later.
The open question is Apple's role at launch. Apple is confirmed as backing the Intel-developed technology, but separate reporting has the company prepping its first HDMI-equipped Macs, leaving whether Macs ship with Light Peak unresolved even as the standard nears PCs.
First-order effects
- PC makers gain a credible path to very-high-speed external connectivity in the first half of 2011, earlier than their roadmaps assumed, forcing them to decide whether to design Light Peak into upcoming systems.
- Apple faces a concrete port decision: adopt the technology it backs and share it with PCs, or continue down its own HDMI path for Macs.
Second-order effects
- Peripheral and storage vendors have to weigh supporting another connector alongside USB, splitting development across standards until one clearly wins.
- If Apple adopts Light Peak while PC makers also ship it, the port stops being a Mac differentiator; if Apple sits out, Intel's standard carries the PC market without the halo of the Mac installed base.
Third-order effects
- A single Intel-controlled high-speed interconnect reaching both PCs and Macs points toward consolidation of the tangle of display, storage, and expansion ports onto one cable, with whoever controls the controller silicon setting the terms.
- The joint Apple-Intel origin pattern shows how platform vendors can co-author standards that neither could impose alone — a template other silicon and device makers will be pressed to respond to.
The trend: External computing I/O is consolidating toward a single very-high-speed standard, with Intel supplying the silicon and Apple's participation deciding how fast it crosses from PCs to consumer devices.