So Apple wasn’t so integral in that whole Light Peak thing after all. Rumors that Apple was integral in the design Light Peak process seem to be false which could put a damper on Apple’s plans to implement the technology in its new hardware.
CNET is reporting that Light Peak seems to have come out of Intel Labs and the technology will carry data at 10 gigabits per second. Intel seems to have been shopping the technology for a while before Apple came into the picture. Foxconn, Foxlink, Avago, and a number of other major players will be working on producing the hardware.
“All of these components will be available next year,” Ziller said. “The product that we’re developing now, that we’re ready to ship next year is based on our current specification. Because there is customer demand for that,” he said.
Ziller said initially that products may appear that have both Light Peak and other connectors, such as USB, but that the ultimate goal is to have one single connector technology. “It doesn’t change the track that electrical USB 3.0 is on. That’s going to continue going forward. What Light Peak allows is that USB 3.0 and, or, other protocols could, down the road, be run over optical in this fashion,” he said. USB 3.0 is the next-generation USB technology that would replace the current USB 2.X technology found on virtually all PCs today.