Intel Gives Thunderbolt 3 Away For Free, No Royalties

Normally, when a company develops a new technology that might make them a lot of money, they don’t just give it away. In a rare example of apparent altruism, this is exactly what Intel is doing with its new Thunderbolt 3 technology. On the other hand, the move is also apparently an attempt to encourage its widespread adoption instead of staying with just high-end products.

In a recent announcement, Intel said that it was not going to ask for royalties from developers that will use Thunderbolt 3 for their CPUs. This will cut the expenses of manufacturers and will promote a wider adoption rate of the technology that remains somewhat on the upscale side for the moment.

“In addition to Intel’s Thunderbolt silicon, next year Intel plans to make the Thunderbolt protocol specification available to the industry under a nonexclusive, royalty-free license,” the announcement post reads. “Releasing the Thunderbolt protocol specification in this manner is expected to greatly increase Thunderbolt adoption by encouraging third-party chip makers to build Thunderbolt-compatible chips. We expect industry chip development to accelerate a wide range of new devices and user experiences.”

As Tom’s Hardware notes, the USB technology that Intel developed back in the 90s has since become ubiquitous. It’s on every device imaginable, from computers to tiny desk fans. In comparison, Thunderbolt has been having trouble breaking through the same ceiling, remaining attached to high-end devices and brand.

There are plenty of reasons to adopt Thunderbolt 3 technology as opposed to the traditional USB setup as well. It increases efficiency in many areas, including space and storage. It also works well with emerging technology, including virtual reality and demanding video games.

Increased Thunderbolt adoption will also be great news for artists, photographers, and others in similar professions since it would allow external devices to operate in much the same manner as internal storage units. This means that external storage devices won’t experience lag in transfer rate.