Apple Debuts Intel Port Designed to Kill USB

Apple quietly announced a refresh in its MacBook Pros this week, but the little-heralded machines might bring a big change with them. The computers will be the first to have a Thunderbolt port and protocol, a data system so blazingly fast it might just finally resign USB to the dustbin of history, Fast Company reports. Thunderbolt can transfer up to 10 gigabits per second, making it 20 times faster than USB 2.0.

In practical terms, that means it can transfer an HD movie in 30 seconds. It can also drastically tidy up the mess of wires surrounding your average computer, because it can be daisy-chained between devices. Fast Company sees Apple’s early adoption of it as “a stealthy, ninja-style trick” to kill the upcoming USB 3.0 before consumers even become aware of it. Then again, Apple also tried to unseat USB with FireWire, and look how that worked out. (More Apple stories.)