Apple Uses 'Half-Sized' Thunderbolt Chip in New MacBook Air

Apple is using a cheaper 'half-sized' Thunderbolt chip in its new MacBooks Airs which supports half as many devices as the regular chip, according to AnandTech.

The 2011 iMac, MacBook Pro, and Mac Minis use Intel's first Thunderbolt controller, codenamed Light Ridge. It features four Thunderbolt channels (4 x 10Gbps bidirectional = 80Gbps aggregate bandwidth) and up to two DisplayPort outputs.

AnandTech has noticed that the new MacBook Airs are using a cheaper chip codenamed Eagle Ridge that is available in two form factors (normal and SFF) and is effectively half of a Light Ridge chip. That means that the new MacBook Airs only have support for two Thunderbolt channels and one DisplayPort output.


So if you are looking to power a couple extra monitors with your notebook you'll need to look to the MacBook Pro.

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[Light Ridge]


[Eagle Ridge]