The best way to celebrate Apple 50 is to make something wonderful
This story is part of 9to5mac’s series celebrating Apple’s 50th anniversary. A lot of folks are going to find themselves thinking about a company today. That’s great, I’m one of them, but the best way to celebrate Apple and its contributions to society is to make something wonderful yourself. After all, that was what Steve Jobs believed. more…

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Here’s everything new Apple TV has coming in April
Apple TV has a packed April ahead, with new and returning series, a big movie premiere, a trio of sports offerings, and more. Here’s everything new coming to Apple TV in April. more…

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If this project succeeds, your Time Capsule may not be killed off in macOS 27
A new GitHub project is trying to retrofit Apple's discontinued Time Capsule with modern SMB support. If this works, Time Machine backups to and from the hardware will still work, even after Apple kills it off in macOS 27.Apple AirPort routersApple stopped developing its AirPort lineup in April 2018. Devices like Time Capsule have static firmware that doesn't match evolving SMB protocols or modern security requirements.The company's decision to leave the router market wasn't by chance. Apple decided to concentrate on products and services with more promising long-term growth. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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Apple at 50: Celebrate 50 years of the company that changed everything with 9to5Mac
This story is part of 9to5Mac’s series celebrating Apple’s 50th anniversary. Fifty years ago today, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne incorporated Apple Computer. From a garage in Los Altos to the world’s most valuable brand, the company these three men founded has gone on to change the very fabric of our society. We wanted to celebrate this milestone with a series of stories about what makes Apple, Apple. We want to talk about the ethos, the idea that is Apple and the cultural impact it has had beyond the products themselves. more…

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The most important Apple announcement every year, from 1976 to 2026
If you don’t have time for David Pogue’s 600-page epic, maybe you have eight minutes for the single biggest piece of news every year.  (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

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Users staying on iOS 18 will get a patch for the worst iPhone attack vector we've ever seen
Following the emergence and public code leak of the severe DarkSword iPhone exploit, Apple is preparing to release a patch for users who choose to run iOS 18, so that they can be protected without upgrading to iOS 26.Many users still use iOS 18 instead of upgrading to iOS 26On March 23, an exploit tool dubbed DarkSword was made publicly available on GitHub. While Apple has patched the exploit in iOS 26.3, and older devices stuck on previous versions of the operating systems, Apple is taking an extra step to help those who can update to iOS 26, but choose not to.Rather than stick with the latest versions of those operating systems, Apple will also be "backporting" a patch, a spokesperson told Wired. This refers to the patching of an older operating system version, so that users can get the patch without updating their software in the normal fashion. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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Studio Display XDR without tilt-adjustable stand now costs less
While the price with the stand remains the same, Apple has cut the price of the Studio Display XDR with a VESA mount adapter by $400 — and is issuing refunds.Studio Display XDR review: The Apple monitor for creative prosThe Studio Display XDR was launched in March 2026 as a replacement for the Pro Display XDR, and AppleInsider's review called it almost perfect, if your work justified the $3,299 price tag.Now Apple has brought it under the psychologically significant $3,000 mark, with certain configurations now starting at $2,899. The price cut is specifically for models bought with a VESA mount instead of an adjustable stand. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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PSA: Legacy AT&T unlimited plans face price hikes, and it’s a mess
If there are two universal truths about mobile carriers it’s that unlimited plans never are, and companies will always try to find ways to kick you off legacy plans. If you’re on a legacy AT&T plan, look out for price hikes this month … more…

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I’ve been to a lot of Apple keynotes. I’ll never forget these two
Macworld As someone who has been covering Apple for a really long time, I’ve been to a fair share of Apple keynote presentations. Even today, I look forward to the next one (which happens to be on June 8). But there’s something special about attending an Apple keynote in person, in a crowd of Apple customers, developers, and fans who hang on every word. Apple has had several remarkable keynote moments in its 50 years. Everyone has their favorites. For me, two keynotes in particular stand out above them all. They were very different keynotes, but as I look back over the past five decades, they were also important hallmarks in Apple’s history. 1997: Steve Jobs returns and brings Bill Gates Steve Jobs’ August 1997 Macworld Boston keynote was one of his most memorable presentations, but not for the performance or even the products announced. (In fact, no new products were introduced at all.) It was all about the circumstances of Apple at the time. Apple was in a bad way. The company was losing money, the Mac lineup was a mess (things were so bad, Apple had a Mac OS licensing program), and CEO Gil Amelio had no clue how to turn things around. But then Apple bought NeXT, Steve Jobs came back, and was named interim CEO. The Macworld Expo 2007 keynote felt more like an intervention than a trade show kickoff. That sets the tone for the August 1997 Macworld Expo keynote, Jobs’ first since his return–a homecoming, in a way. IDG’s Colin Crawford opened the keynote by reminding people that Apple was in dire straits–at least, Crawford posited, that was the perception in the media. That set up the premise for Jobs, who explained the first steps Apple needed to take to get back on track. “Apple is executing wonderfully on many of the wrong things,” he said. I was at the keynote as an associate editor for MacUser (Macworld’s main competitor at the time), but I was in an overflow room with several hundred people, so maybe our circumstances allowed us to be more reactive than being in the main hall. And that declaration by Jobs landed with a thud. The room stirred for a moment, but stopped because everyone wanted to hear how Jobs was going to save… us. Jobs emphasized how change needs to start at the top. The main hall responded with applause, but my overflow room echoed with cheers. New board members were introduced, and attendees erupted when Bill Campbell was introduced. Jobs explained how Apple needed to prioritize the creative and education markets, and the crowd was again loudly vocal in agreement. The excitement was building; the temperature of the room became invigorating. Drastic changes were necessary, and this was a great start. Jobs was on a roll, saying things people wanted to hear. Eventually, Jobs talked about partnerships, and Apple announced a partnership with Microsoft, of all companies. Suddenly, the mood in the room changed. Jobs announced an agreement to set Microsoft’s Internet Explorer as the default browser for Mac OS, and that Microsoft is making a $150 million investment in Apple. Screenshot Apple That was a bomb that left people in my room dazed. People were not happy, and to top it off, Bill Gates came on screen to say a few words, words I couldn’t hear because the room was so loud with commotion. It was as if Apple had made a deal with the devil. This keynote was a roller coaster, and everyone felt winded afterwards. The keynote had absolutely no tech talk in it, no new products, no whiz-bang demonstrations, no introduction of the latest and greatest developments, and no clever or cringy comedic moments. Jobs had a reputation as a showman, but this displayed another side of Jobs: sincere, direct, and speaking in language we all could understand. He was conscious of the moment; this wasn’t the time for marketing clichés and corporate doublespeak. It was, in a way, an intervention. Apple needed to start over, and Jobs detailed the first steps. 2007: The iPhone In 2007, I was the reviews editor for MacAddict, and I went to the 2007 Macworld San Francisco keynote, where it was rumored that Apple was going to enter the smartphone market with a device that combined the iPod with a cellular phone. Rumors were all over the place about what the device would look like–and some, such as a former Macworld columnist who just wrote a new book about Apple, didn’t think Apple would really do it. But the buildup to the expo made the iPhone seem like a forgone conclusion. The question was no longer whether the iPhone would happen, but what the iPhone would be. As I settled in with my fellow MacAddict editors in the west hall of Moscone Center before the keynote began, the excitement in the air was palpable. The anticipation before an Apple keynote is always present, but on this day, we all felt like something special was going to happen. The full Macworld Expo 2007 keynote, not just the iPhone part. The first 15 minutes of the 2007 keynote are almost forgotten. It’s easy to find the keynote on YouTube, but most of the postings are copies of the same video that cuts out the first part of the presentation. In those 15 minutes, Steve Jobs talked about the transition to Intel processors, iTunes sales, and officially introduced the Apple TV. Then Jobs paused to get a drink of water, pressed on his clicker for the next slide, and said, “This is a day I’ve been looking forward to for two and a half years.” It was a cue to let us know that we should strap in, because we were going to be in for one hell of a ride. You probably know all about that ride: the three devices in one, picture of a rotary iPod, the exclamation that the iPhone runs Mac OS X, the introduction and demo of multitouch, the calls to Jony Ive and Phil Schiller in the audience (both of whom were using flip phones), the pinch to zoom demo, the “full internet” access, Jobs saying “boom” with every tap, even the awkward interlude with Cingular CEO Stan Sigman. Going back and watching videos of the keynote, it may seem like the audience was very quiet during the whole thing. We were, because we were all so enthralled by what we were seeing: a product that none of us imagined, even in our wildest dreams. The iPhone exceeded all expectations, and we got to bear witness to something amazing. And this was peak Steve Jobs–charismatic, personable, relatable. He captured our attention, and we were all willing to give it. To this day. no other CEO is able to mesmerize and capture a room as he did–they may try, but that’s the thing, keynotes came effortlessly to Jobs, he barely had to try. He just did it. Before this keynote, I used to dislike the phrase, “we just saw history being made,” because it’s used more often than it should be, making it seem pithy to me. But in this instance, it’s the best way to describe the keynote. I was fortunate enough to witness in person history being made and a master at his best, and I look back at the moment fondly. Here’s hoping for another 50 years of moments like these from Apple.

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Apple wants you to take a walk through 50 years, Picasso style
Apple is marking its 50th anniversary with a new homepage that cycles through many of its famous devices, all depicted in the Picasso style it used in the 1980s for the Macintosh.A selection of the many Apple devices sketched in the Picasso style to mark the company's 50th anniversary — image credit: AppleAlongside the Paul McCartney concert for staff at Apple Park, Apple has celebrated its birthday with a new animated homepage. Visiting Apple.com initially gets users a colorful banner based on Apple Park's rainbow arches, but then it moves onto sketching out devices such as the Macintosh, AirPods, and Apple Vision Pro."At 50 years, it's only natural to look back," says a message that stays onscreen throughout the animation. "But Apple has always looked forward, building tools and delivering experiences that enrich people's lives." Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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A new remake of 'Cape Fear' is making its way to Apple TV in June
Apple TV is getting its own remake of the iconic psychological thriller 'Cape Fear', starring Javier Bardem, Amy Adams, and Patrick Wilson.Image Credit: Apple TVSpecifically, "Cape Fear" will be based on the 1991 Martin Scorsese-directed, Steven Spielberg-produced film of the same title. Fittingly, both Scorsese and Spielberg are on board as executive producers.The story follows married attorneys Anna, played by Amy Adams, and Tom Bowden, played by Patrick Wilson. Their lives are upended when notorious killer Max Cady, played by Javier Bardem, is released from prison, dead set on seeking revenge against the couple who helped convict him. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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Top 50 people who created Apple, ranked
Macworld April 1 marks Apple’s 50th anniversary, a milestone it couldn’t reach without the help of some very talented people. So we decided to put together a list of the 50 people who made Apple the company it is today. Some worked there for just a year or two; others for almost the entire half-century, while others never actually worked for the company at all. But all influenced Apple’s journey in some profound way. This is all, of course, deeply subjective. It is very unlikely that every reader will agree with the author’s selections, far less with his rankings. Which is fine, we welcome the conversation. Our only rule is that if you complain about someone’s exclusion, tell us who you would cut to make room. The list is presented in reverse order and will be expanded with 10 new names each day across this week. Who do you think will make the top 10? Drop us a message on Bluesky or Threads. 50-41 50. Katie Cotton Apple PR legend Katie Cotton joined Apple in 1996, shortly before the return of Steve Jobs, and worked closely with him for the next 15 years. For better or worse, she was instrumental in shaping the company’s communications strategy and famous culture of secrecy, fiercely controlling Apple’s portrayal in the press. As we wrote upon her retirement in 2014, she “largely turned public relations on its head.” Cotton sadly passed away in 2023, but like Jobs himself, her legacy lives on in Apple Park.

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Hands-on: Anker’s new Nano Power Strip will be a perfect fit in your desk setup
Today, Anker is releasing its new Nano Power Strip, initially unveiled at CES 2026. It clamps onto the side of your desk and offers 10 ports, making it a great add for managing power without a load of mess. It’s available for purchase starting today. more…

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Tim Cook shares fun video trip back through 50 years of Apple products
Apple is today celebrating its 50th anniversary, and CEO Tim Cook has tweeted a fun video taking a trip back in time through 50 years of Apple products in a glitchy vintage TV style. It follows a homepage animation on the company’s website entitled “50 Years of Thinking Different” and, in my view, would have made a better choice … more…

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Apple’s comeback decade: Most important products of the 90s and 2000s
Macworld Apple turns 50 years old on April 1 – not a bad achievement for a scrappy startup formed in Steve Jobs’ family garage. The company has gone on to change the world many times over, but it was the years 1996 to 2005 that saw some of its greatest inventions come to light. This decade was perhaps one of the most fruitful periods in Apple’s history. It witnessed the birth of one iconic product after another and the flourishing of the creative partnership between Steve Jobs and Jony Ive. Some of the best devices Apple has ever made appeared during these 10 years, and they changed the face not only of Apple but of the wider tech industry. Here, we’ll look back over Apple’s greatest hits from 1996 until 2005 and appraise its most consequential devices. Join us on a trip down memory lane. March 1997: Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh Six Colors Early 1997 was a cautiously hopeful time for Apple. Although it had spent much of the 1990s in the doldrums, in February 1997, the company had finalized a deal to buy NeXT, Inc. and bring back Steve Jobs as interim CEO. As if on cue, Apple launched the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh a month later, a product meant to celebrate Apple’s history and showcase the technological capabilities of its creators. In that regard, it came with an LCD display (unusual for the time), vertically mounted components to ensure a small footprint, and a removable trackpad. It even had a unique startup chime. Considering most PCs of the time featured massive CRT displays alongside rectangular towers, the TAM was a remarkably compact product and years ahead of its time. Yet that didn’t stop it from flopping, and its high $7,499 price tag and underwhelming specs hardly endeared it to the public. But as a demonstration of the engineering feats Apple was capable of, it laid the groundwork for later products, from the iMac to the Magic Trackpad. August 1998: iMac G3 Apple One year after the TAM came the iMac G3, and the two computers could not be more dissimilar. While the TAM was a high-end professional-facing tech demo, the iMac G3 was made for the masses, with an equally mind-blowing design and incredible ease of use. You don’t need to be an Apple historian to know which one left a stronger legacy. Indeed, the iMac G3’s success lay in its dedication to being everything that its rivals were not. Its colorful tones made it friendly and approachable, a fact bolstered by the built-in handle and translucent side panels that demystified how the computer worked. In a world of boring beige boxes, the iMac G3 couldn’t have been more different. Despite somewhat mixed reviews due to its lack of a floppy drive and limited connectivity other than USB, the iMac G3 was a huge commercial success. A year later, the iBook arrived with a handle and a similar palette of colors, and suddenly, Apple was back in a big way  Its competitors tried to shamelessly copy the iMac’s design, leading to Steve Jobs’ famous adage that rival firms didn’t understand that “design is how it works,” not how it looks. And as they say, imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery. September 2000: Mac OS X Apple By the year 2000, Apple had reached a critical point with Mac OS. It had been trying to overhaul its Mac operating system since the 1990s, all with little success, and delivering a modern operating system was a key next step. After failing to agree a deal to buy Jean-Louis Gassée’s Be Inc. and its accompanying BeOS, Apple turned to NeXT, bringing Steve Jobs back into the fold and using NeXTSTEP as a basis for the Mac’s redesigned operating system. Mac OS X was the software that emerged, with a public beta arriving in September 2000. It was a radical departure from what came before, with a focus on glassy blue scroll bars and brushed metal interfaces. Called Aqua, Jobs said that “one of the design goals was when you saw it you wanted to lick it” – and its candy-colored shades certainly helped it stand out from the crowd. When Steve Jobs revealed Aqua at Macworld 2000, several aspects drew gasps from the crowd. When introducing the Dock, Jobs enabled its magnification setting, and mousing over Dock items to enlarge them drew stunned cheers and applause. And that’s perhaps a testament to Mac OS X: it was so well designed that even simple elements like Dock magnification felt utterly revolutionary, so much so that they’re still in use today. November 2001: iPod Apple Apple doesn’t always arrive first in any given product category and often prefers to analyze the competition before launching something that blows everything else out of the water. That was the case with the iPod. Apple surveyed the MP3 player market, hated everything it saw, and decided it could do much better. And do much better it did. The $399 iPod redefined expectations of what an MP3 player should be, with attractive looks paired up with the legendary control wheel that made browsing through extensive music libraries an absolute pleasure. It was also much smaller than similar players with a 1.8-inch hard drive, had excellent battery life and transferred songs incredibly quickly compared to USB thanks to its FireWire port. And of course, it famously help many more songs than anything else on the market—1,000 in your pocket, to be exact. As is so often the case with Apple products, the iPod altered the music industry landscape forever. Combined with the iTunes Music Store some 18 months later, Apple fans had a dedicated way to enjoy digital music that simply obliterated the competition. January 2002: iMac G4 Christopher Phin The iMac G3 had been such a success for Apple that it had changed the face of computing. So how do you follow up on that? That was the task of the iMac G4. While walking through Steve Jobs’ home garden, Jony Ive spotted a large sunflower nestled in the borders. It was this visual image that inspired the iconic iMac G4’s design, with its articulated monitor that could be moved at will as if it was a sunflower seeking out the sun’s rays. Technology had moved on from the iMac G3 by the time the iMac G4 arrived in 2002, and large CRT displays were no longer a hardware necessity. Instead, Apple used a flatscreen panel and shrunk the internal components down into a pint-sized base. It allowed every aspect to be true to its own nature–something that was important to Jobs–and created a unique design that departed from conventional principles to great effect. January 2003: iLife Apple As software like the iTunes jukebox music manager began to take hold and other Apple apps like iMovie and iPhoto gained popularity, Apple decided it was time to create a software bundle to meet the needs of users’ emerging digital lifestyles. That bundle took shape as iLife, with the first version arriving in January 2003. Not only were iLife’s constituent apps – iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, and iTunes – updated with the debut of iLife, but they were also made to work fluently together. So, you could select music from your iTunes library or footage from iMovie to accompany your holiday snaps in iPhoto, all without having to switch apps. It was a great example of the Apple ecosystem in action, all updated for the digital age. April 2003: iTunes Music Store Apple As the iPod grew in popularity, peer-to-peer music sharing pioneer Napster was causing serious anxiety among music executives. Steve Jobs thought he had the solution: make managing your digital audio library so easy and affordable that piracy would become redundant. In order to make that happen, Apple opened the iTunes Music Store in 2003—and changed the entire music industry in the process. By allowing users to buy individual tracks, iTunes shifted the emphasis away from expensive albums and towards singles, a move that musicians have increasingly embraced in the years since. Coupled with the iPod, Apple gave people a tightly integrated system for both managing and playing all their favorite tracks. It came to Windows later that same year, and just like that, Apple had vanquished piracy and invented a new model for users to purchase and enjoy their music. February 2004: iPod mini IDG While the original iPod was a runaway success, Apple needed a way to reach more people with a cheaper, smaller player. The result of that thinking was the iPod mini. At a time when clunky smartphones were just starting to become popular, having a smaller MP3 player meant less pocket space taken up by your gadgets. And the iPod mini achieved that brilliantly, clocking in at just 3.6oz – almost half the first iPod’s 6.5oz weight. But it was about more than just slimline sizing. The iPod mini also introduced the touch-sensitive click wheel – an enhancement over the iPod’s original wheel – and various different colored models, bringing a splash of fun and whimsy to the iconic white model. And the best part? It cost just $249. January 2005: Mac mini Apple Today, the Mac mini isn’t just one of the best small-scale computers that money can buy – it’s one of the best Macs available thanks to its petite form factor and fantastic value for money. And today’s model can trace its lineage all the way back to the initial edition that arrived in January 2005. Housed in a polycarbonate shell and outfitted with a PowerPC G4 chip and a slate of laptop components, the Mac mini epitomized one of Steve Jobs’ frankly less catchy concepts: BYODKM, or “bring your own display, keyboard and mouse.” That helped keep costs down for users and had the side effect of making it attractive to Windows switchers who likely had their own peripherals ready to go. And with a launch price of $499, the Mac mini was a solid bargain. It got even better in 2006 with the advent of the first Intel Mac mini, but even with a PowerPC chip inside, the first version offered something a little different whose blueprint still comprises a winning formula today. January 2005: iPod Shuffle Foundry The success of the original iPod and the iPod mini spawned several iPod iterations over the years–iPod nano, iPod Video, iPod U2 edition, iPod Classic—but none were more experimental than the iPod Shuffle. Steve Jobs pitched the device as simply following user demand: Shuffle mode was the most popular way people played their music on the iPod, so why not make an iPod that embraced the element of musical surprise? The result was a device that lacked a display, had the simplest of playback controls, and was meant to be worn.  You could play tracks sequentially or in a random order, or use AutoFill in iTunes to load an arbitrary selection of your library’s songs onto the player, taking the shuffle concept and truly running with it. It was like music streaming before streaming music was a thing. This is part three of a five-part series exploring 50 years of Apple product releases. Catch up on what you missed (1976-1985; 1986-1995), and stay tuned to Macworld all week, continuing tomorrow with 2006-2015.

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Paul McCartney headlines as Apple celebrates 50 years with an Apple Park fireworks display
As expected, Paul McCartney was the star act as Apple concluded its 50th anniversary celebrations at Apple Park, and employees have been sharing videos of the party.Apple Park celebrations — image credit: Steven PetersonMcCartney's appearance had been rumored in the past few days and then confirmed as images from his soundcheck at Apple Park were shown across social media. Now he's played a career-spanning set in front of thousands of Apple employees, many of whom have been sharing images and videos of the night.It's one thing to have Paul McCartney at work, but it's another thing to have a display like this at the same time pic.twitter.com/MAF21f2kJ2— Steven Peterson (@squeakytoy) April 1, 2026 Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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Microsoft Office for Mac, yours for just $50
Macworld TL;DR: Skip the subscriptions—get Microsoft Office for Mac for life with a one-time $49.97 purchase. If you’ve been piecing together free apps or juggling subscriptions just to get your work done, this is your sign to simplify things. Right now, you can grab Microsoft Office Home & Business for Mac 2021 for just $49.97 (reg. $219)—and it’s a one-time purchase. No recurring fees, no surprise renewals, no “trial expired” notifications popping up mid-project. This version gives you the core apps most people actually rely on: Word for documents, Excel for spreadsheets, PowerPoint for presentations, and Outlook for email and scheduling. You also get Teams (basic) and OneNote for collaboration and organization, rounding out a setup that works just as well for home offices as it does for small business use. The experience is familiar, polished, and built for macOS, so everything runs smoothly without needing workarounds or compromises. Whether you’re managing projects, handling client work, or just staying organized, it’s the kind of toolkit that quietly keeps everything moving. And since the license is tied to your Microsoft account, you don’t have to worry about losing access—it’s yours to keep. Get lifetime access to Microsoft Office Home & Business for Mac 2021 for just $49.97 (reg. $219). Microsoft Office Home & Business for Mac 2021: Lifetime LicenseSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change.

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Apple drops price of Studio Display XDR without stand option by $400
The Studio Display XDR has gotten a rare Apple price drop, if you pick the option without the stand included. The Studio Display XDR launched last month with a starting price of $3299, whether you opted for the model with VESA mount or the model with Apple’s tilt-adjustable stand. The company has quietly updated the pricing to make the VESA mount option $400 cheaper, so the entry price for the display is now $2899. The Studio Display XDR with stand still starts at $3299. more…

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Thunderbolt 5 vs Thunderbolt 4 and 3 vs USB4
Macworld Apple has changed its MacBook connection standard from Thunderbolt 4 to Thunderbolt 5. Macs that boast an M4/M5 Pro, M4/M5 Max or M3 Ultra now come armed with at least three Thunderbolt 5 ports, while Macs with plain M4/M5 processors remain on Thunderbolt 4. Some earlier MacBook Air models had their ports listed as “Thunderbolt / USB 4” and “Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4” on its Pro and Max models. What does all this mean? What is the difference between Thunderbolt 5, Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 3? And then what is USB4? We thought that USB and Thunderbolt couldn’t get any more confusing with many different speeds (from 5Gbps to 120Gbps) and functions possible using the same “Type-C” connection. From an Apple user’s point of view, there isn’t a great deal in Thunderbolt 4 that was new or different from Thunderbolt 3, with which it is backwards compatible. The big changes have arrived with Thunderbolt 5. (While, Apple will likely roll out TB5 across the range over the next year, for Windows users Thunderbolt 5 remains for premium computers only and probbaly won’t hit the mainstream for some years yet.) Indeed, in its M1 and M2 MacBooks tech specs, to add to the confusion Apple didn’t even call it Thunderbolt 4, listing it as “Thunderbolt / USB 4” including Thunderbolt 3. For the superior M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pro models, Apple listed the ports as full Thunderbolt 4—this is because the Pro/Max versions can support multiple external screens, unlike the limited plain M1 or M2 MacBooks. Without the ability to connect to two external displays, it can’t be labelled as certified Thunderbolt 4. There is a software workaround, however, to enable M1 and M2 MacBiooks to connect to two or more displays. What is the difference between Thunderbolt 4 and Thunderbolt 5? After much teasing in 2022 and a demo in October 2022, Intel officially announced Thunderbolt 5 on September 12, 2023, and Apple started introducing it into its MacBook Pro, Mac Studio and some Mac mini models from 2024. Thunderbolt 5 is a real step up from Thunderbolt 4—unlike Thunderbolt 4’s minor (Mac) enhancements on Thunderbolt 3. • Bandwidth is doubled from 40Gbps to 80Gbps, and display connections go as fast as 120Gbps—so up to three times more bandwidth than previous existing connectivity solutions. Bandwidth Boost uses some of the bidirectional downstream bandwidth to create the higher unidirectional 120Gbps data rate. • Thunderbolt 5 supplies up to 240W of charging power downstream to the connected Mac. Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro supports 140W PD 3.1 through its MagSafe 3 port and now via its Thunderbolt 5 ports; Thunderbolt 4 ports are rated PD 3.0 and limited to 100W. That means the Thunderbolt 5 MacBooks can fast-charge via either the MagSafe 3 connection or Thunderbolt 5 ports (using either 240W-rated Thunderbolt or USB-C cables). • Thunderbolt 5 also supports DisplayPort 2.1—compared to today’s DisplayPort 1.4. DisplayPort 2.1 supports a max 10K resolution (10240-×-4320 pixels at 60Hz) on a single display, compared to the 8K resolution supported by DisplayPort 1.4. It also includes improved version of Display Stream Compression (DSC 1.2a) that improves bandwidth management. • Depending on the computer’s processor, Thunderbolt 5 allows up to four external displays to run from the single upstream connection. Before that, even Apple’s M4 Max chip was stuck at two. Now Macs with an M5 Pro or M5 Max can connect to three (M5 Pro) or four (M5 Max) external displays. For more details read “M5 Pro/Max MacBooks finally break Apple’s multi-monitor shackles“. • Thunderbolt 5 allows for a longer “passive” cable length before requiring “active” assistance that increases the cost. With Thunderbolt 4 this was between 0.8 and 1 meter. With TB5, a passive cable can stretch to 1.2m. • While Thunderbolt 5 sticks with the 6-device daisy-chaining limit per Thunderbolt bus, a dual-port configuration could allow for a total of 10 devices across both ports. It can dynamically adjust bandwidth, prioritizing one direction over the other based on usage. Thunderbolt 5 is backward compatible with Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 4, and USB4 devices, so you can upgrade without having to replace existing peripherals. Intel Who needs Thunderbolt 5? While we all like to have the best technologies in our equipment, the benefits of Thunderbolt 5 over Thunderbolt 4 are in reality more for studio professionals who push their hardware to the limits rather than mere Mac mortals who rely less on the very fastest external SSD storage and super high-resolution and refresh-rate monitors. That majority of Mac users needn’t rush to Thunderbolt 5, but it’s a nice-to-have when you upgrade your Mac. What is the difference between USB4 and Thunderbolt 4? Intel didn’t want there to be a confusing USB 4.1, 4.2, etc, so it jammed the 4 right next to the USB. Apple ignores this and insists, in its Apple-like way, on calling it “USB 4”. Both use the same Type-C connector, just like Thunderbolt 3, too. Thunderbolt 4 is based on the same underlying protocol as USB4—the two are tightly connected, with all Thunderbolt 4 devices supporting USB4. If someone has a USB4 laptop, they can use a TB4 device and the other way around. In fact, Thunderbolt 4 is USB4 with all the trimmings. Not all USB4 devices will be as powerful as the fully certified Thunderbolt 4, however. Just like Apple’s version of Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 4 will always have a full 40Gbps bandwidth. USB4, however, starts at 20Gbps but can also reach Thunderbolt 4’s 40Gbps. Look out for USB 20 or USB 40 in product marketing. A USB4 port can only support one display. Thunderbolt 4 can support two 4K displays. The good thing about USB4 is that it will mean that manufacturers can release more powerful hubs and docks that are not Thunderbolt, at a cheaper cost. However, since Thunderbolt products are certified, it means that they are of the highest standard. USB4 devices don’t need to be certified and so eventually we will see many USB4 devices flooding the market with varying degrees of quality, as we see with USB-C hubs today. What is Thunderbolt hubbing? Thunderbolt 4 is, in some ways, just a software upgrade for Mac users. You need at least Apple’s Big Sur operating system (macOS 11) to get its new hubbing functionality. Hubbing does away with the risks of Thunderbolt device daisy-chaining. You’ve always been able to connect multiple Thunderbolt devices but in a potentially long chain, which meant that if you removed any one of them (except the last one in the chain) all the others became unusable until the chain was re-established. Now, with Thunderbolt hubbing, you can have up to four Thunderbolt ports in a hub or dock—each a separate ”branch” that can be disconnected without affecting any other Thunderbolt devices connected in the other ports. Up to six Thunderbolt 4 devices can be smartly daisy-chained. What is the difference between Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4? Thunderbolt 4 is only significantly different for Windows PCs, whose Thunderbolt 3 variations were often limited in features—where Apple always gave its users the full Thunderbolt 3 feature set. Thunderbolt 3 on a Windows laptop could lack the full 40Gbps bandwidth, or maybe not support multiple displays or power delivery. Poor PC users, you’ve got to feel for them. Thunderbolt 4 requires mandatory certification for all computers, which means Windows users finally get all the great features Apple users got with Thunderbolt 3. So Thunderbolt 4 standardizes Thunderbolt 3 for all computer users. It’s backwards compatible, but buying Thunderbolt 4 or 5 devices will also future-proof your setup. So if your Mac has “just” Thunderbolt 3, don’t worry. It’s just that Windows PCs can now join in the fun without limitations, where in the past PC manufacturers could claim theoretical specs but not deliver the best they could by being merely “compatible” rather than “certified”. It should be noted that the MacBooks with Apple’s own M1 or M2 chips had a significant limitation: they can’t run more than one external display natively. However, there is a workaround that allows M1 and M2 MacBooks to run more than one external display. In fact, Thunderbolt 3 was required to support only one external 4K monitor, whereas every Thunderbolt 4 laptop has to support two 4K displays or one 8K display. Thunderbolt 4 and 5 ensure that you can wake a computer with the shake of a mouse or the tap of a keyboard on Thunderbolt 4 or 5 docks. This wasn’t always the case with Thunderbolt 3. This is maybe why Apple isn’t specifically calling its Thunderbolt version 4, due to the M1/M2 display limitation. TB4 and TB5 are also a more data-safe technology, as they requires Intel VT-d-based direct memory access (DMA) protection, also known as DMA remapping. What else? Well, Thunderbolt 5 supports PCIe (peripheral component interconnect express) at 64Gbps for faster storage speeds than TB4’s 32Gbps and TB3’s 16Gbps. Some of the early Thunderbolt 3 MacBooks had less bandwidth available on the right-hand-side Thunderbolt ports. Faster PCIe is important if you frequently transfer very large files between storage devices. Here we are talking about the portion of total Thunderbolt bandwidth allocated for PCI Express data transfer. With Thunderbolt 4 and 5, you’re assured to have all four lanes of PCI Express available—so PCIe can consume up to 32 or 64Gbps of the total 40Gbps/80Gbps Thunderbolt bandwidth. With Thunderbolt 3, depending on your laptop manufacturer and model, some implementations offer only 16Gbps of PCIe bandwidth.  Other advantages of Thunderbolt 4 and 5 include that hubs and docks can now have more than two Thunderbolt ports (up to four) and that TB4 and TB5 cables can be up to 2 meters long and still handle the 40Gbps bandwidth. Previously, passive TB3 cables had to be 0.7m or under to handle full bandwidth. Thunderbolt 4 and (most) USB4 support the latest USB PD 3.1 standard that allows for maximum charging of 240W compared to USB PD 3.0 and Thunderbolt 3’s 100W. Remember that you need the correct type of cable for the higher charging rates: read our roundup of the best Thunderbolt 4 cables. Thunderbolt docks We have tested the best Thunderbolt hubs and docking stations.  The TB4 and TB5 hubs generally feature four Thunderbolt ports (one upstream to connect to the computer, and three downstream to external devices). Docks sometimes swap out one or two downstream Thunderbolt ports for more traditional display connectors (such as HDMI and DisplayPort). You can learn more about the most fully featured hub we’ve tested in our Caldigit Thunderbolt 5 Element 5 Hub review. This hub features four Thunderbolt 5, two 10Gbps USB-C and three 10Gbps USB-A ports. Foundry The CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 Element hub features four Thunderbolt 4 and four 10Gbps USB-A ports. Intel Who owns Thunderbolt? Intel or Apple? Apple and Intel have collaborated on Thunderbolt technology since 2010, releasing its first Thunderbolt MacBook in 2011. Apple even registered the trademark “Thunderbolt” although it passed this on to Intel, in return for “unrestricted use of the technology”. But Intel is the official owner of the Thunderbolt technology. Before this agreement, the technology was known by Intel as “Light Peak”.

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Thunderbolt 5 vs Thunderbolt 4 and 3 vs USB4
Macworld Apple has changed its MacBook connection standard from Thunderbolt 4 to Thunderbolt 5. Macs that boast an M4/M5 Pro, M4/M5 Max or M3 Ultra now come armed with at least three Thunderbolt 5 ports, while Macs with plain M4/M5 processors remain on Thunderbolt 4. Some earlier MacBook Air models had their ports listed as “Thunderbolt / USB 4” and “Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4” on its Pro and Max models. What does all this mean? What is the difference between Thunderbolt 5, Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 3? And then what is USB4? We thought that USB and Thunderbolt couldn’t get any more confusing with many different speeds (from 5Gbps to 120Gbps) and functions possible using the same “Type-C” connection. From an Apple user’s point of view, there isn’t a great deal in Thunderbolt 4 that was new or different from Thunderbolt 3, with which it is backwards compatible. The big changes have arrived with Thunderbolt 5. (While, Apple will likely roll out TB5 across the range over the next year, for Windows users Thunderbolt 5 remains for premium computers only and probbaly won’t hit the mainstream for some years yet.) Indeed, in its M1 and M2 MacBooks tech specs, to add to the confusion Apple didn’t even call it Thunderbolt 4, listing it as “Thunderbolt / USB 4” including Thunderbolt 3. For the superior M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pro models, Apple listed the ports as full Thunderbolt 4—this is because the Pro/Max versions can support multiple external screens, unlike the limited plain M1 or M2 MacBooks. Without the ability to connect to two external displays, it can’t be labelled as certified Thunderbolt 4. There is a software workaround, however, to enable M1 and M2 MacBiooks to connect to two or more displays. What is the difference between Thunderbolt 4 and Thunderbolt 5? After much teasing in 2022 and a demo in October 2022, Intel officially announced Thunderbolt 5 on September 12, 2023, and Apple started introducing it into its MacBook Pro, Mac Studio and some Mac mini models from 2024. Thunderbolt 5 is a real step up from Thunderbolt 4—unlike Thunderbolt 4’s minor (Mac) enhancements on Thunderbolt 3. • Bandwidth is doubled from 40Gbps to 80Gbps, and display connections go as fast as 120Gbps—so up to three times more bandwidth than previous existing connectivity solutions. Bandwidth Boost uses some of the bidirectional downstream bandwidth to create the higher unidirectional 120Gbps data rate. • Thunderbolt 5 supplies up to 240W of charging power downstream to the connected Mac. Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro supports 140W PD 3.1 through its MagSafe 3 port and now via its Thunderbolt 5 ports; Thunderbolt 4 ports are rated PD 3.0 and limited to 100W. That means the Thunderbolt 5 MacBooks can fast-charge via either the MagSafe 3 connection or Thunderbolt 5 ports (using either 240W-rated Thunderbolt or USB-C cables). • Thunderbolt 5 also supports DisplayPort 2.1—compared to today’s DisplayPort 1.4. DisplayPort 2.1 supports a max 10K resolution (10240-×-4320 pixels at 60Hz) on a single display, compared to the 8K resolution supported by DisplayPort 1.4. It also includes improved version of Display Stream Compression (DSC 1.2a) that improves bandwidth management. • Depending on the computer’s processor, Thunderbolt 5 allows up to four external displays to run from the single upstream connection. Before that, even Apple’s M4 Max chip was stuck at two. Now Macs with an M5 Pro or M5 Max can connect to three (M5 Pro) or four (M5 Max) external displays. For more details read “M5 Pro/Max MacBooks finally break Apple’s multi-monitor shackles“. • Thunderbolt 5 allows for a longer “passive” cable length before requiring “active” assistance that increases the cost. With Thunderbolt 4 this was between 0.8 and 1 meter. With TB5, a passive cable can stretch to 1.2m. • While Thunderbolt 5 sticks with the 6-device daisy-chaining limit per Thunderbolt bus, a dual-port configuration could allow for a total of 10 devices across both ports. It can dynamically adjust bandwidth, prioritizing one direction over the other based on usage. Thunderbolt 5 is backward compatible with Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 4, and USB4 devices, so you can upgrade without having to replace existing peripherals. Intel Who needs Thunderbolt 5? While we all like to have the best technologies in our equipment, the benefits of Thunderbolt 5 over Thunderbolt 4 are in reality more for studio professionals who push their hardware to the limits rather than mere Mac mortals who rely less on the very fastest external SSD storage and super high-resolution and refresh-rate monitors. That majority of Mac users needn’t rush to Thunderbolt 5, but it’s a nice-to-have when you upgrade your Mac. What is the difference between USB4 and Thunderbolt 4? Intel didn’t want there to be a confusing USB 4.1, 4.2, etc, so it jammed the 4 right next to the USB. Apple ignores this and insists, in its Apple-like way, on calling it “USB 4”. Both use the same Type-C connector, just like Thunderbolt 3, too. Thunderbolt 4 is based on the same underlying protocol as USB4—the two are tightly connected, with all Thunderbolt 4 devices supporting USB4. If someone has a USB4 laptop, they can use a TB4 device and the other way around. In fact, Thunderbolt 4 is USB4 with all the trimmings. Not all USB4 devices will be as powerful as the fully certified Thunderbolt 4, however. Just like Apple’s version of Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 4 will always have a full 40Gbps bandwidth. USB4, however, starts at 20Gbps but can also reach Thunderbolt 4’s 40Gbps. Look out for USB 20 or USB 40 in product marketing. A USB4 port can only support one display. Thunderbolt 4 can support two 4K displays. The good thing about USB4 is that it will mean that manufacturers can release more powerful hubs and docks that are not Thunderbolt, at a cheaper cost. However, since Thunderbolt products are certified, it means that they are of the highest standard. USB4 devices don’t need to be certified and so eventually we will see many USB4 devices flooding the market with varying degrees of quality, as we see with USB-C hubs today. What is Thunderbolt hubbing? Thunderbolt 4 is, in some ways, just a software upgrade for Mac users. You need at least Apple’s Big Sur operating system (macOS 11) to get its new hubbing functionality. Hubbing does away with the risks of Thunderbolt device daisy-chaining. You’ve always been able to connect multiple Thunderbolt devices but in a potentially long chain, which meant that if you removed any one of them (except the last one in the chain) all the others became unusable until the chain was re-established. Now, with Thunderbolt hubbing, you can have up to four Thunderbolt ports in a hub or dock—each a separate ”branch” that can be disconnected without affecting any other Thunderbolt devices connected in the other ports. Up to six Thunderbolt 4 devices can be smartly daisy-chained. What is the difference between Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4? Thunderbolt 4 is only significantly different for Windows PCs, whose Thunderbolt 3 variations were often limited in features—where Apple always gave its users the full Thunderbolt 3 feature set. Thunderbolt 3 on a Windows laptop could lack the full 40Gbps bandwidth, or maybe not support multiple displays or power delivery. Poor PC users, you’ve got to feel for them. Thunderbolt 4 requires mandatory certification for all computers, which means Windows users finally get all the great features Apple users got with Thunderbolt 3. So Thunderbolt 4 standardizes Thunderbolt 3 for all computer users. It’s backwards compatible, but buying Thunderbolt 4 or 5 devices will also future-proof your setup. So if your Mac has “just” Thunderbolt 3, don’t worry. It’s just that Windows PCs can now join in the fun without limitations, where in the past PC manufacturers could claim theoretical specs but not deliver the best they could by being merely “compatible” rather than “certified”. It should be noted that the MacBooks with Apple’s own M1 or M2 chips had a significant limitation: they can’t run more than one external display natively. However, there is a workaround that allows M1 and M2 MacBooks to run more than one external display. In fact, Thunderbolt 3 was required to support only one external 4K monitor, whereas every Thunderbolt 4 laptop has to support two 4K displays or one 8K display. Thunderbolt 4 and 5 ensure that you can wake a computer with the shake of a mouse or the tap of a keyboard on Thunderbolt 4 or 5 docks. This wasn’t always the case with Thunderbolt 3. This is maybe why Apple isn’t specifically calling its Thunderbolt version 4, due to the M1/M2 display limitation. TB4 and TB5 are also a more data-safe technology, as they requires Intel VT-d-based direct memory access (DMA) protection, also known as DMA remapping. What else? Well, Thunderbolt 5 supports PCIe (peripheral component interconnect express) at 64Gbps for faster storage speeds than TB4’s 32Gbps and TB3’s 16Gbps. Some of the early Thunderbolt 3 MacBooks had less bandwidth available on the right-hand-side Thunderbolt ports. Faster PCIe is important if you frequently transfer very large files between storage devices. Here we are talking about the portion of total Thunderbolt bandwidth allocated for PCI Express data transfer. With Thunderbolt 4 and 5, you’re assured to have all four lanes of PCI Express available—so PCIe can consume up to 32 or 64Gbps of the total 40Gbps/80Gbps Thunderbolt bandwidth. With Thunderbolt 3, depending on your laptop manufacturer and model, some implementations offer only 16Gbps of PCIe bandwidth.  Other advantages of Thunderbolt 4 and 5 include that hubs and docks can now have more than two Thunderbolt ports (up to four) and that TB4 and TB5 cables can be up to 2 meters long and still handle the 40Gbps bandwidth. Previously, passive TB3 cables had to be 0.7m or under to handle full bandwidth. Thunderbolt 4 and (most) USB4 support the latest USB PD 3.1 standard that allows for maximum charging of 240W compared to USB PD 3.0 and Thunderbolt 3’s 100W. Remember that you need the correct type of cable for the higher charging rates: read our roundup of the best Thunderbolt 4 cables. Thunderbolt docks We have tested the best Thunderbolt hubs and docking stations.  The TB4 and TB5 hubs generally feature four Thunderbolt ports (one upstream to connect to the computer, and three downstream to external devices). Docks sometimes swap out one or two downstream Thunderbolt ports for more traditional display connectors (such as HDMI and DisplayPort). You can learn more about the most fully featured hub we’ve tested in our Caldigit Thunderbolt 5 Element 5 Hub review. This hub features four Thunderbolt 5, two 10Gbps USB-C and three 10Gbps USB-A ports. Foundry The CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 Element hub features four Thunderbolt 4 and four 10Gbps USB-A ports. Intel Who owns Thunderbolt? Intel or Apple? Apple and Intel have collaborated on Thunderbolt technology since 2010, releasing its first Thunderbolt MacBook in 2011. Apple even registered the trademark “Thunderbolt” although it passed this on to Intel, in return for “unrestricted use of the technology”. But Intel is the official owner of the Thunderbolt technology. Before this agreement, the technology was known by Intel as “Light Peak”.

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