Thunderbolt Share: Fast PC-to-PC connection with screen and file sharing

Thunderbolt Share promises simple screen and file sharing by simply connecting two PCs with a Thunderbolt cable and starting the associated Windows software. Thanks to the high bandwidth of (at least) 40 Gbit/s, screen content can be transferred from one device to the other uncompressed and therefore in all its glory. Large files can also be passed on without complications.

Unlike the specifications of Thunderbolt 4 and 5, which fully implement USB4 or USB4 version 2.0, Share is not a hardware extension, but a software component. The data exchange itself takes place via the well-known PC direct connection technology Thunderbolt Networking. This has hardly been used to date because there were few sensible applications for the virtual network connection. Share is now set to change this.

The software is initially only available for Windows PCs. Intel has planned support for Macs or Linux PCs, so that a cross-platform Share connection should also be possible at some point, but Intel is not giving a timetable.

License as a dongle

Although Thunderbolt, as described above, has only been an implementation of the USB4 standard since version 4, Share will not work with all notebooks and PCs that have a fast USB-C port. Instead, Intel binds the function to a license that hardware manufacturers must acquire and implement in addition to the Thunderbolt certificate.

At least both sides do not have to have the license: It is sufficient if a notebook or complete PC serves as a share-permitting hardware dongle. Or a Thunderbolt dock or monitor, which sits between the two, has the share license. However, comparatively inexpensive Thunderbolt cables that would allow Share are not being considered.

Other options for acquiring a license, such as a clumsy purchase of the software, are not planned. Anyone who already has a large fleet of Thunderbolt hardware will therefore be left out unless they invest in new hardware.

The first notebooks, docks and monitors with a Share license are expected to go on sale in the second half of the year. As the Share implementation means additional validation effort, it is unlikely that devices with Thunderbolt 4 that are already on the market will be upgraded with a Share license later via a firmware update, although this is possible in principle according to Intel. Intel has not yet answered our query as to whether Share will always be included in notebooks with the Evo logo in the future, which is already backed by a larger validation catalog.

(mue)