Hacker News Reader

Comment by olympus | Hacker News Reader

Looking at the specs, (linked in another comment), it appears that the USB-C port doesn't support Thunderbolt 3. Seriously, Microsoft, you can't charge this much for a laptop without TB3. I know that TB started as an Apple standard, but you're not killing this port like you did with Firewire. Your case of NIMBY has cost you my sale. I'll wait and get the next premium Lenovo/HP/ASUS/etc Ultrabook with 8th gen i7 AND TB3.

View on HN

Not enough PCIe lanes in Surface Connect. Since the CPU is in the clipboard, but the USB-C port is in the keyboard, there would have to be available PCIe lanes on the Surface Connect port, but it's taken up by the GPU lanes.

I guess we may see an upgrade in Surface Connect by next generation. Any chance, TB3 could be included in clipboard itself?

I have a MacBook Pro and have never used thunderbolt. Why is it a big deal / what do you use it for?

I use it for external GPU and an external TB2 SSD raid array. The thing is, these laptops are starting at $2500, ignoring the base model integrated GPU that is just there for making the starting price attractive (although that one could benefit the most from an eGPU...)

It sounds like a technical reason for it being excluded (lacking extra PCI-E lanes) but it is just disappointing on a laptop in the $2.5k-$3k range in late 2017.

since they already have a 1060 in the surface, they will only be losing customers with TB2 SSD raid arrays on their laptops I guess.

So like 3 people.

I use a single TB3 port to connect two 4K displays, 100W power and all USB devices all through a single cable

And Surface Book 2 will do that just fine. (You're almost certainly not using Thunderbolt but plethora if USB-C alternate modes)

A USB-C port will just barely power a 4K display at 60hz on its own. There's no way to get two 4k displays, USB, and power delivery without the bandwidth of Thunderbolt 3

Is it a Macbook ? I haven't seen that it's possible to connect two monitors over one TB3 port on the MBP 16.

Honestly, TB3 kind of makes one of the main features of the Surface Book irrelevant in my opinion. If you can just connect a dGPU at your desk, do you really need one in the base of the laptop? Is that worth the related driver issues and the extra cost of a Surface Book?

Thunderbolt is and has always been an Intel standard.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_(interface)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com