Previously codenamed 'Cactus Ridge', Intel is at last shipping the next-generation of its Thunderbolt I/O controllers, hopefully putting an end to delays on some Ivy Bridge motherboards.
The new offerings look to cut power usage and benefit from a smaller profile and thus cost, with Intel's four lane DSL3510 offering dropping consumption by 0.4W and witnessing a size reduction from 15mm x 15mm down to 12mm x 12mm. A change in socket type has also reduced the height of the chip from 1.5mm down to 1.35mm.
Intel will also be offering the 'Port Ridge' DSL2210, which will not provide daisy chaining, however will be a suitable low-cost, low-power I/O for end-point devices such as external storage.
It's expected that whilst the DSL3510 will find its way into PCs, the DSL3310 will be the most likely candidate for Ultrabooks, with its reduced power consumption and cost. No doubt we'll be seeing this next generation of controllers in Apple's next refresh of the Mac line-up as well.
