Thunderbolt

Thunderbolt is a new I/O connection found on the latest generation Apple MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and their new large monitor (thunderbolt display). It replaces the display port on these models and allows for two way 10Gb/s data transfer over two channels, compared with USB 2.0's 480Mb/s over one channel. It has the speed to utilise, from one MacBook Pro, two 27 inch thunder bolt monitors and daisy chain external hard drives from the USB interfaces on the displays. Thats over a million pixels on screen real estate from one machine.

Image from Apple.com

Thunderbolt has been developed by Intel and it's integration into Apple products is only the first step. Thunderbolt is compatible with Intel chipsets and so should become widely available in the PC market. The uptake of USB 3.0 (5 Gb/s) may have to move over to allow manufacturers to make thunderbolt connections a widespread industry standard.

Image from Intel.com

For more information on Thunderbolt check out this page from Intel click here.
For more information on Thunderbolt in Apple's products click here.