Intel’s Thunderbolt Share lets two PCs control each other over a USB cable
Intel’s Thunderbolt Share lets two PCs control each other over a USB cable - The Verge
Why can’t you just plug a USB cable between two PCs, drag your mouse cursor between their screens, and drop files between them, as if they were a single machine? Well, you can and have for years — but Intel may be about to turbocharge that idea with Thunderbolt Share.
It’s a proprietary app that Intel will be licensing to laptop, desktop, and accessory manufacturers to bundle with new hardware. Install it on two Thunderbolt 4 or 5 computers, connect them with a Thunderbolt cable, and you should be able to share your mouse, keyboard, screens, storage, and other USB peripherals; drag and drop files at Thunderbolt speeds; and sync data between them. It won’t let you share an internet connection, though.
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Intel says you can also mirror one PC’s screen to another at 1080p resolution and 60 frames per second at low latency and with zero compression — and the PCs can connect through a Thunderbolt dock or monitor if that’s more convenient than a direct link.
It doesn’t strictly require a Thunderbolt-certified computer, mind you, or even necessarily an Intel processor. “USB 4 and Thunderbolt 3 connections may work, we just really don’t guarantee it, we won’t be providing support for it,” says Intel Thunderbolt chief Jason Ziller.
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But it does require the app, which Intel will charge OEMs an extra license fee to provide exclusively with new hardware. Having to buy a subset of Thunderbolt computer or Thunderbolt accessory kind of limits the environments in which this might come in handy! Intel says you do get a second license with any Thunderbolt Share PC you buy or two with any accessory, though. |
