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If you are a fan of high-performance laptops, you might be interested in the latest leaks from Lenovo. According to some sources, the company is planning to launch the first mainstream laptops with Oculink ports in 2024.
What are Oculink ports and why should you care?
Oculink is a new standard for connecting external devices to laptops, such as graphics cards, storage drives, or VR headsets. It is designed to offer faster and more reliable data transfer than existing solutions, such as Thunderbolt or USB.
Oculink uses a cable that has four lanes of PCIe 4.0, which can deliver up to 32 Gbps of bandwidth per lane. That means a total of 128 Gbps for the whole cable, which is twice as fast as Thunderbolt 4 and four times as fast as USB 4.
Oculink also supports hot-plugging, meaning you can connect and disconnect devices without rebooting your laptop. And unlike Thunderbolt, Oculink does not require any additional chips or controllers on the laptop or the device, which reduces cost and power consumption.
How will Lenovo implement Oculink on its laptops?
The leaks suggest that Lenovo will introduce Oculink ports on its ThinkPad and Legion series of laptops in 2024. These are the company’s flagship lines for business and gaming users, respectively.
The ThinkPad laptops will have one Oculink port on the left side, while the Legion laptops will have two Oculink ports on the back. The ports will be compatible with existing Oculink devices, such as the Razer Core X Chroma eGPU enclosure or the ASUS Hyper M.2 x16 Gen 4 Card.
Lenovo will also offer its own Oculink accessories, such as a docking station, a VR headset, and a portable SSD. These will be designed to match the aesthetics and performance of the laptops.
What are the benefits and challenges of Oculink for laptop users?
Oculink could offer several benefits for laptop users who want to boost their productivity or gaming experience. For example, you could connect an external GPU to your laptop and enjoy desktop-level graphics performance on your laptop screen or an external monitor. Or you could connect a VR headset and immerse yourself in virtual reality without any latency or stuttering.
Oculink could also enable faster and more flexible storage options for your laptop. You could connect an external SSD and access your files at blazing speeds. Or you could use an Oculink card to add more internal M.2 slots to your laptop and expand your storage capacity.
However, Oculink also comes with some challenges and limitations. For one thing, Oculink devices are still rare and expensive, compared to Thunderbolt or USB devices. You might have a hard time finding compatible products or paying a premium for them.
Another issue is that Oculink cables are thicker and stiffer than other cables, which might affect the portability and aesthetics of your laptop. You might also need a longer cable to reach some devices, such as an eGPU enclosure or a VR headset.
Finally, Oculink might not be compatible with some older or non-standard devices that use different protocols or connectors. You might need adapters or converters to make them work with your laptop.
Is Oculink worth waiting for?
Oculink is an exciting technology that could revolutionize the way we use our laptops. It could offer unprecedented performance and versatility for external devices, such as graphics cards, storage drives, or VR headsets.
However, Oculink is still a niche and emerging standard that has not been widely adopted by the industry or the consumers. It might take some time before we see more Oculink products and lower prices on the market.
If you are looking for a new laptop in 2024, you might want to consider Lenovo’s offerings with Oculink ports. They could give you an edge over other laptops in terms of speed and flexibility.
But if you are happy with your current laptop or you don’t need any external devices, you might not need to wait for Oculink. You can still enjoy great performance and features with existing standards, such as Thunderbolt or USB.
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