You may have noticed that Apple refreshed their MacBook Pro line Thursday morning -- but did you notice that little lightning bolt symbol next to the Mini DisplayPort port? If not, you may be missing out on the real story with these new notebooks, which is the new Thunderbolt technology.

While Apple was basking in the glow of fresh new MacBook Pros introduced this morning, their partner Intel Corporation was also hard at work introducing Thunderbolt to the press. Arriving first on today’s new MacBook Pros, Thunderbolt is a new high-speed connection technology for personal computers, capable of transferring data at up to 10 gigabits per second -- double the speed of current USB 3.0 hosts.

Before you make the decision to invest in this new technological marvel, let’s have a look at what it offers and how it will change connectivity in the future.

Light Peak Becomes Thunderbolt

First designed by Intel back in 2009, the promise of “Light Peak” (Thunderbolt’s original codename) was to replace the wide variety of I/O buses in use with modern-day computers, which in recent years has included the likes of SCSI, SATA, USB, FireWire and PCI Express. The idea is to reduce the number of ports on personal computers by creating something capable of more than one kind of task.

On Thursday, Intel debuted the advanced connectivity technology at long last, rechristening it “Thunderbolt” and adopting Apple’s own Mini DisplayPort connection for the initial launch. That means that, in addition to powering up to two displays, a single Mini DisplayPort port is also capable of pushing data using the PCI Express protocol, including multiple streams of 1080p HD video.

Intel’s vision for Thunderbolt is the ability to move data faster than ever before, while simplifying connections between devices -- a challenge given the HD world that we live in today, with ever-larger files and bigger storage capacities.

"Working with HD media is one of the most demanding things people do with their PCs," explains Intel PC Client Group general manager Mooly Eden in the company’s press release on Thursday. "With Thunderbolt technology, Intel has delivered innovative technology to help professionals and consumers work faster and more easily with their growing collection of media content, from music to HD movies. We've taken the vision of simple, fast transfer of content between PCs and devices, and made it a reality."

Why Do I Need It?

You may not -- at least not just yet, since there aren’t any devices to plug into Thunderbolt just yet, save for existing Mini DisplayPort-compatible monitors and adaptors for DVI and HDMI. But Thunderbolt promises to end one potentially nagging problem with computers that don’t feature dedicated PCI slots -- which is Apple’s entire Mac product line with the exception of the Mac Pro these days.

You may recall the controversy that erupted when Apple removed the traditional FireWire 400 port from their MacBook Pro line a few years back, forcing users to buy adaptors or cables designed to convert FW800 to FW400. Then, the company also ditched the ExpressCard/34 slot frequently used to add additional I/O ports to notebooks (including USB 3.0, FireWire and SATA) -- replacing it with the more commonly requested SD card slot.

Such moves left pro users in a bit of a quandary if they needed to connect to high-end video gear which requires expansion slots, or even to connect to fast RAID hard drives for HD editing. As it turns out, Apple hasn’t abandoned those users at all -- it just took a little extra time for Intel to put the wraps on Thunderbolt.

Thunderbolt also holds a lot of promise for iMac users, who have been left out in the cold where expansion ports are concerned -- most likely, by this summer Apple will launch new iMac models packing Thunderbolt technology, and then prosumers who have been faithful to the all-in-one Mac will finally get to enjoy the spoils of super-fast storage and more.

Regardless of what type of Mac you choose, Thunderbolt promises to make all of your future I/O connectivity faster -- imagine super-fast data transfer for creative uses, complete system backups in minutes instead of hours and much more.

How Does It Work?

Thunderbolt’s controller is a brand-new chip on the motherboard, although Intel claims that it doesn’t require one of their processors to implement it. According to Engadget, Thunderbolt uses PCI Express x4 for data and DisplayPort for video, allowing a single port to pipe “two data streams simultaneously -- in both directions” at up to 10 gigabits per second.

The current Thunderbolt implementation is based on copper wires, although the technology will ultimately wind up going optical down the road -- and today’s new MacBook Pros will actually be able to take advantage of that, since Intel is building the optical technology into the cables and not the port itself.

While Intel is shy about the possibility of a USB 3.0 adaptor winding up as part of the Thunderbolt connectivity, in theory it should work with any device that’s PCI Express 2.0 compatible, which includes both traditional FireWire and eSATA. Since Thunderbolt is a single port, devices have to be daisy-chained, with a single cable capable of extending up to three meters and piping 10 watts of power along the way.

Who Supports It?

Apple is the first vendor out of the gate to implement Thunderbolt in their new MacBook Pro models introduced on Thursday. But they certainly won’t be the last, with pro digital vendors such as Aja, Apogee, Avid and Blackmagic all planning to implement Thunderbolt into their forthcoming products.

Of course, storage vendors will be key to Thunderbolt’s success, and Intel was quick to note that both Western Digital and LaCie will be offering hard drives capable of connectivity with the new technology. LaCie was part of today’s demonstration of the technology along with Intel and Apple and has already announced that their Little Big Disk product will include Thunderbolt by this summer.

"Thunderbolt technology is a breakthrough in I/O technology and represents the future of mobile computing,” proclaimed LaCie chairman and general manager, Phillipe Spruch, in a press release. “Soon you will be able to carry workstation-class power and functionality in compact devices. LaCie is excited to be one of the first to deliver Thunderbolt technology with the LaCie Little Big Disk."

Of course, LaCie’s Little Big Disk will be only the first in a range of storage and peripherals solutions from the company to feature Thunderbolt, and you can bet in the months to come as Apple and other PC manufacturers roll out new products that include Thunderbolt, there will be many more to come.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter