The New Lenovo ThinkBook 14+ Laptop Comes With An Unusual OCulink Connector

The New Lenovo ThinkBook 14+ Laptop Comes With An Unusual OCulink Connector

As posted on the Chinese forum Zhihu, the new Lenovo ThinkBook 14+ is among the laptops the company is set to reveal in due time. However, there’s an unusual feature of this rather unassuming laptop: it comes with a unique OCulink connector, a first for laptops.

There’s a good chance this is the first time you heard about this connector, so here’s a quick introduction: OCulink stands for Optical-Copper Link (Cu is the symbol of copper in the periodic table), and it’s a budget-friendly alternative to Intel’s more common Thunderbolt standard. One of the advantages it offers is less overhead, which benefits devices like external GPU enclosures. However, OCulink is extremely rare today, only seen in a small number of Chinese-made gaming handhelds.

Apparently, modifications exist for laptops that convert the M.2 connector to the OCulink, in the form of a special PCB that essentially connects the PCIe 4.0 x4 in place of USB ports. It’s unclear if this may end up being a Chinese exclusive, given that China often gets its unique set of products with certain quirks. For example, the globally-sold Legion Go handheld did not come with such connector, whereas ASUS’s ROG Ally has their own proprietary XGm connector for external GPU uses.

Source: Videocardz | 知乎 (Zhihu)

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Pokdepinion: That’s surprising. Would laptops actually begin to use OCulink over Thunderbolt eventually? I’d imagine cost is the only thing stopping Thunderbolt for being more ubiquitous.