AMD’s Next-Gen AM5 Motherboards To Feature USB4 Support, IO Parity With Intel Platform

wccftech.com:

AMD is reportedly preparing to include USB4 support in its AM5 desktop platform, as revealed by the visit of AMD's CEO Lisa Su to Taiwan.

AMD is behind Intel in incorporating Thunderbolt 4 (USB 4) support in its processors. Intel's 11th Generation lineup had gained support for the new USB platform, whereas AMD still hasn't made the feature available on its latest AM5 desktop platform.

However, things might change in upcoming AM5 motherboard releases as a report suggests that AMD's CEO Lisa Su paid a visit to a number of Taiwanese manufacturers with the aim of USB4 support on desktop processors.

Asmedia, a company well-known in Taiwan for manufacturing motherboard chipsets and USB controllers, is expected to be responsible for Thunderbolt 4 support on future AMD platforms. The company is way ahead of its competitors, especially regarding USB 4 technology, since it has received USB-IF Association certification. Moreover, the company is expected to start mass production of the new USB4 host controllers by next year. Such technologies do show up in refreshed motherboards as we saw with Intel whose board partners are now integrating WIFI 7 & 5.0 GbE LAN on the existing Z790-chipset-based motherboards.

For a brief recap on Thunderbolt 4 (USB4) capabilities, the new platform supports up to 40Gbps of transfer speeds. The key difference from previous generations is the inclusion of port expansion since several devices can be linked at a time with a single Thunderbolt 4 dock.

We shouldn't expect USB4 support to drop on the AM5 platform until next year unless AMD finds a new vendor. The change will most likely be implemented as a new refresh lineup or included support in next-gen AM5 motherboards which launch alongside the Ryzen 8000