Apple Unveils First Thunderbolt Display

Apple had a slew of announcements on Wednesday – they released Mac OS X Lion and updated both the MacBook Air and the Mac mini. But that wasn't all. Apple also unveiled the first Thunderbolt Display.

The 27-inch Apple Thunderbolt Display connects to a Thunderbolt-enabled Mac with just one cable. It includes a built-in FaceTime HD video camera, a 2.1 speaker system, an integrated MagSafe charger to keep Mac notebooks charged, three USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port, one Gigabit Ethernet port and a Thunderbolt port, which lets you daisy chain up to five additional Thunderbolt devices.

Thunderbolt Technology features two bi-directional channels, offering transfer speeds up to 10Gbps each for high-speed data and display transfers. The Thunderbolt port delivers PCI Express directly to external peripherals, supports DisplayPort for high resolution displays and works with existing adapters for HDMI, DVI and VGA displays.

The Thunderbolt Display also has an ambient light sensor which automatically adjusts the display brightness based on lighting conditions – which also helps save energy. Speaking of, the new display meets Energy Star 5.0 requirements and achieves EPEAT Gold status. It will be available within the next 60 days for $999.