AJA Io Xpand uses Thunderbolt 5 for 6000 MB/s mobile production

The Io Xpand bridges the gap between desktop-grade I/O and the increasing performance of mobile workstations. By moving the PCIe bottle-neck to 6000 MB/s, AJA allows engineers to run uncompressed 12G-SDI stacks and 4K HDR workflows directly from laptops without the latency or frame-drop risks typical of older Thunderbolt throughput limits. This release reflects a broader shift toward decentralized production, where mission-critical hardware must be as portable as the software it supports. Watch for whether high-resolution 8K workflows increasingly migrate to these compact setups as Thunderbolt 5 adoption matures in the hardware ecosystem.

The launch of the Io Xpand coincides with the broader rollout of Thunderbolt 5, which Intel released to address severe bandwidth constraints in creative professional and AI-driven workflows. Per silklandtech and Kensington, October and November 2025, Thunderbolt 5 provides a base bidirectional bandwidth of 80 Gbps—double that of Thunderbolt 4—and can reach 120 Gbps via Bandwidth Boost for video-intensive tasks like driving dual 8K displays at 60Hz. This jump in performance is critical for production hardware, as previous 40 Gbps standards often hit practical limits when simultaneous high-speed storage and multi-channel video capture were required on a single cable.

Market competition in the pro-video space is also shifting toward high-speed external connectivity to match mobile silicon performance. For example, per Blackmagic Design, May 2026, the industry is increasingly focused on integrating high-bandwidth I/O like 10G Ethernet and advanced PCIe tunneling for live production. While Blackmagic recently debuted the Camera ProDock for iPhone production at IBC 2025, AJA’s Io Xpand targets a higher tier of professional hardware integration by housing full-scale PCIe cards. This move allows AJA to maintain its footprint in the post-production and broadcast markets as OEMs like Apple and Intel push Thunderbolt 5 into more laptops and small-form-factor PCs through 2026.