The crazy complexity of Apple's Thunderbolt 4 cables

[Rod]

I never doubted that cables and USB components varied greatly in their quality, complexity and speed. This has been pointed out by members on these forums in the past. Cheap cables, flash drives and adapters get super hot and data transfer speeds are often not up to scratch but I had no idea how complex the circuitry insome Apple cables could be. I mean the USB-3 to Thunderbolt (USB-adapter) is huge at the end where the USB-2/3 device connects.



Today I got an idea why it's so big thanks to this article;

X-rays show crazy complexity of Apple's Thunderbolt 4 cable

Thunderbolt cables cost far more than standard USB-C ones, and a series of X-ray scans of various options reveals why.

www.cultofmac.com

Just to pre-empt the above link here is a screenshot;



So, now I understand, do read the article even though for some of us it will just be confirmation of what we already knew.

 

[Groovetube]

Tb cables is not something I cheap out on. I’ve learned that lesson a couple of times. If I spend a lot on the tb devices I have I get the apple cables usually.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Tb cables is not something I cheap out on. I’ve learned that lesson a couple of times. If I spend a lot on the tb devices I have I get the apple cables usually.

I keep on telling folks that Thunderbolt cables are not the same as simple USB-C cables, but they rarely listen.

OWC has a combo cable that it says can connect anything with a USB-C connector to any other device with a USB-C connector, even different Thunderbolt devices, at full speed (i.e. the best speed of the peripheral).

OWC introduces new all-in-one Thunderbolt 4/USB-C Cable to help solve confusion
https://9to5mac.com/2021/02/18/owc-...erbolt-4-usb-c-cable-to-help-solve-confusion/

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/owc-thunderbolt-4-cables
$24, 31.5 inches

 

[Groovetube]

Confusing thunderbolt cables with simple usb-c ones might be another level from buying cheaper made thunderbolt cables.

I don’t think I’ve checked at OWC for cables. I forgot to mention I think I did get a startech tb cable once and it worked on my universal audio racks, which are notoriously picky. One hiccup and all the devices won’t cascade. But I tend to stick to apple simply because, it always works.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Confusing thunderbolt cables with simple usb-c ones might be another level from buying cheaper made thunderbolt cables.

I don't recall seeing any cables that were actually advertised as "Thunderbolt cables" that were low quality. If these exist (assuming that you've actually tried them and they were problematic) it would be very helpful to be given links to them so that folks know to avoid them.

Most folks don't have a clue as to what a Thunderbolt cable is. They just see that their Mac has a USB-C port and they buy a cable with USB-C connectors without regard for the protocol the cable is designed for.

The developers of devices with a Thunderbolt input (e.g. high end monitor manufacturers) often include a high quality Thunderbolt cable with their product. Presumably to forestall any problems with third party cables that are inappropriate.

 

[Groovetube]

I’d have to dig back, not sure if I can find them, but they were amazon, definitely advertised as ‘thunderbolt’. A number of us musicians with thunderbolt interfaces got caught by a few of those dodgy cables. We know to check if it’s tb and not just usb-c. You gotta watch it on Amazon.

the interfaces I use are top end (apollo8p racks are about 5k Canadian) and they don’t include cables. I have 4 universal audio Apollos daisy chained. (Cascading). Neither did the expensiv thunderbolt raid drives. But the monitor did include a usb-c cable! As did the cheaper Samsung usb-c drives. Go figure.