For Thunderbolt (4) devices. USB-C head-to-head comparison.

[DanielT]

Here a study carried out on USB-C cables. There seems to be a difference if you search extra-high-speed data transmission. Not that I know if I personally need extra-high-speed data transmission.

In fact, I can take the opportunity to ask the question, when do you need the Apple Thunderbolt 4 (USB‑C) Pro cable instead of, for example, the Amazon Basics USB-C cable?
The cables are examined in the test below:

"Apple’s new iPhone 15 marks a disruptive departure from previous models. The 11-year reign of the Lightning cable is over, and the USB-C era has begun — leaving us wondering what sets one charger apart from another.

Does Apple’s Thunderbolt 4 cable really warrant its $129 price tag? Or does a $5 cable get the job done just as well? We’ve used our Neptune industrial X-ray CT scanner to uncover the hidden engineering differences between them."

USB-C head-to-head comparison

The reign of the Lightning cable is over, and the USB-C era has begun — leaving us wondering what sets one charger apart from another. We do a teardown of Apple's Thunderbolt 4 and its competitors.

www.lumafield.com

 

[DJNX]

The Apple cable definitely carries a premium; the Apple tax, if you want to call it that. However, in exchange of that premium you get certainty, as in, you know the cable delivers what it is supposed to.
Which for thunderbolt 4, is quite important, because in order for the cable to be able to perform at its full bandwidth, the cable itself needs to basically be a minicomputer.

For any non-Apple Thunderbolt 4 cable, you definitely should look on the internet for independent benchmarks, that certify its performance, and if you don‘t find any benchmarks, it will be a blind bet.

The question is of course, who actually needs a Thunderbolt 4 cable? Currently, probably not many.

 

[DanielT]

Aha, so it's something that belongs to the Apple family, so to speak, or? I can guess that Apple’s Thunderbolt 4 cable then can fulfill its function, justify its price.

I'm not an Apple user, I should add, so I don't know what's appropriate to use with Apple products, but I learned something new anyway.

 

[sam_adams]

The differences in the displayed cables is that the Apple cable is a Thunderbolt 4 capable cable. The others are just USB-3 cables using a USB-C connector. They really are not in the same 'class'. The active circuitry in the Apple cable—and other cables that would contain similar active components—are there for signal conditioning and capability detection—PD (power delivery), connector orientation, etc. The Apple cable would be something that you would use if you were connecting to an external display with a Thunderbolt connector on it, for example.

 

[DanielT]

The Apple cable definitely carries a premium; the Apple tax, if you want to call it that. However, in exchange of that premium you get certainty, as in, you know the cable delivers what it is supposed to.
Which for thunderbolt 4, is quite important, because in order for the cable to be able to perform at its full bandwidth, the cable itself needs to basically be a minicomputer.

For any non-Apple Thunderbolt 4 cable, you definitely should look on the internet for independent benchmarks, that certify its performance, and if you don‘t find any benchmarks, it will be a blind bet.

The question is of course, who actually needs a Thunderbolt 4 cable? Currently, probably not many.

The differences in the displayed cables is that the Apple cable is a Thunderbolt 4 capable cable. The others are just USB-3 cables using a USB-C connector. They really are not in the same 'class'. The active circuitry in the Apple cable—and other cables that would contain similar active components—are there for signal conditioning and capability detection—PD (power delivery), connector orientation, etc. The Apple cable would be something that you would use if you were connecting to an external display with a Thunderbolt connector on it, for example.

Aha, I added to the title of the thread. To clarify, I hope. I'm definitely out on thin knowledge ice now.

 

[voodooless]

In fact, I can take the opportunity to ask the question, when do you need the Apple Thunderbolt 4 (USB‑C) Pro cable instead of, for example, the Amazon Basics USB-C cable?

For Thunderbolt (4) devices…

I have a TB4 dock, it came with a cable, the whole was cheaper than the Apple cable I use it for a 10Gbe network adapter (TB3).

 

[DanielT]

For Thunderbolt (4) devices…

Ok I added it to the title of the thread. Thanks for the help.

 

[voodooless]

Ok I added it to the title of the thread. Thanks for the help.

Well, only the Apple cable is TB4. The others not. Which is what annoys me a bit, because it’s an apples to oranges comparison. They should have bought a basic TB4 cable to compare.

 

[DanielT]

Well, only the Apple cable is TB4. The others not. Which is what annoys me a bit, because it’s an apples to oranges comparison. They should have bought a basic TB4 cable to compare.

I don't really understand the purpose of the comparison in that case. Weird.

 

[MCH]

Detailed teardown:

Fascinating.
I am not convinced about the chunky dongle size connectors+thick and seemingly not very flexible cable applying torque on the tiny usb-c. I guess they know what they do.
Can someone explain why they need to double the circuit at each end?

 

[voodooless]

Detailed teardown:

Fascinating. Can someone explain why they need to double the circuit at each end?

Because you can use the cable both ways.

 

[DanielT]

In the video, 18:00 onwards, they say that for charging, (all?) the cables will do, but not for good data transfer. But is it any new knowledge?

 

[MCH]

Because you can use the cable both ways.

Thanks, but with such deployment of components, can't it just detect which way you are using it? I guess there is a less obvious reason. That is what I am asking.

 

[G|force]

Thunderbolt development was a joint effort between Apple and Intel, or Apple and Microsoft (I don't remember which)
TB3 supposedly has bandwidth equal to 4 PCIe lanes.

 

[voodooless]

In the video, 18:00 onwards, they say that for charging, (all?) the cables will do, but not for good data transfer. But is it any new knowledge?

I was really annoyed by the level of knowledge in this video. They leave out way too much information, or probably don’t fully understand it themselves.

Thanks, but with such deployment of components, can't it just detect which way you are using it?

It does

 

[voodooless]

From what I could gather, not all TB cables are active. But they would have way more conductors than a simple USB-C cable, especially those tested, that are only good upto 480 Mbps anyway (only 4 conductors, USB 2.0 speed). The TB cable can actually transport almost 100x the amount of data!

 

[sq225917]

Use them on our video hard drives at work for editing 4k video, nothing else works. So it's not apple tax, it's performance tax.

 

[voodooless]

Use them on our video hard drives at work for editing 4k video, nothing else works. So it's not apple tax, it's performance tax.

Why would any other generic TB4 cable not work?

 

[blueone]

Thunderbolt development was a joint effort between Apple and Intel, or Apple and Microsoft (I don't remember which)
TB3 supposedly has bandwidth equal to 4 PCIe lanes.

The development was done mostly by Intel as a project code-named Light Peak, in partnership with Apple. USB4 is based on Thunderbolt 3, and USB was also originally developed by Intel.

 

[kemmler3D]

TB4 is way overkill for any audio application short of ... 64 channels @384khz or something. Probably even that, not going to run the #s tho. It can be useful for video, but the cable runs tend to be really short... a couple years ago I had a horrible time finding a thunderbolt extension cable for my monitor, at the time none actually existed and the longest TB4 cables were about 12". Not super useful.