Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Now Selling Thunderbolt 5 Cable for M4 Mac Mini and MacBook Pro

adamw said:
OWC has available for Pre-Order the first Thunderbolt 5 external portable SSD drives with over 6,000MB/second speeds now: https://www.owc.com/solutions/envoy-ultra

View attachment 2443861
Click to expand...
I used to buy products from OWC, and there were always a few surprises with their products and firmware. I remember getting a hub from them, and when Apple released a software/firmware update, OWC couldn’t (or wouldn’t) support it. Their products look good on the outside, but I ran into issues with other devices as well. 🤦
 
  • Like
Reactions: orpheus1120
Reason077 said:
Would be nice if there was a way to visually identify a Thunderbolt 5 cable without having to plug it in and run diagnostics software. You’d think they could put a little “5” beside the Thunderbolt symbol, or something?
Click to expand...
1730292368717.png
 
  • Like
  • Love
  • Haha
Reactions: Chuckeee, GlassFingers, cczhu and 6 others
zoozx said:
$69 for a cable,? we are talking about a Cable here, right?
$69 dollars....Really?
and that is acceptable ???

What's next, a $50 dollar Guitar pick.
Click to expand...
As someone who has used the Apple cable and tried a cheap knockoff, there is a distinct difference. We're not talking Monster cable type deals here. It actually is worth it.
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: jimthing and Victor Mortimer
WolfSnap said:
Here you go:

But, there's a bunch of videos on the topic. The cables really are pretty amazing. It's not just wires soldered to a few pins.
Click to expand...

I saw that video but what annoys me about it is, I don't want to just see the $13 and $130 cables. Show me the damn $30-$50 cable I would actually consider buying. I know the cheap one is going to be junk, it was safe to assume the Apple branded one would be very well made, but what about the mid range? I want something in between wires bridged to a cheap piece of metal and something that is a work of art.
 
  • Love
Reactions: jimthing
thettareddast said:
You've got to be nuts to buy 3rd party cable multiple times because they don't perform, fray, and then stop working.

You get what you pay for.

65f8b35e192dc26cf11f524f_usb-c%20daily%20mail-p-1080.png

652f12253610f38db0f9e5e5_pcba%20combined.png


vs

652f130a5f7361aeee4541d4_5%20strain%20relief.png


www.lumafield.com

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 www.lumafield.com

Click to expand...
That's already been posted, and already noted as deceptive.

They're comparing a Thunderbolt cable to a USB cable. They are NOT THE SAME THING.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jimthing and RMo
CarAnalogy said:
I saw that video but what annoys me about it is, I don't want to just see the $13 and $130 cables. Show me the damn $30-$50 cable I would actually consider buying. I know the cheap one is going to be junk, it was safe to assume the Apple branded one would be very well made, but what about the mid range? I want something in between wires bridged to a cheap piece of metal and something that is a work of art.
Click to expand...
The cheap cable in that video is FINE. It's a USB cable, that Apple cable is a Thunderbolt cable. They're not the same thing, it's a ridiculous comparison.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RMo and CarAnalogy
Victor Mortimer said:
The cheap cable in that video is FINE. It's a USB cable, that Apple cable is a Thunderbolt cable. They're not the same thing, it's a ridiculous comparison.
Click to expand...

I haven't watched it in a while, but I think the one we're talking about was advertised as charging only, in which case yeah just putting the pins on a bar is fine.

I didn't spring for the $130 Apple cable but I did get a $40 Monoprice one, I wish they had X-Rayed that one as that's the most likely one for people to get and also be curious about the quality. For $13 nobody should expect a proper Thunderbolt cable.

So yeah, not a helpful video.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jimthing and Victor Mortimer
CarAnalogy said:
I haven't watched it in a while, but I think the one we're talking about was advertised as charging only, in which case yeah just putting the pins on a bar is fine.

I didn't spring for the $130 Apple cable but I did get a $40 Monoprice one, I wish they had X-Rayed that one as that's the most likely one for people to get and also be curious about the quality. For $13 nobody should expect a proper Thunderbolt cable.

So yeah, not a helpful video.
Click to expand...
I've never had a problem with a Monoprice cable. They're just a bit slow shipping to me, so I rarely buy from them any more.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CarAnalogy
MallardDuck said:
The biggest problem is that these are only 3‘ long. Running multiple displays from a single machine off to the side really needs 6’ for the most distant ones which means an active cable, which means $$$ (when it’s available).
Click to expand...

With Thunderbolt 5 displays you would typically daisy-chain them, since there’s now enough bandwidth for multiple 6K (or even 8K) displays on a bus.

No need for a long cable, just connect the furthest one to the display next to it.
 
Last edited:
  • Disagree
  • Like
Reactions: thettareddast and jimthing
Every usb-c cable should have the power delivery and speed printed in the connector as part of the spec. 240W/120Gb or whatever. It sucks that there’s no way to tell one cable from another and this should be an easy damn fix but no, we gotta suffer instead.
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: Victor Mortimer, Chuckeee and jimthing
Thanatoast said:
Every usb-c cable should have the power delivery and speed printed in the connector as part of the spec. 240W/120Gb or whatever. It sucks that there’s no way to tell one cable from another and this should be an easy damn fix but no, we gotta suffer instead.
Click to expand...

Seems like if a cable is “Thunderbolt 5”, it guarantees 240W/120Gb, so no real need to spell this out explicitly. All it needs is a “5” printed on it.
 
CarAnalogy said:
I haven't watched it in a while, but I think the one we're talking about was advertised as charging only, in which case yeah just putting the pins on a bar is fine.
Click to expand...

No, that was only half of the point of the video: legitimate cables have actual functionality to justify their cost

The other point is that there are differences in construction quality -- thickness of wires, cleanliness of solder, design of strain relief, etc -- that affect performance and longevity.

Everybody have enough junked cables that they can relate. (Yes, I realize the cheapo Apple Lightning cables fray too). I have piles of failed cables and accessories from "name brand 3rd party" like Anker, Monoprice, Aukey, etc, to not fall into that trap again. If im buying stuff with high functional requirements, no cheaping out.
 
  • Haha
  • Like
Reactions: Victor Mortimer and GlassFingers
thettareddast said:
No, that was only half of the point of the video: legitimate cables have actual functionality to justify their cost

The other point is that there are differences in construction quality -- thickness of wires, cleanliness of solder, design of strain relief, etc -- that affect performance and longevity.

Everybody have enough junked cables that they can relate. (Yes, I realize the cheapo Apple Lightning cables fray too). I have piles of failed cables and accessories from "name brand 3rd party" like Anker, Monoprice, Aukey, etc, to not fall into that trap again. If im buying stuff with high functional requirements, no cheaping out.
Click to expand...

Right, but what I wanted from the video was to see whether the midrange cables are cheating, or whether they do meet specs. I suppose the actual point of the video was to show how well constructed Apple's cable is.

I agree with you, if it's important and heavily used get a good one. But I just wanted one for infrequent use at my desk.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GlassFingers
CarAnalogy said:
Right, but what I wanted from the video was to see whether the midrange cables are cheating, or whether they do meet specs. I suppose the actual point of the video was to show how well constructed Apple's cable is.

I agree with you, if it's important and heavily used get a good one. But I just wanted one for infrequent use at my desk.
Click to expand...
The other point of the video was the company doing scanning, Lumafield, advertising their products and services :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: GlassFingers and CarAnalogy
Victor Mortimer said:
www.amazon.com

Cable Matters [Intel Certified] 80Gbps Thunderbolt 5 Cable with up to 120Gbps Bandwidth Boost and 240W Charging - 1m / 3.3ft, Compatible with Thunderbolt 4, USB4, and USB C, Black

Cable Matters Thunderbolt 5 Cable in Black - 1m/3.3ft
www.amazon.com

$33 for 1m, with an extra 10% off coupon available.

Yes, $69 is absolutely outrageous.

Oh, and it's even marked with a 5 so you can tell it apart from your other cables.
Click to expand...
Cable Matters is crap. But you should buy one.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
  • Angry
Reactions: Victor Mortimer
Victor Mortimer said:
You know they're ALL made in China, right?

It would be one thing if Apple's double-priced cable was US production, but it isn't, it's Chinese.

And in case you're wondering, Cable Matters is based in Massachusetts. So the same as Apple, a technically US company with China production.
Click to expand...
You know that some companies have higher standards than others for things made in china? Amazing concept right? Higher quality control costs more. Maybe you should be buying Dell's.
 
  • Angry
  • Like
Reactions: Victor Mortimer and Chuckeee
Maybe but with 5K capable Macs I would hope they want to see us all new monitors sooner.
 
BornAgainMac said:
I remember one Youtuber (Rene Ritchie?) said they threw away all their cables and just got the latest standard so there would be no confusion. My current thunderbolt and USB-C. Apple even said the USB-C cable they include with the iPhone is good for charging but if you want fast transfers, you have get a better cable from someone else. That is so confusing!
Click to expand...
At $69 each, throwing away all of one's cables to replace all of them with the latest standard sounds great.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back