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yalag

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Original poster
Nov 18, 2007
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81
I just bought the ipad pro newest version 12.9. The cable that came with apple is very short. I want to buy a longer one but I"m afraid that if I just bought a random from amazon it won't have the same ability as the apple one (in terms of data and charge speed). Does it matter? Or all cables the same?
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,920
13,265
I use this with my 2021 12.9 -

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0832DC7W8

Works great & sturdy.

Yep, Anker cables have served me well.

I prefer the nylon-braided ones though. Easier to untangle.

 
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sparksd

macrumors G4
Jun 7, 2015
10,000
34,320
Seattle WA
Yep, Anker cables have served me well.

I prefer the nylon-braided ones though. Easier to untangle.


Yeah, I have both and the braided are excellent.
 
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DiegoA

macrumors newbie
May 21, 2021
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I just bought the ipad pro newest version 12.9. The cable that came with apple is very short. I want to buy a longer one but I"m afraid that if I just bought a random from amazon it won't have the same ability as the apple one (in terms of data and charge speed). Does it matter? Or all cables the same?
The USB-C cable that Apple ships with the Thunderbolt iPad pros is thin and it's only USB-C. If you're concerned about data transfer speeds the apple cable won't be as fast as a Thunderbolt/USB 4 cable (even though the iPad Pros haven't yet been totally unleashed in the Thunderbolt area ;)). A cable like this Maxonar or this Uzanpie will run rings around the flimsy Apple cable in terms of data speed or durability.
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,920
13,265
We're talking about the USB-C cable that comes with the latest iPad pros. Not the little Lightning-USB 2 cables that came with pre-USB-C iPads.

Yep, I know. I'm saying those free USB-C to USB-C charge cables are not even capable of USB 3.0 speeds.


Compared with Apple USB-C Charge Cable
The Apple USB-C Charge Cable is longer (2m) and also supports charging, but data-transfer speed is limited to 480Mbps (USB 2.0) and it doesn't support video. The Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) cable has Thunderbolt
thunderbolt-icon.png
logo on the sleeve of each connector. Either cable can be used with the Apple USB-C Power Adapter.
 
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Rafterman

Contributor
Apr 23, 2010
7,267
8,809
Oh my!! That's really pathetic on Apple's part.

Not Apple. Specs for data are more strict than those for power delivery. Data cables are noticibly thicker than power cables. Apple does cheap out though by giving us a power-only cable, not their mire expensive data cable.
 

KeniLF

macrumors newbie
Mar 28, 2020
28
25
I've been using the 10ft 100W Amazon Basics...


and 10ft 60W JSAUX...



Both are USB-C to USB-C and I have different charge blocks that take USB-C cables.
 
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jagolden

macrumors 68000
Feb 11, 2002
1,587
1,501

yalag

Suspended
Original poster
Nov 18, 2007
1,448
81
Not Apple. Specs for data are more strict than those for power delivery. Data cables are noticibly thicker than power cables. Apple does cheap out though by giving us a power-only cable, not their mire expensive data cable.
so if I'm buying a new cable, I might as well buy one with data? But doesn't the original cable also transfer data? I'm just so lost as to what to buy to future proof
 

Rafterman

Contributor
Apr 23, 2010
7,267
8,809
so if I'm buying a new cable, I might as well buy one with data? But doesn't the original cable also transfer data? I'm just so lost as to what to buy to future proof

I never tried data with the regular cable. It may work, but not at Thunderbolt speeds. That's the "official" word, at least. Though the thunderbolt port on the iPads is rumored to not be full speed 40gb anyways. More like regular USB 10gb speed. So it may not matter either way.
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,920
13,265
I never tried data with the regular cable. It may work, but not at Thunderbolt speeds. That's the "official" word, at least. Though the thunderbolt port on the iPads is rumored to not be full speed 40gb anyways. More like regular USB 10gb speed. So it may not matter either way.

It will do data but it'll be slow (USB2 480 Mbps). That's official spec from Apple. Will test the Apple charging cable with my Samsung T7 + ThinkPad X1 Nano when I get home to verify.
 
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Hunter5117

macrumors 6502a
Mar 17, 2010
569
401
I have used all of the different Apple supplied charging cables and they work fine as USB-C data cables never measured the speed but they work fine.
 

Amplelink

macrumors 65816
Oct 8, 2012
1,013
458
I’ve been using the Caudabe ChargeFlex and it’s worked well so far. Thick braided nylon, rated up to 100W. I got a couple for my iPad and my MacBook as well.
 

TheIntruder

macrumors 68000
Jul 2, 2008
1,769
1,281
The minimum specs for a USB-C spec-compliant cable are USB 2.0 data speed, and 60W power delivery capacity.

Electronic marking is optional for the base power level and required for the (now deprecated) 100W high power cables, and latest 240W EPR cables.

The majority of cables on the market fit that basic spec, and are fine for most users, since they're primarily used for charging, not data transfer.

Apple's standard USB-C cables are described as "Charge" cables, strongly implying that while suitable for syncing, they're not intended for frequent high speed data transfer duty. Apple would rather sell you a Thunderbolt cable instead.

It's easy to tell if a cable is suitable for USB 3 speeds; there are fewer choices, and the price is higher. Even more so for USB 4 or Thunderbolt cables.
 
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Hunter5117

macrumors 6502a
Mar 17, 2010
569
401
Is anybody familiar with E-marker cables? I have been thinking of trying this cable but not sure because of the chip, otherwise it looks to be good quality.

https://smile.amazon.com/Baseus-Cha...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=Q2M652WA9H3V6J1VVXG7
I bought one of these cables to try out and it is very much identical to the Apple supplied power cable for a MBP, roughly 6 ft, white ends with faint gray cable. The woven cover is a bit rough and not as soft feeling as those from Apple but looks like it will take a good bit of abuse.
 
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