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MP 7,1 Longest thunderbolt 3 cable for 6K resolution with Pro Display XDR

paulchiu

paulchiu

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 26, 2009
423
355
nyc
I called Apple support today about possibly having a longer connection between the Mac Pro 2019 and the Pro display XDR of 2M (6.5 feet). They simply do not know. They recommended perhaps looking at hubs and such.

Has any of you tried your Pro Display XDR with a really long cable and operate at 6K with the 2019 Mac Pro?

Thanks
 
kid2010

kid2010

macrumors regular
Sep 12, 2013
119
77
Currently the longest Thunderbolt 3 cable you can buy is 2 meters. Apple is suppose to release one that's 3m long (it was mentioned in OG tech spec accessories), but somehow that didn't happen. If you want something that's even longer, you'll have to wait for Corning to release their optical cable.

As of right now, your best choice is probably daisy chain multiple Thunderbolt 3 hubs so the 2m cable can reach your display.
 
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O

OkiRun

macrumors 65816
Oct 25, 2019
1,005
585
Japan
This is absolutely a problem! I'm in my third iteration of moving things around at the workstation to find the best outlay. I've also got to keep in mind two Seagate HDDs that need to be connected to the back.
 
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D

deconstruct60

macrumors G5
Mar 10, 2009
12,493
4,053
bsbeamer said:
Believe Sonnet is also working on them:
iphone.appleinsider.com

Long, optical Thunderbolt 3 cables are coming soon | Appleinsider

Sonnet is teaming up with Archiware to demonstrate the first in a line of optical Thunderbolt 3 cables, allowing for high-speed data transfers across the protocol at long range.
iphone.appleinsider.com iphone.appleinsider.com
Click to expand...


That article seems like Corning is doing the work ( although little signs at their website https://www.corning.com/optical-cables-by-corning/worldwide/en.html )


Won't be low priced. ( these are running power as hybrid cable, but also slower transceivers )

Similar USB 3.1 gen 2 cables got announced about a year ago.
www.anandtech.com

Cosemi Launches USB 3.1 Gen 2 Hybrid Active Optical Cable: Up to 50 Meters of USB

www.anandtech.com www.anandtech.com

It appears the Type-C variant is hard to get (or Cosemi punted on ). Type-A is on Amazon at this point. https://www.amazon.com/COSEMI-Optical-Support-transfers-Male-Male/dp/B07ZPDQMMV/
Needs a different connector and better active electronics for Thunderbolt v3.

Wondering if putting this into a Type-C connector has issues (or the speed).
 
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R

Rtech

macrumors newbie
Mar 12, 2009
8
2
I purchased the Areca 10 meter Thunderbolt 3 optical cable to connect my Apple 6K Pro Display XDR. But only works at 5K. Are there anything Im missing that might be preventing it from working at full 6K?

With the Apple Thunderbolt 3 Pro cable, it works at full 6K. But need something longer than 2 meter

Anyone else try the new Thunderbolt 3 optical cables yet?
 
S

straightMacin

macrumors regular
Dec 6, 2019
109
78
Chicago, IL
Rtech said:
I purchased the Areca 10 meter Thunderbolt 3 optical cable to connect my Apple 6K Pro Display XDR. But only works at 5K. Are there anything Im missing that might be preventing it from working at full 6K?

With the Apple Thunderbolt 3 Pro cable, it works at full 6K. But need something longer than 2 meter

Anyone else try the new Thunderbolt 3 optical cables yet?
Click to expand...

What video card are you using and what port is the monitor plugged into? Any other monitors attached to the system?

I’m glad to see these cables popping up finally. I really hope we can get something in the 3-5m range. I would buy 3-4 of them.
 
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kid2010

kid2010

macrumors regular
Sep 12, 2013
119
77
Rtech said:
I purchased the Areca 10 meter Thunderbolt 3 optical cable to connect my Apple 6K Pro Display XDR. But only works at 5K. Are there anything Im missing that might be preventing it from working at full 6K?

With the Apple Thunderbolt 3 Pro cable, it works at full 6K. But need something longer than 2 meter

Anyone else try the new Thunderbolt 3 optical cables yet?
Click to expand...

Can you post a screenshot of System Information > Thunderbolt? Is the connection recognized as 40Gbps?
 
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Rtech

macrumors newbie
Mar 12, 2009
8
2
straightMacin said:
What video card are you using and what port is the monitor plugged into? Any other monitors attached to the system?

I’m glad to see these cables popping up finally. I really hope we can get something in the 3-5m range. I would buy 3-4 of them.
Click to expand...

AMD Radeon Pro Vega II 32GB graphics. Only the Apple Pro Display XDR is connected. Have tried every TB3 port on the video card.

6K.jpg
display.png
 
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J

joevt

macrumors 604
Jun 21, 2012
6,968
4,262
Rtech said:
I purchased the Areca 10 meter Thunderbolt 3 optical cable to connect my Apple 6K Pro Display XDR. But only works at 5K. Are there anything Im missing that might be preventing it from working at full 6K?

With the Apple Thunderbolt 3 Pro cable, it works at full 6K. But need something longer than 2 meter

Anyone else try the new Thunderbolt 3 optical cables yet?
Click to expand...
Check the Thunderbolt link width and link rate in System Information.app. It must say 40 Gb/s x1 with link width 0x2, otherwise you won't have enough bandwidth for 6K with the Vega II. If you had a 5700, then a 20 Gbps connection might be enough.
 
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Rtech

macrumors newbie
Mar 12, 2009
8
2
cmsj said:
I don't know if they're actually available to buy for real yet, but there are a couple of web stores that have started listing Corning's TB3 cables, e.g. https://www.macconsultshop.de/index.php?manufacturers_id=64
Click to expand...

Interesting, I called Corning a few weeks ago when I was looking for optical Thunderbolt 3 cables and they told me that they still had no release date or any other info. That's when I found the Areca optical Thunderbolt 3 cables selling at BHPhoto.
[automerge]1582739723[/automerge]
joevt said:
Check the Thunderbolt link width and link rate in System Information.app. It must say 40 Gb/s x1 with link width 0x2, otherwise you won't have enough bandwidth for 6K with the Vega II. If you had a 5700, then a 20 Gbps connection might be enough.
Click to expand...

Here's the Thunderbolt link information...it's detecting the Pro Display XDR on Thunderbolt Bus 0 and has the speed at 40Gb/s x1 with 0x2 current link width.

No other devices or displays connected to any other Thunderbolt 3 ports.

report.png
 
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J

joevt

macrumors 604
Jun 21, 2012
6,968
4,262
Rtech said:
Done.
Click to expand...
It seems to be properly connected as a Thunderbolt 40 Gbps device. Check USB for the USB controller of the Titan Ridge controller of the display. If it were connected only as a USB-C display then there wouldn't be another USB controller (and it wouldn't be listed in Thunderbolt devices). The USB controller of the XDR should appear in PCI as connected to a Thunderbolt PCI bus.

I guess next thing to check is output from AGDCDiagnose. With a 40 Gbps Thunderbolt 3 connection to a Vega II, it should show two HBR3 connections.

You have no problem with the cable that came with the display? You may need to report to Apple that their driver is not allowing a 6K connection with this cable (do you have another Thunderbolt device that you can benchmark at over 2000 MB/s such as an eGPU or NVMe drive to prove that the cable is capable of 40 Gbps?
 
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elliottcable

elliottcable

macrumors member
Apr 7, 2007
42
8
Chicago, IL
Frantically waiting for an update re: the Areca cables; here's hoping you can get it working! They're so damn expensive, but being tethered within two meters of my rack-mount Mac Pro is, uh, less-than-ideal.

Have you given Apple's business support a call? They've always been extremely helpful with stuff like that for me, in the past.
 
J

joevt

macrumors 604
Jun 21, 2012
6,968
4,262
I have one Thunderbolt 3 cable with a firmware version (0.90 - probably not related to Apple cable firmware versions since this cable was made by someone else). I have other Thunderbolt 3 cables that do not have a firmware version. They can all connect 40 Gb/s x1 (0x2). My Mac mini 2018 has a Link Controller Firmware Version of 1.34.0. I don't have an XDR.
 
Y

yugioh5d

macrumors regular
Mar 20, 2015
105
9
kid2010 said:
Currently the longest Thunderbolt 3 cable you can buy is 2 meters. Apple is suppose to release one that's 3m long (it was mentioned in OG tech spec accessories), but somehow that didn't happen. If you want something that's even longer, you'll have to wait for Corning to release their optical cable.

As of right now, your best choice is probably daisy chain multiple Thunderbolt 3 hubs so the 2m cable can reach your display.
Click to expand...
What would you recommend as the hub? So far I'm looking at the CalDigit TS3 Plus from Apple store.

My cable is a bit short, I need like 2.5 to 3m cable. Anyone knows if currently there are 3m cable that supports 6K resolution? Or 5K is also fine. Thanks.
 
Last edited:
Travis Meck

Travis Meck

macrumors newbie
Mar 9, 2020
3
0
Looking at using the Rackmount 2019 MacPro using XDR Monitor, Apple had no idea why I would want to place it more than 6Ft away? I Attempted to explain this machine and Monitor combo is being marketed as the solution for Audio and Video creatives I know most Facilities utilize machine rooms fo rack CPU's and Active/Optical Cable solutions for running monitors in remote editing suites... The limited inputs on this monitor keep it from being utilized in that capacity it seems?
 
elliottcable

elliottcable

macrumors member
Apr 7, 2007
42
8
Chicago, IL
Travis Meck said:
Looking at using the Rackmount 2019 MacPro using XDR Monitor, Apple had no idea why I would want to place it more than 6Ft away? I Attempted to explain this machine and Monitor combo is being marketed as the solution for Audio and Video creatives I know most Facilities utilize machine rooms fo rack CPU's and Active/Optical Cable solutions for running monitors in remote editing suites... The limited inputs on this monitor keep it from being utilized in that capacity it seems?
Click to expand...

For exactly this reason, I strongly advise against the rackmount version.

I had to rearrange my entire laboratory to place the rear of my rackmount Mac Pro within the maximum two meters of my workstation monitors. /=
 
Travis Meck

Travis Meck

macrumors newbie
Mar 9, 2020
3
0
elliottcable said:
For exactly this reason, I strongly advise against the rackmount version.

I had to rearrange my entire laboratory to place the rear of my rackmount Mac Pro within the maximum two meters of my workstation monitors. /=
Click to expand...
Yeah, unfortunately that's not an option in a recording studio when Sound Isolation is Priority
 
DPUser

DPUser

macrumors 6502a
Jan 17, 2012
990
304
Rancho Bohemia, California
The Apple XDR monitor in a recording studio...? As you note, audio isolation is the priority. Unless you are doing some really detailed video/photo work as well, and don't mind the display's fan noise (in a recording studio?), choose a different monitor!
 
Travis Meck

Travis Meck

macrumors newbie
Mar 9, 2020
3
0
DPUser said:
The Apple XDR monitor in a recording studio...? As you note, audio isolation is the priority. Unless you are doing some really detailed video/photo work as well, and don't mind the display's fan noise (in a recording studio?), choose a different monitor!
Click to expand...
Ha, fan noise!?!? Your right about that... I had no idea that was an issue on these. We have 3 of the cinematic 30” as my client is a musician but does edit his own videos and photo’s... that’s a deal breaker for sure.. thanks for the heads up
 
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