Apple ’s pricing for items such as cables is always criticise because they ’re more expensive than others . Take , for instance , Apple ’s Thunderbolt 4 ( USB - C ) Pro cable television — it start up at $ 69 for a 1 - meter cable television and goes up to $ 159 for 3 meters . It ’s well-fixed to go to Amazon or some other retailer and find a similar cable at a fraction of the price .
It turn out that those gamy prices might be deserving it . Lumafield , a manufacturing company that specializes in industrial image scanning , decide toscan Apple ’s cable system and compare it to others that are much more affordable . What they rule is that Apple ’s cable length is much more intricate than the cheaper line – in short , you are getting more for your money .
The main takeaway from Lumafield ’s scan and examination of Apple ’s cable is that it ’s truly build to be durable and support the specs it touts . It contains metal shielding , impregnable strain relief , and a publish lap add-in assembly ( PCBA ) with 24 pins that are all in usage . Apple even lead to the extent of make certain the circuit gameboard vestige are the same length to ensure proper data transmission . Apple also apply three different conducting wire that match to its data and charging ability . Lumafield calls the Apple Thunderbolt Pro cable a “ sensational piece of precision technology . ”
Lumafield also look at cable from Amazon , NiceTQ , and Atyfuer – all price at $ 10 or crushed – and find that these cables are much more introductory than Apple ’s line . Of the three , the Amazon cable was the only one that had metallic element shielding and a “ simpler ” form of melody relief . Lumafield also found that the NiceTQ cable ( which has been discontinued ) did n’t have enough pins and wire to support the 10Gbps data transfer swiftness it touted . The Atyfuer cable , the cheesy cable ( $ 4 ) they scanned , is advertised as a charge cable only , but Lumafield found that it was configured for USB 2.0 data point transfers .
The one glower issue with Lumafield ’s study – which the company does n’t direct point out – is that the Amazon , NiceTQ , and Atyfuer cable arenotThunderbolt cables , they ’re only mean to be used with USB - C. Thunderbolt 4 ’s data transfer pace is specify at 40Gbps , which is much high than USB 3.2 ( 10Gbps ) or USB 2.0 ( 480Mbps ) . That could explain why the cheaper cables do n’t do or have some of the affair the Apple transmission line does , such as using all the pins in their PCBA ( or even having one in the first place ) . But that does n’t excuse the engineering science shortcuts that these cables have .
So , if you ’ve balk at the prices of Apple ’s Thunderbolt 4 Pro Cable , Lumafield ’s study does an splendid chore of picture what you get for your money . Users who postulate the fast speed that Thunderbolt offering can catch one’s breath assured that Apple ’s cable has the technical school to do what it ’s theorise to do .
