Apple’s pricing for gadgets corresponding to cables is at all times criticized as a result of they’re dearer than others. Take, for instance, Apple’s Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) Professional cable—it begins at $69 for a 1-meter cable and goes as much as $159 for 3 meters. It’s straightforward to go to Amazon or another retailer and discover a comparable cable at a fraction of the worth.
It seems that these excessive costs may be price it. Lumafield, a producing firm that focuses on industrial picture scanning, determined to scan Apple’s cable and examine it to others which can be way more reasonably priced. What they discovered is that Apple’s cable is way more intricate than the cheaper cables–briefly, you’re getting extra on your cash.
The principle takeaway from Lumafield’s scan and examination of Apple’s cable is that it’s really constructed to be sturdy and assist the specs it touts. It incorporates steel shielding, robust pressure reduction, and a printed circuit board meeting (PCBA) with 24 pins which can be all in use. Apple even goes to the extent of creating certain the circuit board traces are the identical size to make sure correct knowledge transmission. Apple additionally makes use of three completely different wires that correspond to its knowledge and charging talents. Lumafield calls the Apple Thunderbolt Professional cable a “beautiful piece of precision engineering.”
Lumafield additionally checked out cables from Amazon, NiceTQ, and Atyfuer–all priced at $10 or decrease–and located that these cables are way more fundamental than Apple’s cable. Of the three, the Amazon cable was the one one which had steel shielding and a “less complicated” type of stain reduction. Lumafield additionally discovered that the NiceTQ cable (which has been discontinued) didn’t have sufficient pins and wires to assist the 10Gbps knowledge switch speeds it touted. The Atyfuer cable, the most cost effective cable ($4) they scanned, is marketed as a charging cable solely, however Lumafield discovered that it was configured for USB 2.0 knowledge transfers.
The one evident situation with Lumafield’s examine–which the corporate doesn’t straight level out–is that the Amazon, NiceTQ, and Atyfuer cables are not Thunderbolt cables, they’re solely meant for use with USB-C. Thunderbolt 4’s knowledge switch price is specified at 40Gbps, which is way increased than USB 3.2 (10Gbps) or USB 2.0 (480Mbps). That would clarify why the cheaper cables don’t do or have a few of the issues the Apple cable does, corresponding to utilizing all of the pins of their PCBA (and even having one within the first place). However that doesn’t excuse the engineering shortcuts that these cables have.
So, should you’ve balked on the costs of Apple’s Thunderbolt 4 Professional Cable, Lumafield’s examine does a superb job of exhibiting what you get on your cash. Customers who require the quick pace that Thunderbolt affords can relaxation assured that Apple’s cable has the tech to do what it’s imagined to do.