They literally need a computer on each end inside the plugs.
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Apple Now Selling Longer 3-Meter Thunderbolt 4 Pro Cable for Studio Display
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The only problem with this cable (aside from folks complaining about the price) is that non-Apple devices don't seem to connect to the Apple Studio Display when you use the Apple OEM cable(s).
Other TB4 cables work just fine, something weird going on with Apple's version.
Other TB4 cables work just fine, something weird going on with Apple's version.
As others have pointed out - because this isn't a piece of copper crimped between two connectors.
Suggest you read about how these cables are made. Then you'll understand.
Reasonably priced directly from Apple https://www.apple.com/shop/product/...4fc3f1651f86f7cb846468f0e6621abd86d407a8a5d04Was looking for a thunderbolt 2 cable the other day. Talk about hens teeth
that‘s true, but that means we need to start considering a switch to fiber optic data transfer protocols of Thunderbolt. The roadmap for Lightpeak called for the switch-over awhile ago, we’ve just been able to pull more and more life out of copper; Once we start going over 60GB/s, we might not have a choice.
In this case it might be a combination of things: The high bandwidth throughput of TB4, the quality of the materials, Apple Tax, and the fact that Thunderbolt is proprietary technology (co-developed by Apple but owned solely by Intel today).
There is also a lack of competing products, you cannot easily find a trustable brand selling another 3-m TB4 cable, while you can easily find reputable third-party sellers for USB-C and Lighting cables of varied lengths and coatings.
Then buy such a cable. It turns out that it does not meet any standards and does not work. Apple knows what it's taking the money for and that it has no competition.
I feel you, but after a colleague had a close encountered with a fire hazard, I am more cautious of where I get my cables from. We are talking about 100 W of power here, if it was the old and common 5 W cable I would not mind, but not for these cases.
The bare cables themselves probably distort the signals significantly at the target frequencies and length so the active components on the ends have to compensate for the distortion.
If you need these cables, you'll know it. If not, there are lots of good cheaper TB4 cables available on Amazon now for up to just under 6 feet in length. In particular, those of us using the Studio Display on VESA arms which end up needing 2 - 3 feet more cable length suddenly discover that your only option is a $400 Corning optical cable.
Or 100 KFC bucketsFor $90 more you can buy a well-reviewed 28" BenQ 4K monitor
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$159 ? I can buy 8 Apple polishing cloth with that much money.
These cables literally have their own firmware built into them. Plus the data throughput needed for ThunderBolt 4 over 3 meters? That’s going to require some really high end materials. Of course it’s gonna cost this much. This isn’t your $3 USB-C cable.
Wow, that's cheapo! I will take 3. And I need another set of those wheels for the Mac Pro. I hope I will get them till Friday, I need them for the weekend.
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ITT: a bunch of people who don't understand the extremely tight manufacturing tolerances (and potentially extra circuitry) required to manufacture a Thunderbolt 4 cable, especially of any length.
Signal attenuation over distance is absolutely a thing, and with the high bandwidth of TB4 there is much less leeway/availability for transmission errors/error correction.
$159 for a 3M TB4 cable is a fantastic price in 2022. Maybe in a couple of years manufacturing advances enable cheaper cables at this length, but for today this is absolutely not a bad deal.
Signal attenuation over distance is absolutely a thing, and with the high bandwidth of TB4 there is much less leeway/availability for transmission errors/error correction.
$159 for a 3M TB4 cable is a fantastic price in 2022. Maybe in a couple of years manufacturing advances enable cheaper cables at this length, but for today this is absolutely not a bad deal.
For those of you appalled by the $159.00 price, buy this instead and use it with a compliant computer.
Plugable and Cable Matters both have their TB4 2M cables at $59. Same specs; 100W charge, 40gbps, etc.
You are paying $100+ for the extra 1M. That is insane.
You are paying $100+ for the extra 1M. That is insane.
Also them not realizing that other protocols that get close to TB in speed actually cost more - it's just that the cost is absorbed into the devices on either end, not into the cable. (You could remake Thunderbolt to not need the chips in the cable, but it would require more expensive chips on each end to do the same job - and still require the high-quality cable itself. And you'd lose the ability to have fiber optic cables as well.)