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Apple Revamps Thunderbolt Cable Lineup with Lower Pricing, Shorter Cable Option

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As noted by 9to5Mac, Apple today revamped its Thunderbolt cable lineup, dropping the price of the existing 2-meter cable from $49 to $39 and adding a new 0.5-meter cable priced at $29.

apple_thunderbolt_cables.jpg
Thunderbolt cables remain relatively expensive due to the electronics included inside the cables to manage the multiple protocols supported by the standard. The complexity and expense has both slowed deployment of Thunderbolt peripherals and limited support mostly to high-end devices capable of absorbing the high cost premium.

Thunderbolt cables have so far been limited to traditional copper cabling, but vendors are just beginning production on optical cables for the standard. The optical cables will allow for much longer cable lengths, but will not be able to provide power to peripherals as copper cables can.

Article Link: Apple Revamps Thunderbolt Cable Lineup with Lower Pricing, Shorter Cable Option
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/01/09/apple-revamps-thunderbolt-cable-lineup-with-lower-pricing-shorter-cable-option/
MacRumors said:
[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogodarkd.png]Image[/url]


As noted by 9to5Mac, Apple today revamped its Thunderbolt cable lineup, dropping the price of the existing 2-meter cable from $49 to $39 and adding a new 0.5-meter cable priced at $29.

Thunderbolt cables remain relatively expensive due to the electronics included inside the cables to manage the multiple protocols supported by the standard. The complexity and expense has both slowed deployment of Thunderbolt peripherals and limited support mostly to high-end devices capable of absorbing the high cost premium.

Thunderbolt cables have so far been limited to traditional copper cabling, but vendors are just beginning production on optical cables for the standard. The optical cables will allow for much longer cable lengths, but will not be able to provide power to peripherals as copper cables can.

Article Link: Apple Revamps Thunderbolt Cable Lineup with Lower Pricing, Shorter Cable Option
Click to expand...

This has been available for about a week. Come on guys.
 
Don't the active ends of the cable just manage the cable itself? It's the controllers in the devices that handle the data 'protocols'.

AFAIK the ends of the cable enable the high speed and low latencies by adapting to the electrical characteristics of the copper. That's all. Just like the newly announced optical cables, all the ends do is manage their medium.
 
USB 3.0 put the pressure on TB. Good! When there are choices, the consumer wins! :)
 
Wonderful news!! Now when I finally buy a Thunderbolt device the cost of the cable won't be as much. Good to have the option of length too, especially with these docks coming out. :D
 
I just bought one last week for $49 for use on the road and it was worth it. Hopefully we'll see some more accessories now that the cables are getting cheaper.
 
Doa

Thunderbolt seemed cool but is obviously DOA. Can't wait for the new faster USB 3 on my next mac.
 
I wonder if I can write a letter to Apple that since I'm not using thunderbolt or plan to use it if I could get a refund for the unused portion sold to me on my MBP. Hmm
 
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