CalDigit and OWC Unveil Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4 Cables

[jimthing]

See this other thread post, with table of differences between active TB4 vs. active TB3 cables:

Optical Thunderbolt 3 Cables Begin Rolling Out in Lengths Up to 50 Meters

PSA: CalDigit have released their active 2m Thunderbolt 4 cable ($80). https://www.caldigit.com/thunderbolt-4-usb-4-cable These ones are among the first ones released, and are almost identical to their TB3 ones, offering full 40Gb, 100W Power Delivery. Question most will wonder is: What are...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[martinX]

Since when do Americans measure things in meters?

The smart ones? 1999. Since NASA lost its $125-million Mars Climate Orbiter because spacecraft engineers failed to convert from English to metric measurements when exchanging vital data before the craft was launched.

 

[jimthing]

The smart ones? 1999. Since NASA lost its $125-million Mars Climate Orbiter because spacecraft engineers failed to convert from English to metric measurements when exchanging vital data before the craft was launched.

Well they just made-up for it today, with landing Perseverance!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/science-environment-56101496

Mars 2020 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Nicky G]

"Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4 is the latest connectivity specification present in the newest Macs and high-end external hardware, offering performance up to 40Gb/s, making it ideal for eGPUs, SSDs, external displays, and more."

Might want to edit that, given support is no more on the M1 Macs this refers to...

 

[jimthing]

"Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4 is the latest connectivity specification present in the newest Macs and high-end external hardware, offering performance up to 40Gb/s, making it ideal for eGPUs, SSDs, external displays, and more."

Might want to edit that, given support is no more on the M1 Macs this refers to...

Who says future M-series Macs won't re-enable eGPU support.

 

[Geezerviser]

I think Cable Matters beat both OWC and CalDigit to market with a 2m certified TB4/USB4 cable?

I bought one from Amazon and can confirm it's certified, and works at full speed with both Thunderbolt and non-TB USB 3.1 devices. Previously, only the Apple Thunderbolt 3 "Pro" 2m cable @ $129 supported full speed USB 3.1 functionality at a 2m length.

I authored the lone review on Amazon for the Cable Matters version: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084Z65YJQ/

Totally agree! Cable Matters beat them in everything)) I have one for about 2 years and am pretty satisfied.

 

[Fomalhaut]

There must be some circuitry in each end of the cable to allow for USB4 (as well as 3.1 gen1/2) to travel at lengths >0.8m.

The TB3 standard only allowed for full speed USB at <0.8m, so obviously the new cables have different hardware.
View attachment 1731891

Why do the 1 & 2 meter TB3 cables not support DP 1.2 when the TB2 cables appear to?

 

[BeatCrazy]

Why do the 1 & 2 meter TB3 cables not support DP 1.2 when the TB2 cables appear to?

I believe you're reading that chart wrong. The cables that support DP1.2 at 1m/2m are only at 20Gbps bandwidth. They're all TB3.

 

[Fomalhaut]

I believe you're reading that chart wrong. The cables that support DP1.2 at 1m/2m are only at 20Gbps bandwidth. They're all TB3.

I thought TB2 topped out at 20Gbps, which is why I assumed the the cable on the left referred to TB2. Note the cable on the right has a "3" under the lightning icon, and the other cable doesn't, implying it isn't TB3.

My question was why can a 20Gbps connection support a 2m cable, but the table states that a 40Gbps cable can't? I appreciate that higher frequency signals can have more limited cable runs, but if so, you would need a lower frequency cable to connect a monitor, which would make the whole system far less flexible for daisy-chaining.

[Update: looks like the table is correct. Passive TB3 at 40Gbps has a maximum length of 0.5m, https://blog.startech.com/post/thunderbolt-3-the-basics/. Active cables can be up to 2m

That's not a long cable unless you have the computer right under the monitor. ]

 

[jdb8167]

The CalDigit cable is available in a length of 2m and the OWC cable is available in 0.8m only. CalDigit also supports its new cable with a two-year warranty, while OWC's features a three-year warranty.

I might be reading this wrong but CalDigit also has a 0.8 m TB4 cable.

https://www.amazon.com/Intel-Certified-CalDigit-Thunderbolt-Cable/dp/B08QL2R7Z3/

 

[Fomalhaut]

I might be reading this wrong but CalDigit also has a 0.8 m TB4 cable.

https://www.amazon.com/Intel-Certified-CalDigit-Thunderbolt-Cable/dp/B08QL2R7Z3/

That's a bit more promising. Still could be difficult ergonomically with two monitors depending on how far you have to stretch to get to the Thunderbolt inputs on the display. (For future Apple Silicon Macs that support 2 x TB3/4 outputs of course!)

 

[yurc]

Not all of these things are true

USB 3.1 and TB3 cables are not physically the same, only the connector interface is. Please see the chart I posted above and note the length limitations.

Yes I know, especially TB3 short passive / active long cable, they can really act different with USB 3.1 devices, I am just lazy to explain things as your charts, is better to explain the difference.

That's why I said choosing right cable for USB 3,1 and TB3 cable is so convoluted things.

 

[joevt]

Unlikely, as I don't think the TB standard allows for an angled connector.

They exist even though they are against the USB-C and TB standards. I can connect like five 90° USB-C adapters together before a 40 Gbps Thunderbolt signal stops working (using 6 adapters together causes no connection).

 

[xandegui77]

80 dollars for a usb cable (ok, tb4 + usb cable). Few years ago a usb 2 or 3 cable for my printer or external HD costed 3 dollars.
It will never be a universal cable if the cable itself cost more than the device I want to connect.

 

[klagreca]

Hard pass on anything from CalDigit. They’ve proven to me that they don’t support their products. Stick with OWC or Cable Matters products.

 

[hipnetic]

They exist even though they are against the USB-C and TB standards. I can connect like five 90° USB-C adapters together before a 40 Gbps Thunderbolt signal stops working (using 6 adapters together causes no connection).

Can you point me to the 90° connectors you've had success with?

 

[joevt]

Can you point me to the 90° connectors you've had success with?

I bought these:
x1: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07FY8Y4LY
x2: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B078YRKTKM

Here's the testing:
https://egpu.io/forums/psu-cables/90-degree-angle-usb-c-adapter/paged/2/#post-66724
https://egpu.io/forums/which-gear-s...ive-slot-m-2-ngff-adapter/paged/5/#post-66727
https://egpu.io/forums/which-gear-s...ive-slot-m-2-ngff-adapter/paged/6/#post-68188

 

[BeatCrazy]

I bought these:
x1: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07FY8Y4LY
x2: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B078YRKTKM

Here's the testing:
https://egpu.io/forums/psu-cables/90-degree-angle-usb-c-adapter/paged/2/#post-66724
https://egpu.io/forums/which-gear-s...ive-slot-m-2-ngff-adapter/paged/5/#post-66727
https://egpu.io/forums/which-gear-s...ive-slot-m-2-ngff-adapter/paged/6/#post-68188

Nice work.
Have you found something that will mechanically A/B switch between two USB-C/TB3 connections?

 

[joevt]

Have you found something that will mechanically A/B switch between two USB-C/TB3 connections?

I know there exists a couple Thunderbolt 2 KVM but not Thunderbolt 3. Thunderbolt 2 is 10 Gbps per lane. Here's one of them: https://www.kvm-switches-online.com/us7220.html
For Thunderbolt 3, you need something that can handle 20 Gbps per lane.

There exists a USB 3.1 Gen 2 USB switch (only USB data 10 Gbps) https://www.kvm-switches-online.com/us3342.html

 

[BeatCrazy]

I know there exists a couple Thunderbolt 2 KVM but not Thunderbolt 3. Thunderbolt 2 is 10 Gbps per lane. Here's one of them: https://www.kvm-switches-online.com/us7220.html
For Thunderbolt 3, you need something that can handle 20 Gbps per lane.

There exists a USB 3.1 Gen 2 USB switch (only USB data 10 Gbps) https://www.kvm-switches-online.com/us3342.html

I emailed ATEN yesterday, asking if they were working on a TB3 version of that US7220 dock. They responded with no ambiguity - they have no plans for one

 

[hajime]

How the cables mentioned in this thread compared with the Apple Thunderbolt 3 Pro cable?

 

[Ifti]

How the cables mentioned in this thread compared with the Apple Thunderbolt 3 Pro cable?

I would like to know the answer to this as well.
I’ve just ordered 2 OWC 2m TB4 cables that I need to use for external SSD arrays. Should I have gone for apple TB4 cables instead? What’s so special about them other than the braided cable/quality?

 

[jimthing]

I would like to know the answer to this as well.
I’ve just ordered 2 OWC 2m TB4 cables that I need to use for external SSD arrays. Should I have gone for apple TB4 cables instead? What’s so special about them other than the braided cable/quality?

Nothing. AFAICT.

Except Apple are currently the only ones seemingly able to do a 3m copper one 'coming soon' for a mere £€$160 (other brands' copper ones stop at 2m for typically £€$60, or Corning do various lengths 5-50m of TB3 optical ones around £€$350-450).