Speed difference b/t a regular USB-C cable and Thunderbolt 3 or 4 cable?

[DRapp]

I just received my new 12.9 iPad Pro (2021). I see that it comes with a regular USB-C cable and 20W charger. Is there a significant difference in charging speeds and data transfer speeds between the regular USB-C cable and a Thunderbolt 3 or 4 cable? I will be using the iPad Pro for occasional transferring of Raw and jpeg images to the iPad Pro for photo editing and transferring those files back to an external hard drive. Thanks.

 

[BeatCrazy]

I just received my new 12.9 iPad Pro (2021). I see that it comes with a regular USB-C cable and 20W charger. Is there a significant difference in charging speeds and data transfer speeds between the regular USB-C cable and a Thunderbolt 3 or 4 cable? I will be using the iPad Pro for occasional transferring of Raw and jpeg images to the iPad Pro for photo editing and transferring those files back to an external hard drive. Thanks.

Charging speeds, no.

Data transfer speeds, yes. Assuming you have a TB3 drive/enclosure, and an appropriately fast SSD, you can reach data transfer speeds of ~2,500MB/s with a TB3 cable rated for 40Gb/s.

If you tried the same scenario with the included cable, you'd top out at ~50MB/s.

(edit to fix a MB vs. Mb error d'oh)

 

[Feisar]

Charging speeds no.

Data transfer, yes.

Apple USB-C data-transfer speed is limited to 480Mbps (USB 2.0) and doesn’t support video whereas Thunderbolt 3 cable supports data-transfer speeds up to 40Gbps, USB 3.1 Gen 2 data-transfer speeds up to 10Gbps and also supports Target Disk Mode.

Thunderbolt 4 also supports data-transfer speeds up t 40Gps, USB-C compatible (USB4, 3.2, 3.0, 2.0), 100w power delivery, and up to 8K.

 

[DRapp]

Great responses guys. Just the type of info I was looking for. Thanks.

 

[jazz1]

I just received my new 12.9 iPad Pro (2021). I see that it comes with a regular USB-C cable and 20W charger. Is there a significant difference in charging speeds and data transfer speeds between the regular USB-C cable and a Thunderbolt 3 or 4 cable? I will be using the iPad Pro for occasional transferring of Raw and jpeg images to the iPad Pro for photo editing and transferring those files back to an external hard drive. Thanks.

I kind of hedged my bet by purchasing a cable from MacSales:

OWC Thunderbolt 4, USB4 Cables - Mac and PC Compatible

Thunderbolt 4 certified cable for universal use with Thunderbolt 4, Thunderbolt 3, and USC-C equipped Macs, PCs, and mobile devices.

eshop.macsales.com

I'm still trying to figure out what external SSD will take advantage of the iPP Pro 2021, and of course how well the iPP can take advantage of Thunderbolt 4.

 

[Feisar]

I’ve had no issues with CalDigit T3 0.8m cables ($25) and new T4 0.8m ($29) and 2m ($75-79)
cables.

CalDigit | Thunderbolt 4 | USB 4 | Cable | 40Gb/s – CalDigit

www.caldigit.com

 

[DRapp]

I kind of hedged my bet by purchasing a cable from MacSales:

OWC Thunderbolt 4, USB4 Cables - Mac and PC Compatible

Thunderbolt 4 certified cable for universal use with Thunderbolt 4, Thunderbolt 3, and USC-C equipped Macs, PCs, and mobile devices.

eshop.macsales.com

I'm still trying to figure out what external SSD will take advantage of the iPP Pro 2021, and of course how well the iPP can take advantage of Thunderbolt 4.

Thanks for that info, jazz1. I was also looking at Caldigit TB 4 and Anker TB 3 cables. Anybody have an opinion on the reliability of these 3 brands with an iPad Pro?

 

[DRapp]

I’ve had no issues with CalDigit T3 0.8m cables ($25) and new T4 0.8m ($29) and 2m ($75-79)
cables.

CalDigit | Thunderbolt 4 | USB 4 | Cable | 40Gb/s – CalDigit

www.caldigit.com

I’ve had no issues with CalDigit T3 0.8m cables ($25) and new T4 0.8m ($29) and 2m ($75-79)
cables.

CalDigit | Thunderbolt 4 | USB 4 | Cable | 40Gb/s – CalDigit

www.caldigit.com

Thanks feisar for the feedback on Caldigit.

 

[Feisar]

Thanks for that info, jazz1. I was also looking at Caldigit TB 4 and Anker TB 3 cables. Anybody have an opinion on the reliability of these 3 brands with an iPad Pro?

I had issues with the earlier Anker T3 [Intel certified] cables where they didn’t last longer than 2 months or didn’t have a good connection causing the dreaded disk not ejected properly messages.

Switched to CalDigit cables and dock when I purchased the T3+

Don’t get me wrong, Anker makes great cables - I have piles of their USB-C to Lightning and USB-C cables - just had a bad experience with their earlier T3 cables. There’s newer (2020) version of their T3 cable:

Anker Thunderbolt 3.0 Cable 2.3 ft, Supports 100W Charging / 40Gbps Data Transfer USB C to USB C Cable

Anker Thunderbolt 3.0 Cable 2.3 ft, Supports 100W Charging/40Gbps Data Transfer USB C to Cable, Ideal for iPhone 15/15Pro/15 Plus/15 ProMax, Type-C MacBooks, Dell, iPad Air 4, Pro 2020, Hub, Docking

Anker Thunderbolt 3.0 Cable 2.3 ft, Supports 100W Charging / 40Gbps Data Transfer USB C to USB C Cable, Ideal for Type-C MacBooks, Dell, iPad Air 4, iPad Pro 2020, Pixel, Hub, Docking, and More Rapid Charging: Supports high-speed charging up to 100W when used with a compatible charger. High-Speed...

www.amazon.com

 

[Mark Colangelo]

I can only reach 400/500 MBs with TB3 cable and Sabrent Thunderbolt 3 to M.2 NVMe SSD (EC-T3NS).
Confirming test done by youtuber:

Is it IOS 14.8 (18H17) or iPad hardware design?