He USB-C The standard effectively played tricks on us, especially when it came to cables. This is because it is not actually a standard at all, but simply a common plug-and-socket form factor that can span a wide range of capabilities and standards.
Making sure you buy the right USB-C cable for your needs has been a problem for many years. This is because you don’t want to buy a cable that doesn’t fully meet the standards, but at the same time it doesn’t make sense to pay for a cable with higher specifications than what you need for your particular application…
There have been attempts to simplify things over the years, one of which was the SuperSpeed (SS) logo. That wasn’t a huge hit, especially when it came to the SuperSpeed+ spec.
Thunderbolt has long been the safest bet if you need the speeds and standards it supports. That’s because Intel certifies all cables that carry the Thunderbolt name or logo to ensure they deliver the promised performance. And if you need the full capabilities of Thunderbolt 5, for example because you want to support two 8K displays or three 4K displays, at least for now you’ll need a certified cable.
But if you only need Thunderbolt 4, you may have options. This is what the specification guarantees:
- 40Gb/s data transfer for cables up to 2m
- Video support for 2x 4K displays
- 32Gb/s PCIe transfer
- Power delivery of at least 15W
- Fully compatible with all USB4 requirements
Buying a random USB4 cable instead guarantee these standards. The specification only calls for 20Gb/s data transfer, support for a single display, no PCIe support required, and at least 7.5W power delivery.
However, as Engadget Notes, sometimes the only difference between a USB4 cable and a Thunderbolt 4 cable is the Intel certification. In other words, the cable may meet all of Thunderbolt 4’s requirements, or even significantly exceed some of them, but the company didn’t pay the certification fee.
As long as you stick to reputable brands and check the specifications carefully, you may be able to get all the features of Thunderbolt 4 at a significantly lower price, such as This example from Ugreen demonstrates – with 40 Gb/s data rates, support for 8K video at 60 Hz and 240 W power delivery.
Photo by Antonio Choren in unpack
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