Two ARM CPUs Are Inside | Teardown of Apple Thunderbolt 4 Pro Cable (3 m)

[@dtpc_technologies]

Gone are the days when cables were just physical connection of wires. Interesting to see how much of work goes inside in cables like these..

[@SAITHCO]

trhank god fot the usb enforced laws in the EU

[@PedroDaGr8]

That ARM chip makes me wonder about potential security issues. Possibly a vector for keylogger or data stealing malware to infect or for persistent infections.

[@tvm2209]

Came here to say this but my man Pedro is already on it!

[@BensTechLab]

In this case that ARM chip will not be involved in the thunderbolt data path. Infineon is well known for power supplies and motor controllers. So this chip will be doing power conversion work where USB-C can negotiate 5v,9v,12v,15v,20v depending on the power standard supported by the devices.

[@jameswoll]

Can you do a similar disassembly with a high quality Anker cable. Maybe compare them.

[@markmitchell5220]

I'm sure the Anker cables are good, but topping this seems impossible. 😊

[@malcolmhightower9407]

May i know where to purchase those gloves you are wearing?

[@sdzzps]

That's very professional. Glad that ChargerLAB now has English channel.

[@rknapp12]

Is there any difference at all between the Apple TB3 pro cable and the Apple TB4 pro cable? All statics look identical. Thanks.

[@kjkromm]

Thanks, just the information I was looking for.

[@XlebSAS]

Just imagine how single cable today have more computing power than Apollo landing program computer then, it's unbelievable.

Thank you very much.

[@khaledabdelaziz1903]

What is ur recommendation for 65 w compact charger for macbook with two USB c slots ? Shall i go anker or ?

[@johnballesta2544]

Any speed or data loss with the long cable?

[@coachafella]

I have the 3m Apple cable used with a Terramaster Thunderbolt 3 RAID enclosure, getting all the spec'd speed, and zero issues. I could have tried cheaper cables but didn't want to take the chance since it's at the limit of this tech, and so far it's been perfect.

[@1stRanger]

For that insane price they did not even have decency to make connector shell metal...

[@DooMMasteR]

So almost all cables can do with one controller, that does I/O for both ends, but somehow Apples does not do it... I mean at their price it won't matter, but this feels a bit overdone. I liked the macro cut of the cable a lot :-) nice

[@peterwan816]

cpu on a cable WTH?! this is how you get software updates for just a cable. it is not even an adapter OMG

[@fabriziobrutti1205]

But, actually, where would you ever reach 40GB/s?

[@subsgob00m]

Small correction, it is 40Gbps (gigabit, not gigabyte [GB]). To answer your question, displays. DisplayPort 1.4 is 32Gb/s (the 2.0 standard is 80Gb/s) and HDMI 2.1 is 48GB/s. Why would you use this cable over one of those? It is multipurpose. You can run a 40Gb/s link to an external GPU for higher graphics performance on laptops or small form factor machines than what can be fit within the chassis. You could also have a dock connected that handles multiple displays, Ethernet, USB ports, media card reader, etc.

[@kelownatechkid]

It is a pity the cable is not actually the full 3 metre length!

[@DigitalNomadOnFIRE]

Bro wash your globes :D

[@phillipseiffert]

I have crazy issues with this cable. Which is funny because it has Thunderbolt slapped on it but won't work with Thunderbolt devices. The interferences this thing causes are crazy.

[@darrenschoensee8005]

like what?

[@Gameplayer55055]

why someone even needs such cable? i think it's better to use ethernet/displayport/optic cable dedicatedly. it is much much more cheaper and reliable

[@subsgob00m]

Think about how thin laptops are getting and how few ports they have nowadays. Having a 40Gb/s link to an external device to handle more displays, 10Gbps Ethernet, extra USB ports, media card reader, etc. all through a single connection can be quite useful. Using a single connection to the laptop to not only charge it but expand its capabilities makes a lot of sense to me. It is perfect for those who use their laptop on the go, but can dock it when they get home or to the office and have it instantly transform into a full desktop machine. It also makes sense for those who want to use an external GPU enclosure to boost the graphics performance of games beyond what the hardware in the laptop can do. I'm not saying I like the idea of pushing everything externally though a thunderbolt cable, but there is a definite use case (albeit one that only exists because of how small and light laptops are getting nowadays).

[@Gameplayer55055]

@@subsgob00m normal users need only usb (usually 2.0, not even all phones support 3.0), jack for audio and hdmi for monitor (not even displayport) Apple production is created for professional artists and content creators, so they probably have some 16k cameras with thunderbolt or whatever. i am curios about devices that support it. because mostly all devices are still usb2.0 for regular consumer. i have only usb 3.0 flash drive and disk drive. everything else is usb 2.0

[@subsgob00m]

@@Gameplayer55055 Speaking directly to Apple use cases, yes, I think there are a lot more applications for a cable of this speed. Outside of Apple, there are fewer use cases, but still plenty of valid ones (mostly in the professional space). In my case, I have an external SSD that uses 10Gbps (USB 3.2 gen 2 I guess is the technical spec?). The NVMe drive inside is capable of using nearly all 40Gbps that thunderbolt 4/USB 4 has to offer. Most of my tasks do not need that much bandwidth, but there are plenty of times where I am up against the 10Gbps limit of USB 3.2 gen 2. Being able to move 50-150GiB of files through 40Gbps would be super nice. I would not consider myself a "normal" user though. I also wouldn't call someone who needs 40Gbps of bandwidth today a "normal" user either. As you said, few devices and use cases need speeds anywhere near that high.

[@Gameplayer55055]

@@subsgob00m oh it explains everything

[@SheltonCyril]

Thunderbolt is a pretty good one cable solution. This single cable can carry display, can charge the device and can transmit data over. Plus you can even daisy chain multiple monitors if your monitor supports it. Compared to the current USB 3.2 Gen2 (the 10gbps one) this allows for more data transmission to occur over a single link. Say you have a thunderbolt hub or a monitor on the other end with a hub. The devices you connect can transmit data at full speeds over a single cable. Apple's cables are quite expensive but there is a lot of engineering which has to happen especially while transmitting data at such high rates (the retimer chip for example makes sure bits are synced together when sent to devices after the cable)

[@taktuscat4250]

First time being first 😅