CT scan of Apple's Thunderbolt 4 Pro cable shows why it costs $129

Apple's optional 1m 'Thunderbolt 4 Pro' cable, priced at $129, is often mocked for its high price. However, Lumafield company conducted a CT scan of this Apple cable to help us compare it with cheaper cables on the market.

Apple's Thunderbolt 4 Pro cable integrates all the most advanced features and technologies, including 100W power delivery, data transfer speeds of up to 40 Gb/s, and DisplayPort (HBR3) image output. .

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According to Lumafield's review, Apple's Thunderbolt 4 Pro cable is very impressive. The connector has a hard plastic shell. Beneath that plastic layer is a metal shield that is fully bonded to the connector's housing, all of which is made of stainless steel.

To protect the entire bottom of the connector, Apple uses a strain relief that crimps in from eight different directions where the wire leaves the connector.

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Thunderbolt cables have separate charging and data transmission capabilities, so they are equipped with three separate types of wires respectively. Inside the wire is a coaxial cable with 19 wires, 6 of these wires are power supply copper cables, two are responsible for the USB 2.0 connection, allowing the cable to be backward compatible with Thunderbolt 3 and USB standards.

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Lumafield commented that, overall, Thunderbolt cables are an excellent precision mechanical engineering product.

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Before Lumafield, YouTube channel ChargerLAB also dissected the Thunderbolt 4 Pro cable to help users see part of the reason the price of this cable is so high.

ChargerLAB said that Apple Thunderbolt 4 Pro is very well built with high-quality materials to increase durability, reduce interference, and stabilize signal transmission. This is the best cable today for people working in the creative industry who need to process large amounts of data.

Samuel Daniel

Update 22 October 2023