Cut to pieces on YouTube, Apple’s new Thunderbolt 4 Pro cable reveals particularly sophisticated innards… which at least partly explain its very high price placement.
Launched by Apple at the same time as the Mac Studio and the Studio Display monitor, the new Thunderbolt 4 Pro cord is particularly expensive. Available from 149 euros in France, this cable has flattering specifications (up to 40 Gb / s for data transfers and support for power supply up to 100 W, in particular) and premium finishes, but it is above all its internal design that justifies its price.
This is what we understand thanks to the YouTube channel ChargerLAB. For the purposes of a detailed video, a technician of the chain literally cut to pieces a Thunderbolt 4 Pro cable of 1.80 m (the 3 meter model is not yet available). We discover a USB-C cord much more complex than it seems, with a careful design and high-end components.
Copper, silver, gold and an Intel chip
This disassembly first gives us an overview of the quality of the cable itself. The latter has in particular a braided coating which allows it to roll up without tangling, but also to be more durable. Under this waterproof and dustproof coating, a flexible plastic sheath itself lined with a layer of metal.
It includes 19 wires, including five tinned copper wires used (for the power supply), and two white plastic-covered wires (used for USB 2.0, since the cable is backward compatible Thunderbolt 3 and “classic” USB ). As pointed out 9to5Macmost of these wires are plated with silver and pure copper, which has the effect of raising the final bill.
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However, it is at the level of the connectors that the care taken is perhaps the most evocative. These are protected by black hard plastic and a brass sleeve, but above all feature multiple components, including a dedicated Intel chip, responsible for the Thunderbolt connection. The latter is also responsible for reconstructing the signal to avoid any interference. Each of the two USB-C connectors finally has 24 pins, all gold-plated.
So many arguments that explain the final price of this accessory. A top-of-the-range cable, cut above all for the most demanding pros and users… like the Mac Studio and the Studio Display that it is supposed to accompany.
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