The Best USB 4/Thunderbolt 4 Cable Money Can Buy

The best USB cables currently on the market are Thunderbolt 4 cables. Many cables on Amazon say "Thunderbolt Compatible" but aren't actually certified. Look for the little lightning bolt with the arrow. You also want 240 watts of power delivery. This is not standard for Thunderbolt cables but it is becoming more common.

[Slave-Of-Christ]

The specs printed on the cable are the specs printed on the cable. They give people the warm fuzzies, but don't hold your breath that those printed specs match reality.

[arkhikun]

Printing on the cable / mandatory documentation would be great. USBC is a cluster- even without varying Thunderbolt specs.

[VoicesofMusic]

Cable Matters is almost always good, I have a few Soopii USB4/240 that have the wattage on the LED on the cable. When you have a bag full of gear, you want the specs printed on the cable, as you point out in the vid.

[mortenborg]

Yes we need specs printed on the cables! Have lots of USB-C cables without markings and most of them will probably just end in the bin because it would be a pain to test them for capabilities and determine if they are outdated. I'm only buying new cables with specs printed but often you get OEM cables included with new products.

[nykretus]

It's good to know that usb finally entered the same speeds as thunderbolt 4 and they made it the same way, not bad. I got a usb 4 zike enclosure that works for both computers but make sure buy the correct ssd if you want to transfer it between both computers

[jeremycarter]

There are limitations to USB4v2 with charging and data transfer. You’re better off keeping Thunderbolt 4 until Thunderbolt 5 comes out.

[nowandrew]

Many complaints on the Amzn page regarding the 300W power hub. Max output seems to be 145w, with the 2x 100 USB-C ports sharing the 100W, the 2x 30W USB-C sharing the 30W and the 3x USB-A sharing the 15w. So doesn't seem like a win.
On the other hand I have a couple of Baseus items that will do 140W on one port and 100+40W when two are used.

[staples]

What’s the Mac iOS menu bar app that you are using to show the usb-c read/write speeds? (Time stamp… 2:00)

[marble_wraith]

Just one small problem... Thunderbolt 5 is already incoming 🤣

[pdubsweir]

Adam Savage just did a deep dive on why USB C quality is so much tied into its manufacturing and design. It really convinced me why Apple's Th8underbolt 4 cable is worth the price tag.

[neo]

What is the name of the app I that redas and write the speed? Thanks.

[twosheafilms]

Love the effort you’re putting into these Lee!!

[tasotsele]

What’s that r/w speed app in the top bar you’re using called?

[unonice]

Great Breakdown .. very helpful video .. keep up the great work 👍🏾😁🙌🏾💯

[davidhardy]

I like your stuff, but this was a TERRIBLE video. Recommending things you have not tested is a BAD idea. The facts are that Thunderbolt is a licensed technology from Intel. Official Thunderbolt cables are typically expensive due to their compliance process and the additional chips inside the connector. Not all cables branded as Thunderbolt can actually provide true Thunderbolt speeds; some may be counterfeit. To ensure a cable is *actually* made for Thunderbolt, you MUST buy it from a trusted seller like Apple or test its data transfer rate against verified Thunderbolt cables, especially if it's from an unreliable third party. Choosing the cheapest cable on Amazon might waste your time and money.

[ruaangrobler]

"It's got a dragon painted right, on, the blade; right, on, the blade." 🤣- in all seriousness, thanks though. This is one of those annoying things I've never bothered understanding and this was helpful.

[sunsetsam]

Markings are cheap, performance isn't. I needed a 10ft cable which Cable Matters doesn't appear to offer. Got the Apple cable, no speed or power markings on the connecter, works perfectly at 10ft. It's more expensive, but high quality, and so far very reliable.

[mansoormohamedali]

Easy way to guess the wattage is :
- usb a to usb c: 15 watts maximum;
- usb c to usb c: 60 watts minimum and up to 240 watts.

Reference: Thiojeo

[Rockhardnupe]

Hello, I see the cable in the link provided! However it’s only 3 feet long. Do you have a recommendation for a Cable that’s 6 feet or 10 feet long but still gives you 40 gbps and 240w, thanks so much for the video and all the info.

[EngineFD]

The people who created the USB-C standard really did a disservice to all of us. They should have mandated some sort of color on the cable (like USB 3 did) or have it written on the cables all of the time.