Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
OWC has released two new super-longs active USB4 optical cablesavailable in lengths of nearly 10 feet (3 meters) and 15 feet (4.5 meters) and offers up to 40 Gbps of data throughput. According to OWC’s press materials, they’ll run you $98.99 and $129.99, respectively, though their website currently lists them for slightly less. It’s a bargain, compared to what Apple is in charge.
Data transmission aside, OWC says you can also expect the 3m option to deliver up to 240W of power, while the 4.5m cable manages 60W. The cables are also covered in braided nylon, which we hope means they’re nice and flexible. And even though they’re not Thunderbolt 4 cables, they’ll work the way you’d expect with other Thunderbolt 3 or 4 devices, including docks and hubs.
In general, Intel guarantees Thunderbolt 4 performance up to 2 meters over traditional copper cables. Those cables need special technology inside to maintain production longer, which is probably part of why Apple’s 3 meter 40 Gbps Thunderbolt 4 cable. it costs $159.
You can find some USB4 cables up to OWC for much less than thatbut the longer ones tend not to offer the same high throughput, which OWC credits to fiber optic electromagnetic interference immunity.
OWC’s cables are a bit of a return to Thunderbolt’s roots as Light Peak, which was originally developed by Intel and Apple as a fiber optic cable standard that made its way to a Sony laptop such as companies decided to go with copperin contrast. Thunderbolt optical, only data lives in companies like Corning, which got you covered if you need a $480 164-foot (50 meter) 5K optical display cable in your life.
Cables aside, OWC also recently announced a $189.99 Thunderbolt 5 hub, which It went on preorder in November and is available now. It has four Thunderbolt 5 ports and a single USB-A port and supports three simultaneous 8K displays at 60Hz.
