Apple's 3 meter Thunderbolt 4 Pro cable is now available

First announced alongside the Mac Studio, Apple's 3 meter Thunderbolt 4 Pro cable is now available to order online, and for pickup later in the month at some Apple Retail locations.

At the March unveiling of both the Mac Studio and the Studio Display, Apple launched a Thunderbolt 4 Pro cable, which was promised to be coming in both a 1.8 meter and a 3 meter edition.

Initially, only the 1.8 meter version was available, and it faced some criticism because it cost $129. A teardown revealed why it was costly, however, and potentially worth the money.

Now the 3 meter version is available in the online Apple Store, where it costs $159. To buy, users have to choose the 3 meters option from the order page's drop down menu.

At time of writing, the cable can be ordered now and will typically ship to buyers starting on May 12, 2022. It is not yet available in retail stores, but Apple's online site says it will be available for pickup from May 20.

Many vendors now sell Thunderbolt 4 cables, though with mixed quality. Other than Corning's optical Thunderbolt cable line that does not pass power, this is the first Thunderbolt 4 cable longer than 2 meters that will provide full power and data speeds.

14 Comments

dutchlord 7 Years · 279 comments

About 2 years ago

$159 for a cable right? #byebye

fastasleep 14 Years · 6451 comments

dutchlord said:

$159 for a cable right? #byebye

Active Thunderbolt cables are expensive, this isn't news. This is also the only option available if you need this length and power/data.

jdw 18 Years · 1457 comments

fastasleep said:

dutchlord said:

$159 for a cable right? #byebye

Active Thunderbolt cables are expensive, this isn't news. This is also the only option available if you need this length and power/data.

Length/power/datarate/value aside, what is a practical use-case for this TB4 cable right now?

killroy 17 Years · 286 comments

jdw said:

fastasleep said:

dutchlord said:

$159 for a cable right? #byebye

Active Thunderbolt cables are expensive, this isn't news. This is also the only option available if you need this length and power/data.

Length/power/datarate/value aside, what is a practical use-case for this TB4 cable right now?

A raid that's not on your desktop.

welshdog 22 Years · 1898 comments

killroy said:

jdw said:

fastasleep said:

dutchlord said:

$159 for a cable right? #byebye

Active Thunderbolt cables are expensive, this isn't news. This is also the only option available if you need this length and power/data.

Length/power/datarate/value aside, what is a practical use-case for this TB4 cable right now?

A raid that's not on your desktop.

Right, like a RAID in a sound cabinet because it's too noisy to be in the room.