Get Ready to Pony up $129 for Apple's Braided Thunderbolt 3 Cable

(Image credit: Apple)

If you hadn't noticed yet, Apple's stuff is expensive. Really expensive. The latest item in their fruity arsenal is the braided Thunderbolt 3 Pro cable, which costs a mighty $129, as spotted by The Verge.

It goes without saying that that's a pretty steep figure for a cable. I certainly haven't ever spent that much on any cable. Yet, it's actually not that bad of a price if you look at the materials and what exactly this cable can do. 

The Thunderbolt 3 Pro cable is rated for overall data transfer speeds of up to 40 Gbps and USB 3.1 Gen 2 at up to 10 Gbps. It also supports DisplayPort video output and can handle up to 100 watts of power delivery. That's some serious stuff for just a single cable, and although there are some others that can do those figures, none of them are as long as Apple's 2m (6.6 feet) cable.

Of course, it's an active cable in order to be able to pull that off, so there's more going into the cable than meets the eye. Comparatively, passive Thunderbolt cables typically max out at 40 Gbps and 50cm (1.6 feet) in length.

Plus, Apple's promise that the Thunderbolt 3 Pro won't get tangled when it's coiled should bring some peace to those of us living in a home overrun with cables.

At the end of the day though, most of us don't need this. And those of us who do are probably used to paying a lot for equipment. 

Niels Broekhuijsen

Niels Broekhuijsen is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He reviews cases, water cooling and pc builds.

  • thisisaname
    Plus, Apple's promise that the Thunderbolt 3 Pro won't get tangled when it's coiled should bring some peace to those of us living in a home overrun with cables.

    No if you home is overrun with cables they are still going to get tangled!
    Reply
  • spongiemaster
    Admin said:
    Apple's braided Thunderbolt 3 cable is expensive but packs a lot of functionality.

    Get Ready to Pony up $129 for Apple's Braided Thunderbolt 3 Cable : Read more
    You can get an active 2 meter TB3 cable from Amazon for half that price. Unless there is some reason you have to get an Apple branded cable because they aren't adhering to the standard, I don't see a problem with this. If you choose to be ripped off, when there are cheaper options available, that's on you. When Apple charges absurd prices for propriety parts just because they can and you have no other options, that's when they deserve the middle finger.
    Reply
  • watzupken
    There are high quality braided cables out there that are going for a fraction of what Apple is charging. I doubt they will sell that many of this overpriced cable.
    Reply
  • schuck6566
    ROTFL Well,If you can get by with only 3.93 feet of braided cable,you can get THAT on Amazon doing everything Apple is bragging about doing for under $27.00. $100.00 for 2 & 1/2 feet and a NAME? No thank you.
    Reply