A plug is not just a plug

[kamkar]

I fund this interesting, and somewhat educational.

 

[Ralph2]

Well worth watching, thanks for sharing.

 

[Nigel]

Is there a similar video for microSD cards?

 

[DAP]

Unfortunately, in that video, they are comparing a cable designed for data to cheap charging cables that are sold as charging cables. It would have been better if they compared the Apple cable to cheap data cables.

 

[Agie]

Unfortunately, in that video, they are comparing a cable designed for data to cheap charging cables that are sold as charging cables. It would have been better if they compared the Apple cable to cheap data cables.

100% this. It's not apples to apples here

 

[Nigel]

100% this. It's not apples to apples here

It wasn't supposed to be.

They were deliberately showing the differences between very different cables, between apples and hazelnuts, not testing which cables work best for a specific purpose, they didn't perform a single test.

 

[LateralNW]

The way I saw it was a sub advert for the company that did the scans.
It was interesting how good the device could cut up the image and zoom in etc.

They didn't really show anything when it came to cables and costs.

While it was an interesting video it really was bait as far as the reason for different prices for cables.

Apple will always be more expensive just look back at the monitor stand they where flogging a few years ago or this current one

Pro Stand

Every aspect of Pro Stand was designed with pros in mind. Height, tilt, rotation — it’s completely adjustable, allowing your Pro Display XDR to fit seamlessly into any work environment.

www.apple.com

$999 what a wank.

 

[Dashmellow]

They were basically revealing and marveling over the amazing engineering, sophistication and build quality that went into the Apple cable and explaining why it costs so much compared to cheaper cables.

Some of Apple's high end professional computers, monitors and other hardware (which can cost many, many thousands of dollars) are used in fields such as TV production and feature film making and that's really the market for cables like this where they would be considered an incidental expense.

Yeah, they were also showing off the cool software too.

Personally, I enjoyed the video. Savage still does some interesting stuff since Mythbusters came to an end.

 

[DT MI]

They were deliberately showing the differences between very different cables, between apples and hazelnuts,

I would disagree with that assessment. At the opening of the video Savage explicitly says they will be showing the difference between "Apple cables and their imitators", not between the different types of cables - although that's exactly what they did.

It was an interesting video and interesting technology though.

 

[Deleted member 85644]

I would disagree with that assessment. At the opening of the video Savage explicitly says they will be showing the difference between "Apple cables and their imitators", not between the different types of cables - although that's exactly what they did.

It was an interesting video and interesting technology though.

Yep, this was an Apple to Asian Plum comparison. I expected to see a cheap imitation of the Apple data cable, and what we got were charge only cables for comparison. Looked to be more of an attempt to advertise the software company.

None the less, I had no idea the interior workings of an Apple cable, now I see why they command the price they do, though that price is still about 80 dollars too high.

 

[Ralph2]

Would have interesting to show some real life differences in data transfer. That $130 cable vs a generic cheap data cable moving the same amount of data, how much faster is one over the other??

 

[DAP]

Would have interesting to show some real life differences in data transfer. That $130 cable vs a generic cheap data cable moving the same amount of data, how much faster is one over the other??

The $130 cable (like most high quality data cables) can handle 40 Gbps, all the other charging cables they showed would only handle 480 Mbps since they only had the USB 2.0 wires, and not the USB super speed wires added in USB 3.0. So approximately a 100x speed difference.

 

[kamkar]

I am wondering the USB 4.0 standard that some are adopting ( motherboards at least ) will they require a similar " smart " plug, those are also supporting 40 Gbps speeds they say.

On Apple, a company i have disliked since the MP3 player times, well i do feel they are screwing over their customers, but this video did put a slight damper on those feelings.
And if that company do not screw over its customers, then it at the very least screw over the American tax payers, like so many other companies there and elsewhere do.

So i personally have a HUGE list of companies / brands i will not consider, and many i would even want to not be legal / represented in my country, even i also know that the,,,,, Opps better stop or my post will get deleted.

 

[Nigel]

I am wondering the USB 4.0 standard that some are adopting ( motherboards at least ) will they require a similar " smart " plug, those are also supporting 40 Gbps speeds they say.

I imagine that few full speed USB 4.0 cables will get sold, because not many people need a cable that supports 8K 60fps video. If you do need that speed then the Apple cable isn't too bad value, but for most people it is not necessary now, and likely never will be, since nobody has, or is ever likely to have 8K resolution eyes, it is only needed for video editing.

 

[kamkar]

well i like a on table NAS that support that speed, and i would like to do USB 4.0 VS say use my motherboards 10 Gbps for slower speeds.
It is one reason i looked at the thunderbolt box, well that + i need a new card reader too and that would be a 2 in 1 win then. https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-22-in-1-dock-with-high-security-ssd-hdd-raid

 

[Nigel]

well i like a on table NAS that support that speed, and i would like to do USB 4.0 VS say use my motherboards 10 Gbps for slower speeds.
It is one reason i looked at the thunderbolt box, well that + i need a new card reader too and that would be a 2 in 1 win then. https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-22-in-1-dock-with-high-security-ssd-hdd-raid

The expensive USB cables already have chips in the plug for power management and negotiation, not much of a change to add data management, and yes it will be similar because Thunderbolt and USB 4.0 are being merged.

 

[Dashmellow]

I imagine that few full speed USB 4.0 cables will get sold, because not many people need a cable that supports 8K 60fps video. If you do need that speed then the Apple cable isn't too bad value, but for most people it is not necessary now, and likely never will be, since nobody has, or is ever likely to have 8K resolution eyes, it is only needed for video editing.

I brought this up in a post the other day where I mentioned that Apple's high end professional computers are used primarily in TV production and feature film making (and also scientific research, industrial 3D design rendering and music production) and that is where cables like this are likely to be used. They are not intended for the typical consumer market so only a limited number are sold by comparison. They are enormously expensive and in some configurations can cost tens of thousands of dollars for a single unit along with the Apple Pro Display which goes for either $5000 or $6000 depending on if you want the nano-textured glass screen. Of course, this doesn't include hard drive arrays or servers and all the other peripherals. But you get what you pay for and the supercomputer performance is astonishing. We're talking about up to 72 GPU cores using the M2 Ultra chip (soon to be replaced with the M3). Computers like this require data cables of this quality! And their cost in these scenarios are merely incidental.

Mac Pro

The new Mac Pro with M2 Ultra combines our most powerful Apple silicon yet with PCIe expansion for the ultimate in workstation-class performance.

www.apple.com

Buy Pro Display XDR

Customize your Pro Display XDR, available with standard or nano-texture glass and mounting options to suit your setup. Buy online at apple.com.

www.apple.com

 

[DAP]

I imagine that few full speed USB 4.0 cables will get sold, because not many people need a cable that supports 8K 60fps video. If you do need that speed then the Apple cable isn't too bad value, but for most people it is not necessary now, and likely never will be, since nobody has, or is ever likely to have 8K resolution eyes, it is only needed for video editing.

Does nobody ever back up their computers? I regularly back up my computer, and I have at least 3TB of family photos that I back up to external USB hard disks. A full back up takes several hours, even at 5Gbps with USB 3.0. A 8x speed improvement would be welcome.

 

[DAP]

The expensive USB cables already have chips in the plug for power management and negotiation, not much of a change to add data management, and yes it will be similar because Thunderbolt and USB 4.0 are being merged.

The eMark ICs in current USB cables are low power low speed ROMs that tell the connected device the capabilities of the cable. The ICs in active cables are quite a different beast, much higher power, and high speed signaling. I believe, to achieve 40 Gbps data on a 3 meter cable that it must be an active cable. Shorter 1 meter cables can be passive.

 

[Nigel]

Does nobody ever back up their computers? I regularly back up my computer, and I have at least 3TB of family photos that I back up to external USB hard disks. A full back up takes several hours, even at 5Gbps with USB 3.0. A 4x speed improvement would be welcome.

Maybe some people do incremental backups - only copy over the changed/new stuff?