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Comments (55)

• keane
  Related discussion “The USB Situation” (3 months ago): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47950993re: https://randsinrepose.com/guides/usb/usb-guide.htmlApple sells this $30 (0.5m) CalDigit cable https://www.apple.com/shop/product/hs9d2zm/a/ and this $70 (1m) Apple cable https://www.apple.com/shop/product/mdw94am/a/There's also some interesting discussion of Thunderbolt 5 cables on reddit (6 months ago): https://www.reddit.com/r/UsbCHardware/comments/1r84q54/
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  xbmcuser
  LTT has created true spec cables with the actual spec mentioned on the cables but they can not keep up with demand despite being expensive get sold out as soon as new stock comes in.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfovjw7Ts_U&t=974s
• user-
  I swear ive read this exact same thread with the exact same truepsec cable mention with the exact same amazon link for recommendations.
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  kiwijamo
  Interestingly, I have found a very mixed bag of USB-C cables I've collected over the years to generally just work for all my use cases. I can charge my various USB-C laptops at 65W with all the USB-C cables I have on hand. Maybe it's just my habit of just buying cables from known brands (Belkin is normally my go to) but I also have random cables that came with various devices of varying quality and all these also work just fine. I have a 6-port charging hub so I can see the charging wattage and I can easily get 65W to various laptops and a high capacity power bank, regardless of the cable being used. All cables also work fine for data transfer, although I confess I use USB-C for data transfer rarely so it is possible there is some variability there. YMMV but I wonder how much of this issue is just crappy low-end cables?
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  ChrisMarshallNY
  As always, these testers (the affordable ones) are capable of testing continuity, and, I guess, the cable chip report.If you want to test bandwidth, that's a five- or six-figure bit of gear.
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  safeimp
  Verge recently posted this (free) app for testing on Mac's: https://www.theverge.com/gadgets/963759/whatcable-usb-c-cabl...
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  pmarreck
  The whole space is so scammy that I'd pay for a good USB-C cable tester
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  pogue
  Is there a cheap, reliable tester that someone can recommend that will test multiple USB cable types (A, micro & C)?
• mercurywells
  I'd like a HDMI cable tester as well, I can't seem to find one that works well with my high refresh monitor.
• TechRemarker
  Started using whatcable.uk app. Been amazing at finally knowing cable speed, but also device max speeds, and everything in between, without having to carry around one of those digital dongles with more limited use.
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  yreg
  The Anker Prime 160W power brick shows the maximum wattage of the cables you plug in. It is also surprisingly small.
• Melatonic
  If you want a super fast cable and high power thats where they get pricey. "Charge only" cables can often be fairly cheap and perform well even for laptops and high draw devices.
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  Dylan16807
  Just measuring the power info is limited use. I'm sure there's value for some people, but I only need to keep track of 0-2 high power cables.> Your no-brand 480Mbps USB 2.0 cable is indistinguishable from the super-fast USB 4 cable that can move 40 gigabits (around 5 gigabytes) of data every single second.One of those is way thicker than the other, at least.I would love for something to force a speed and power rating on USB-C plugs.
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  Melatonic
  Isnt this what "USB-IF certified" is supposed to guarantee?
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  mrtesthah
  Instead of using a dedicated device, on Macs you can also use the WhatCable app:https://www.whatcable.uk
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  ahs1
  hmm, how about just being able to infer the features of a cable by it's physical form factor? oh wait...
• songhonglei1985
  [dead]