Popular Mac accessory makers CalDigit and OWC have today announced new all-in-one Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4 cables, promising maximum data and power transfer over a single cable, as well as full compatibility with older USB devices.
Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4 is the latest connectivity specification present in the newest Macs and high-end external hardware, offering performance up to 40Gb/s, making it ideal for eGPUs, SSDs, external displays, and more.
CalDigit and OWC's new Thunderbolt 4 cables feature maximum power and data transfer capability. The cables deliver power up to 100W, making them appropriate for docking stations or monitors that can supply power, and support external displays with resolutions up to 8K.
Many previous generations of longer Thunderbolt cables lacked compatibility with USB-C devices, resulting in reduced transfer speeds, but both of the new CalDigit and OWC cables are fully compatible with USB-C. This also guarantees full compatibility with both Thunderbolt and USB-C monitors, the best possible performance for USB-C devices, and the ability to connect USB-C devices to Thunderbolt ports, giving users a large amount of versatility from a single cable.
The CalDigit cable is available in a length of 2m and the OWC cable is available in 0.8m only. CalDigit also supports its new cable with a two-year warranty, while OWC's features a three-year warranty.
The OWC 0.8m Thunderbolt 4 and USB-C Cable is available now for $27.99 on MacSales.com, while the CalDigit 2m Thunderbolt 4 and USB-C Cable is available on the CalDigit website for $79.99.
Tuesday February 3, 2026 7:47 am PST by Joe Rossignol
While the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate is now available ahead of a public release, the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April.
Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far.
iOS 26.3
iPhone to Android Transfer Tool
iOS 26.3 makes it easier...
Tuesday February 3, 2026 12:45 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple recently acquired Israeli startup Q.ai for close to $2 billion, according to Financial Times sources. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone maker Beats in 2014.
This is also the largest known Apple acquisition since the company purchased Intel's smartphone modem business and patents for $1 billion in 2019....
Thursday February 5, 2026 12:54 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple turns 50 this year, and its CEO Tim Cook has promised to celebrate the milestone. The big day falls on April 1, 2026.
"I've been unusually reflective lately about Apple because we have been working on what do we do to mark this moment," Cook told employees today, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "When you really stop and pause and think about the last 50 years, it makes your heart ...
Wednesday February 4, 2026 12:29 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple on Tuesday previewed 12 new shows and films that will be premiering on the Apple TV streaming service throughout 2026.
The new series:
Imperfect Women — March 18, 2026
Margo's Got Money Troubles — April 15, 2026
Widow's Bay — April 29, 2026
Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed — May 20, 2026
Cape Fear — June 5, 2026
Lucky — July 15, 2026
The new films:
Eternity — ...
Wednesday February 4, 2026 7:44 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today began selling certified refurbished iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max models on its online store in the U.S., with prices discounted by 12% to 22% compared to Apple's current or former pricing for the devices.
Here were Apple's starting prices when the devices launched in September 2024:
iPhone 16: $799
iPhone 16 Plus: $899
iPhone 16 Pro:...
I think Cable Matters beat both OWC and CalDigit to market with a 2m certified TB4/USB4 cable?
I bought one from Amazon and can confirm it's certified, and works at full speed with both Thunderbolt and non-TB USB 3.1 devices. Previously, only the Apple Thunderbolt 3 "Pro" 2m cable @ $129 supported full speed USB 3.1 functionality at a 2m length.
I authored the lone review on Amazon for the Cable Matters version: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084Z65YJQ/
All it just seems like yesterday when I was connecting a SCSI connector to a Mac system with a 1.25 megabytes ('https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megabytes') per second transfer rate with a DB-25 connector. That was screaming :)
Is there any reason TB3 can't be upgraded for USB 4? They're the same connector, same speed, etc. What is the primary hardware difference?
USB4 is a tunneling protocol based on Thunderbolt, but the two are not the same. USB4 can tunnel the USB protocol in addition to PCI Express and DisplayPort. USB4 also uses slightly different signaling rates and encoding schemes (10 or 20 GT/s vs 10.3125 and 20.625 GT/s). The bottom line is that USB4 devices will only work with Thunderbolt 3 devices if they optionally include support for the USB Type-C Thunderbolt 3 Alternate Mode. Thunderbolt 4 is USB4 with full support for Thunderbolt 3 interoperability.
Any passive full-featured USB Type-C cable up to 0.8 m should support all current protocols. Longer cables require active circuitry to handle the faster signaling rates. The retimer/redriver chips that they use have traditionally only supported specific protocols (e.g. the signaling rates used by Thunderbolt). Thunderbolt 4 cables can handle both USB4 (10 or 20 GT/s) and USB3 (5 or 10 GT/s) as well as the Thunderbolt 3 (10.3125 or 20.625 GT/s) and DisplayPort (1.62, 2.7, 5.4 or 8.1 GT/s) alternate modes.
The smart ones? 1999. Since NASA lost its $125-million Mars Climate Orbiter because spacecraft engineers failed to convert from English to metric measurements when exchanging vital data before the craft was launched.
