Apple's conference has just opened, according to common sense, everyone's focus should be on the iPhone SE 3, Mac Studio and other new products.
Unexpectedly, the new Apple products that rushed to the hot search actually had a line.
The machine brother looked at it, and it turned out to be so.
Apple hasn't just released a new Studio Display display, it only comes with a 1-meter-long cable.
It may actually be a bit short to use, but Apple has also taken it into account.
Soon, a longer cable was on the shelves of the official store.
The 1.8 meter price is 949 yuan, and the 3 meter one is sold for 1169 yuan.
Ah this...
That's rounded to about a third of the iPhone SE 3, or a thousand-dollar machine like the Redmi Note 11.
This year, is it necessary to buy a data line with 24 installments?
Apple, it's worth it.
This wave has stirred up discussions among netizens about the pricing of Apple products.
Anyway, most of what the brother saw was scolding, scolding, and the topic was on the hot search.
Some are directly asking three times, and secretly mocking a wave of Apple users who want to buy a line.
Some people start from the perspective of ordinary users and question the rationality of high-end line demand.
The rest is more of a snippet and a play.
The following netizen complained about the difference between the 1.8-meter line and the 3-meter line.
Obviously, the length has almost doubled, but the price has only increased by 23%, probably to say that the short-term IQ tax of 949 yuan is too high.
As for this, it is no longer pretended, direct yin and yang.
In the scolding of netizens, the machine brother actually wants to say something different.
Let's start with a simple conclusion.
Is Apple's connection line starting at 949 yuan expensive?
Expensive, but not as expensive as it does.
Let's first take a look at Apple's official specification description of this line.
First of all, it supports the highest transmission rate of 40Gb/s, reaching the upper limit of the Thunderbolt (Thunderbolt) 4 protocol, which is also the ceiling of the current wired transmission.
At the same time, it also supports USB 3.1, DP video output and 100W power supply.
Note that USB 3.1 here is very important, and the following is to be considered.
The material is also designed with a robust weave.
In every way, this line really can't fault anything, except for the price.
Netizens may have searched the data line of Raiden 4 casually, and found that it was only a hundred dollars, so they felt that the Apple store was a big bully.
This really can't be compared to that.
There are actually two types of data lines for the Lightning interface, passive and active.
(Upper left passive, lower right active Source: Terser_)
The passive lightning data cable is a high-speed data cable, which is completely common with the USB protocol.
However, it has a big disadvantage, and the signal attenuation is more serious.
The length of about 50 cm can run at full speed of 40Gb/s, and to the length of 2 meters, only 20Gb/s is left, directly halved.
Therefore, if you want to make the data line of Raiden 4 long and maintain full speed transmission, you need an active data line.
The solution is to embed transceiver chips at both ends of the line to enhance the signal.
Good quality chips are also certified by Intel.
So the cost, everyone understands.
In fact, even if some cost-effective brands use the active Thunderbolt 4 data cable of the certified chip, the price of about 2 meters will not be cheap.
However, this cable is used on the USB port, and the data can only run to USB 2.0. And the apple cable that is hundreds of pieces more expensive is USB3.1.
You know, the current ultra-long Thunderbolt 4 cable, basically can only run to USB 2.0.
Only Apple, full protocol full speed.
The machine brother estimates that the chip here may be customized by Apple itself.
As for why the 3-meter version is not too expensive, it is not difficult to understand.
After all, most of the cost of this line is on the chip.
However, the machine brother has to say but.
Although Apple's line is indeed expensive, the machine brother can not afford to buy, but it will not use dozens of USB-C port data cables to compare.
To blame, blame these threads for looking so much alike.
Our most common USB-C cable is the charging cable and data cable of the mobile phone.
Naturally, it will also be treated with the standard of the mobile phone charging cable, and then it is expensive, that is, dozens of dollars.
Someone actually sold it to about 1,000 yuan, and it was not allowed to be cursed to death.
The machine brother wants to clear them up, and it is also a bit big.
The name usb-C is USB Type-C, because it was first formulated by the USB Developer Forum, so it has always been hung with the name of USB.
In fact, it simply represents one form of interface, and does not even necessarily support the USB protocol.
For example, the machine brother has bought a flashlight before, which can be charged directly with the USB-C port.
The USB-C cable that comes with it can only be charged, and there is no function of data transmission at all.
The brother took it and connected it to the mobile phone to transmit files, and thought that the mobile phone was broken.
This can not blame the manufacturer, people also want to use a unified interface, it is more convenient to use.
Ideally, with one main cable, all devices can be charged.
However, this "great unification" of the interface we dream of has brought about even greater chaos.
Previously, each wired transmission function corresponded to a different interface.
Take a traditional laptop.
The circular port is the power port, the 3.5mm is the audio output port, the HDMI and DP are the output video, the USB-A is connected to the device and transmits data, and the network cable port is the Internet.
Each interface has a corresponding function, but also uses a different line.
The trouble is a little troublesome, but certainly will not be mistaken, as long as the interface can be plugged in, basically can work normally.
(Error Demonstration)
But if all of them are unified into a USB-C port, the problem comes.
Some support raid protocol, some support USB 3.1, some support DP display output, and some only support PD charging.
It all looks the same, who can tell the difference.
And that's not all, each of them also has subdivisions, Lightning has Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4, and DP also has 1.2, 1.4 and 2.0.
USB is even more messy, with 480Mbps, 5Gbps, 10Gbps, 20Gbps, and even 40Gbps.
The key is that on these interfaces, there will be a small number of special logos, and many usb-C specific functions have to find official instructions.
Not to mention, we also need to use USB-C cables that are compatible with these different standards.
I don't know if you faint or not, the machine brother is almost unable to resist anyway.
If you want to buy the right USB-C data cable, you must carefully look at the product's publicity.
Common sayings, such as "full function", generally support PD fast charging, display output and data transmission.
If it supports "USB 3.1", the speed can reach 10Gbps, which can support the display output of 4K 60Hz.
There is also a label that supports "USB 4", the transmission rate can reach 40Gbps, and it can output 8K 60Hz screen.
You can also look at the rate identification at both ends of the line, which is easier to distinguish.
As for the data line of the Lightning protocol, the standard is relatively clear, mainly depending on the length.
Generally speaking, within 1 meter, pick a well-known brand to buy, and even buy USB 4 cable is completely universal.
More than 1 meter, passive will have attenuation, want a better transmission rate, you have to buy active.
But there will be a cliff-like increase in prices, and support for the USB protocol is not very good.
Unless you have the ability to buy apples directly in one step, otherwise, everyone still does what they can.
Then again, the unification of the USB-C interface, is it good or bad?
The brother can only say that there are people who see things, and some people are happy and some people are sad.
At least for digital white, the threshold for buying lines has indeed become higher.
Because it breaks the logic that can be used as long as it can be plugged in, you need to understand the difficult parameters.
Maybe the only benefit is just to make the line on the desktop less.
After all, other incompatible USB-C cables that were bought were thrown into the drawer and eaten.
Finally, I would like to ask you, have you ever been confused by the USB-C interface like a machine brother?