preface
Recently, Apple released Mac Studio, which is equipped with four Thunderbolt 4 interfaces as a desktop computer, which can be said to be unprecedented in terms of scalability. The interface supports Raiden 4 is only part of it, and if you want to experience the transmission pleasure of the Thunderbolt interface 40Gbps, you must also match the Thunderbolt 4 data cable.
Random nature is impossible to send, the official website a asking price of nearly a thousand yuan, really flesh pain. And the well-known digital accessories brand GreenLink, also listed the Thunderbolt 4 data cable, the price of the waist chop, the actual performance with the Thunderbolt 4 equipment can have? Actual measurement speaking.
What is Raiden 4?
Raiden 4 transmission protocol, it is currently the most powerful transmission protocol. The Raiden 4 transmission protocol can support data transfer speeds up to 40Gbps, 100W PD fast charging, and drive 2 4K displays or 1 8K display.
Here will be some of the common transmission protocols have been summarized, located at the bottom of the Thunderbolt 4 is currently the latest and most powerful transmission protocol, from Raiden 1 to Thunderbolt 4, which has gone through 9 years in between, it is worth mentioning that Raiden 4 is compatible with other lightning transmission protocols and USB transmission protocols, so don't worry about the peripheral compatibility problems equipped with Thunderbolt 4 transmission protocols.
Transmission specifications are technology that needs to be paired with an actual product to deliver value. Now the lightning transmission protocol is based on the USB-C physical interface transmission, and there is often a lightning mark next to the USB-C interface for consumers to identify.
Above the data cable terminal head of Raiden 4, there will also be obvious lightning and number 4 logos, which is convenient for users to judge the performance of the wire.
The introduction of the Raiden 4 transmission protocol has to introduce the Raiden 3 transmission protocol, and it can be seen from the numbers that the Raiden 4 transmission protocol is based on the evolution of Raiden 3. In fact, whether it is in terms of data transmission speed or fast charging, there is almost no difference between the Raiden 4 and The Raiden 3 transmission protocol, which is more like patching on the basis of Raiden 3.
For ultimate data transfer capabilities, GW PD fast charging, and video expansion at 4K and above resolution, Raiden 3/4 transmission protocol and USB4 transmission protocol can fully meet the needs.
Product out of the box
The packaging is quite grand, the heaven and earth box design, the logo of thunder and lightning is printed in the lower right corner.
Open the package, in addition to the data cable there is also a certificate of conformity.
The interface configuration of the data cable part is of course C2C, and the frosted terminal shell is printed with the logo of Greenlink and the lightning logo.
The end of the terminal has been extended to make it more resistant to bending.
The cable body is also labeled with the characteristics of Lightning 4, 40Gbps transmission specification, 100W power transmission specification.
The USB-C male head features an integrated steel case with a full pin configuration.
The length of the data cable is about 80cm.
The wire diameter is about 4.04mm.
Using the POWER-Z KM002C measurement cable chip, E-Marker is built-in, supports 100W PD charging, and the data transmission specification is 40Gbps.
Here is also a brief introduction to how to query the certification of wire.
Open the official website of THUNDERBOLT, this literal translation is Thunderbolt... Click Products in the top right corner.
Select the company to which the wire belongs, UGREEN, and select Cable for the category.
Finally, there is the certification and photo of this wire.
Wire evaluation
In fact, a wire can do a lot of things, the following will be from the fast charge, data transmission and video transmission of the three blocks of the Green Link of the Thunderbolt 4 data line to test.
Fast charging
This data cable of GreenLink supports the Thunderbolt 4 transmission specification, supports 100W PD fast charging in terms of charging, uses Apple 140W Gallium Nitride charger with cable to charge MacBook Pro 16 2021, the power is 20.41V 4.64A 94.87W, and the cable supports 100W fast charging.
Charge the MacBook Pro 16 2019 with 20.42V 4.27A 86.3W.
Charge the Lenovo Xiaoxin Air 14 with a power of 20.41V 4.36A 89.19W.
The Red Devil 7 Pro is charged with a flash pole 140W charger and cable, with a power of 17.43V 5.10A 89.04W.
brief summary
In terms of charging, it is measured that the charging of notebooks and mobile phones can reach the level of 100 watts of fast charging, and the use of 100 watts of PD fast charging head with cables can meet the fast charging needs of notebooks.
Data transmission
For the test of data transmission of the wire, the choice is Apple's latest Mac Studio host, which is equipped with the Thunderbolt 4 interface.
Connect the Green Link Raiden 4 cable to the Thunderbolt 4 connector on the back of the Mac Studio console.
Connect the other end of the cable to the Raiden 3 hdD enclosure, which contains the Samsung 970 EVO SSD.
Using the Disk Speed Test speed measurement APP to test the transmission speed of the wire, the measured write speed is about 1466MB/s, and the read speed is about 2858MB/s, which is the performance of the transmission speed of Raiden 3, which has run full of the upper limit of Raiden 3 transmission. Because the author does not have a hard disk box that supports the Raiden 4 transmission protocol, it is not possible to test the transmission speed of The Thunderbolt 4.
Greenlink Thunderbolt 4 data cable can meet the needs of users with high performance requirements for transmission speed, even the file size in G can be quickly transmitted in a few seconds, which can fully improve efficiency and save time.
Video expansion
Video expansion is of course an external display, the Mac Studio host can be directly connected to the display through the Green Link Raiden 4 data cable, of course, the display needs to be equipped with a USB-C interface and support the transmission of video signals.
Normally speaking, the Green Link Thunderbolt 4 data cable can support displays with up to 8K resolution, but at present, the author does not have an 8K monitor in his hand, so it is not possible to test it. But you can test 4K monitors, after all, compared to 8K, 4K monitors are significantly more popular, the actual test can successfully light up Dell 4K monitors, resolution of 3840x2160.
Greenlink's Thunderbolt 4 data cable supports up to 8K video transmission, backward compatible with 4K displays, which can well meet the needs of users with high performance for display.
Charging head net summary
Intel-certified data cable is indeed impeccable in performance, supporting 40Gbps transmission specifications, several G files can be transmitted at a high speed visible to the naked eye; it also supports video expansion, whether it is a 4K display, a 5K display or an 8K display, which can be easily handled for the GreenLink Thunderbolt 4 data cable.
The workmanship is also not too much, the Green Link Raiden 4 data cable adopts a thickened PVC wire body, built-in high resilience Teflon insulator, which can effectively resist daily wear. With the Thunderbolt 4 interface on the Mac studio, you can better play the video expansion performance of the cable and mac studio.