Cable Matters has introduced the first Thunderbolt 5 cable for $23 - fully compatible with USB4 and TB 4

Almost a year after the official debut of Thunderbolt 5, the world's first cable of the new standard has finally materialized. Cable Matters has unveiled the Thunderbolt 5 cable, which offers full bandwidth to transmit video at 120 Gbps in lengths of 0.3m, 0.5m, and 1m for $23, $27, and $33 respectively. Since Thunderbolt 5 has only one standard implementation variant, the cable supports all its capabilities: power delivery up to 240W, backward compatibility with Thunderbolt 4 and Thunderbolt 3 Type-C ports (as well as USB4 and USB Type-C), 120 Gbps for video in bandwidth-boost mode, and up to 80 Gbps bidirectional speed. Thunderbolt 5 is based on the USB4 version 2.0 standard with the additional advantage of Thunderbolt, which is the bandwidth-boost mode. It extends beyond the maximum USB4 V2.0 limitation of 80 Gbps by providing a colossal 120 Gbps, solely for displays. This is achieved by switching three out of the four lanes at 40 Gbps in transmission mode, allowing for 120 Gbps in one direction, but limiting the reverse connection to 40 Gbps. However, for displays, this is not an issue, as the vast majority of data needs to be sent in only one direction. The ultra-high bandwidth mode will only be activated when a sufficient number of displays or displays with sufficiently high resolution and refresh rate require speeds greater than 80 Gbps. Thanks to this new feature, Thunderbolt 5 supports multiple 8K displays and refresh rates up to 4K 540Hz or 8K 120Hz, which should be appreciated by avid gamers. This represents a 50% higher bandwidth compared to DisplayPort 2.1. Thunderbolt 5 also leverages the benefits of PCIe Gen 4 for the first time, providing up to 64 Gbps for PCIe. This is particularly relevant for external graphics cards or docks for them, as well as modern solid-state drives. Cable Matters is the first cable manufacturer to introduce the Thunderbolt 5 cable. Unfortunately, at present, there are almost no devices that officially support the new standard, but the cable can be used as a high-speed USB4 of the latest version while waiting for new devices. Currently, Thunderbolt 5 appears to only support the Razer Blade 18 laptop in its top configuration. Peripheral devices from Belkin, J5Create, OWC, and Sabren, which were showcased at CES 2024, are not yet on the market. Hyper also notes that the $400 Thunderbolt 5 dock station is not yet available. Sources: [Tom's Hardware](https://www.tomshardware.com/peripherals/thunderbolt/worlds-first-thunderbolt-5-cable-launched-120-gbps-and-240w-charging-for-23-dollars), [The Verge](https://www.theverge.com/2024/7/1/24190263/thunderbolt-5-cable-matters-intel-usb-c)