These Two USB-C Cables Are All You’ll Ever Need for a Professional Workspace
What do we need from our USB-C cables most? Speed and reach. With these two cables you'll always be covered.
Wayne Grayson • Jan 24, 2025

For something with so simple a job, finding the right USB-C cable can be a maddening experience. Now that this port is nearly ubiquitous, you can get a USB-C cable just about anywhere and for just about any price. But there’s a big problem: not all USB-C cables are created equal.
Just about all of them will allow you to connect two devices for charging or for passing data from one to the other. Unfortunately, most USB-C cables that you run across in your day-to-day are primarily intended for only one of those jobs: charging. And the vast majority of all cheap USB-C cables are not very good at charging or passing along data.
Worse yet, it’s usually not clear just by looking at the cable itself or its packaging what type of performance you’re going to get from it. Is it the right cable for fast charging? Can it support high-resolution display output? Is it going to bottleneck data to your drive? In a lot of cases you don’t know until you try it out.
The good news is, you don’t have to continue living with this type of uncertainty. Here at OWC, we live by the Two Cable Rule. “What is the Two Cable Rule?” you might be wondering. Well, the exact wording of the Two Cable Rule has been lost to time. It is old magic. But the loose translation is something like, “For ultimate reach with quick charging and speed, the Active Optical Cable does what you need. But if ultimate speed is what you desire, Thunderbolt 5 is the cable to acquire.”
Sure, it’s a bit on the nose, but it’s true. While the OWC Active Optical Cable can handle just about any type of job you can throw at it, it’s primarily designed to give you great performance in charging and data transfer while also granting you a reach of nearly 15 feet. Simply put, this is the best long USB-C cable you can buy.
Meanwhile, the OWC Thunderbolt 5 cable is a true multipurpose workhorse. Our Thunderbolt 5 cable is engineered to the exact specifications of Thunderbolt 5 as laid down by Intel. That means that it’s not only guaranteed to work with your Thunderbolt 5 peripherals, but it also has fantastic backwards compatibility with previous generations of Thunderbolt, is compatible with USB3 and USB4 peripherals with USB-C connectors, and all while supporting the fastest data speeds on the market and ultra-fast charging speeds. The Thunderbolt 5 cable is a great choice for any high-bandwidth application, whether it’s connecting a dock, drive, or a high-resolution monitor.
But which of these cables should you choose? Let’s dig into each one a bit more to give you a better idea how they cover all the bases.
The Best USB-C Cable for Most Situations: OWC Thunderbolt 5 Cable

The beauty of the Two Cable Rule is that it means as long as you have these two cables on hand, you’ll be prepared for just about any type of connectivity situation you can imagine.
That’s because the Two Cable Rule reduces the complexity of “Which cable do I need?” down to just one factor: length. If you’re trying to connect two devices over a distance of less than 1 meter, we recommend you stick with the OWC Thunderbolt 5 cable.
Available in lengths of 0.3m (11.8 in.), 0.8m (31.5 in.), and 1m (39.4 in.), the OWC Thunderbolt 5 cable is a true Swiss Army Knife. Because it’s USB-C, it connects to everything with a USB-C port, and because it’s Thunderbolt 5 certified, it’s guaranteed to support 80GB/s of bi-directional bandwidth and up to 120GB/s of uni-directional bandwidth for high-resolution displays.
In real world terms, that means no matter what you connect to either end of an OWC Thunderbolt 5 cable, it will support data transfer at the fastest speeds currently possible from USB-C-based peripherals. When connected to Thunderbolt 5 host devices, OWC Thunderbolt 5 solutions deliver data transfer speeds up to 6,000 MB/s while our cables and Thunderbolt 5 Hub allow for you to connect up to three 8K displays. Meanwhile the Thunderbolt 5 cable supports charging up to 240W.
The OWC Thunderbolt 5 cable is also the best cable to use if you’re looking for a cable to connect bus-powered devices such as a drive without its own power supply, to your host device. With top-of-the-line bandwidth and power delivery specs, a Thunderbolt 5 cable is guaranteed to work with all bus-powered devices.
You might be asking “Why should I buy a Thunderbolt 5 cable if I don’t have any Thunderbolt 5 devices?” The answer is peace of mind.
Even if you’re not connecting to a Thunderbolt 5 host device, the OWC Thunderbolt 5 cable is backwards compatible with USB-C, USB3, USB4, Thunderbolt 4, and Thunderbolt 3 devices. And because it has been engineered to support the fastest speeds on the market today, you’re guaranteed to get the best performance possible out of any USB-C cable. When you have an OWC Thunderbolt 5 cable handy, you don’t have to worry about whether it will transfer data or charge fast enough, or whether it will support your high resolution display. OWC Thunderbolt 5 cables will reliably deliver the highest speed and display capabilities that your host machine supports.
Plus, OWC Thunderbolt 5 cables are built to last. They’re extremely durable and are covered by a 3-year limited warranty.
The Best USB-C Cable When You Need to Connect Things That Are Far Away: OWC Active Optical Cable

So if the OWC Thunderbolt 5 cable is the best all-around cable as long as you’re connecting things less than 1 meter (39.4 in.) away, what do you use if you want to connect something further away but still need fast data and charging speeds?
That’s where the OWC Active Optical Cable comes in.
The OWC Active Optical Cable is a high-speed cable designed to give you the ultimate flexibility in optimizing your workspace the way you want it. While the Thunderbolt 5 cable is designed to support the fastest speeds possible, the Active Optical Cable is designed primarily for reaching across long distances while still providing high-speed performance.
With full support for Thunderbolt 4/3 and USB4/3/2 devices, the Active Optical Cable provides up to 40Gb/s of stable bandwidth, up to 240W of power delivery, and up to 8K video resolution. That means it’s not quite as fast as a Thunderbolt 5 cable (in therms of available bandwidth). But where this cable lacks in top speed, it makes up for with long reach.
The Active Optical Cable delivers enough power and bandwidth to support high-resolution displays, high-speed drives and more—all while giving you nearly 15 feet of reach. Thanks to universal USB-C connectivity and optical fiber technology, the Active Optical Cable eliminates the 2-meter distance limit of traditional copper-based Thunderbolt and USB4 cables.
And while the Active Optical Cable is not intended for use with bus-powered devices, we are aware of examples of this cable working with some. That being said, due to the varying power needs of bus-powered devices, use of this cable with such devices is not recommended. If your primary use case is connecting a bus-powered drive or other device, you’ll want to find the right length of OWC Thunderbolt 5 cable for your needs.
The OWC Active Optical Cable is available in lengths of 3 meters (9.8 feet) and 4.5 meters (14.76 feet). Both lengths support data bandwidth up to 40GB/s. The 3m cable supports charging up to 240W, while the 4.5m cable supports charging up to 60W.
The Active Optical Cable’s reach and bandwidth combination gives you unparalleled flexibility. With the Active Optical Cable you’re free to setup your camera and make sure it stays charged and streaming from just about anywhere in your workspace. Or you can finally put your dock or display in that weird spot of your office like you’ve always wanted.
And like our Thunderbolt 5 cable, the OWC Active Optical Cable is built to last. It features a braided nylon exterior over advanced internal fiber optical cable for highly durable and consistent signal reliability that is immune to EMI/RFI interference. It’s also covered by a 3-year limited warranty.
Conclusion
Make things easier on yourself. Live life by the Two Cable Rule. Then, no matter what you need a cable for, you’ll be covered.
Need cables for connecting and charging devices from 3 feet away or less? Stock up on OWC Thunderbolt 5 cables. Need a cable for reaching across, over, under, around, or through a complicated desk or office setup? Grab an OWC Active Optical Cable and have the peace of mind that your cable is long enough, fast enough, and powerful enough to get the job done.
OWC Thunderbolt 5 cables start at just $19.99. OWC Active Optical Cables start at $94.99.
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