Disassembly of USB-C to Thunderbolt data cable

Disassembly of USB-C to Thunderbolt data cable

ANKER has launched the MFi USB-C to Lightning data cable in China and is also the first brand to sell the MFi USB-C to Lightning data cable in stock in China. The name of this cable is ANKER Powerline II C to Lightning. Today, I will disassemble it for you to see how the internal materials are.

1. ANKER Powerline II C to Lightning out of the box

The main base color of the ANKER Powerline II C to Lightning data cable box is white + blue, with the “ANKER” brand logo and Apple MFi certified logo printed on the front, as well as the product model: A8632.

The relevant parameters of the data cable are printed on the back of the package.

The detailed parameters of the data cable are: Product name: ANKER Powerline II C to Lightning data cable 0.9M
Model: A8632
Size: 0.9m
color: White
Warranty time: 18 months warranty
Instructions for use: It is suitable for connecting mobile phones and tablets to power adapters or computers for data transmission or charging.

Unpacking, there is an ANKER Powerline II C to the Lightning data cable, a magic cable tie, and multiple paper documents.

The white outer skin of the data cable is made of TPE material. The surface of the cable body is smooth and exquisite, and there are no obvious burrs. It feels softer in the hand.

The interfaces at both ends of the data cable are Lightning (left) and USB-C (right). The connection between the cable end and the cable body is thickened and reinforced, and the length of the mesh tail is about 11mm to avoid bending and strain. The “ANKER” Logo is gravure on the end of the USB-C cable, and the SN code of the data cable is printed on the cable.

The SN code is: GD1910A8.

Close-up of USB-C interface pins, USB2.0 pins.

There are no patterns and words printed on this end of the Lightning connector, and the color of the terminal pins is silver, which conforms to the characteristics of C94 terminals.

Using ChargerLAB Power-Z MF001 tester to test the terminal, it is found that the ASIC and PMU of the terminal are original, the terminal model is C94, and the score is 100 out of 100.

Compared with the Apple USB-C to Lightning cable, the mesh end of the ANKER USB-C end is slightly longer, and the outer skin is thicker and more resistant to bending.

The tail end of the Lightning end is also longer and thicker than the Apple cable.

2. ANKER Powerline II C to Lightning data cable dismantling

The appearance design and workmanship of the data cable have been introduced above. Now we will dismantle it to see what the inside of the data cable looks like.

Cut the wire directly from the middle, the picture shows the cross-section of the ANKER Powerline II C to the Lightning data cable.

Cut the wire directly from the middle, the picture shows the cross-section of the ANKER Powerline II C to the Lightning data cable.

After the outer skin is peeled off, it can be seen that there is a layer of metal woven mesh inside, which has the function of shielding protection and stabilizing the woven mesh layer. The TPE outer skin and the metal woven mesh are very closely combined, and the bottom of the outer skin can be seen. pressed imprint.

Continue to disassemble the metal braided mesh, below is a layer of shielding aluminum foil to enhance the shielding effect.

After removing the aluminum foil shield, you can see the core part.

The structure of the core part is listed.

The red line is thickened to ensure the power transmission capacity. It uses 3 strands of Kevlar tensile fiber to combine with other cores by twisting, which can effectively improve the anti-pull performance and reduce the friction between the inner cores. The final effect That is, the wire is pulled continuously, thick but not hard. It can be seen that the number of fibers is very large by breaking up all the fibers. Generally speaking, due to cost considerations, most brands do not use such a large amount of tensile fibers. ANKER is willing to stack materials to ensure durability.

The wire disassembly details are shown in the figure.

After reading the wire part, it is the turn of the Lightning plug end to disassemble, peel off the outer skin, and inside is a layer of amber translucent structural protective glue.

Remove the amber structural protective glue, you can see that the steel sleeve and the metal base are connected and fixed by spot welding, and the welding points are uniform and firm. Then pick up the cold-pressed terminal of the wire core at the end of the steel sleeve to expose the inner wire core, aluminum foil shield, and tensile fiber.

After removing the steel sleeve, it can be seen that the structural protective glue has also penetrated into the interior, and all components such as PCBA, wire core, and steel shell are glued into a whole, and it can also be insulated and moisture-proof.

The chip leaked out after all the structural protective glue was removed.

The surface of the chip is silk-screened A63616A, which is an Apple C94 terminal chip. Compared with the previous USB-A interface that uses multiple components combined with C48 and E75 terminal chips, the C91 and C94 chips of the USB-C interface are designed to be more integrated and can support USB PD fast charging. C91 is used by Apple’s own cables and is not available for sale. C94 is supplied by Apple to third-party brands. There is no difference in performance between the two.

On the other side of the PCB, there is a silver mirror main chip.

The laser silk screen is a very small G, with a capital C above and 8AE below.

Let’s take a look at the end of the USB-C port. The outer skin is peeled off to expose the steel sleeve. The end of the steel sleeve is also a cold-pressed terminal for compressing the wire.

The steel sleeve is cut open, and it is also the overall glue injection. The USB-C PCB is only used to connect the wires and does not use the chip. The functions are all completed by the chip on the Lightning end.

The contact part of the USB-C interface is gold-plated, and the locking mechanism at the left and right end is strong and powerful.

3. Summary of GCC Electronic

The ANKER Powerline II C to Lightning data cable is made of TPE material, the surface is smooth without obvious burrs, and the workmanship is excellent. The line body is thicker than Apple’s original, and it feels flexible and not hard. In addition, the connection between the wire body and the wire head is also reinforced, the tail part of the net is lengthened and thickened, and the bending resistance is very good.

After dismantling, it was found that the metal braided shielding layer + aluminum foil shielding layer was used inside the cable body to enhance anti-interference, and 3 strands of tensile fiber and the wire core were mixed and twisted, so that the data cable had a very strong anti-pulling ability, and reduced the wire The friction between the cores keeps the wire flexible. The core of the current transmission line adopts a bold design, and the use of 3 strands for GND can also avoid being too hard.

The Lightning end of the data cable is designed with structural adhesive as a whole. The internal use of the Apple C94 certification chip, the integration is extremely high.

In general, the ANKER Powerline II C to Lightning data cable is in the style of a big manufacturer in terms of workmanship and materials. It is worth paying for in terms of materials and details. Although its price is not the cheapest, it is worth every penny. The principle of distributing goods can be concluded in this dismantling article, and friends who pursue quality and durability should not miss it.

Helen Chen

Helen Chen

Author: CO-Founder of GCC
Hi, I'm Helen. Welcome to our website. I have worked in the this industry for over 10 years. I hope we could write all about Consumer Electronics and Gifts that we know, and teach you for free here. Hoping we could help you to better understand more about this industry, so you could avoid some risks when importing from China.

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