Optical Cables by CorningTM AOC-MMS4CVP5-5M20 ThunderboltTM Optical Cables, 5.5 m (18'), Black

UPDATE 5-20I'm working on my 3rd set... They last about 2 years before they become intermittent. The manufacturer claims that the electronics heat up, since there's no heat sink spec for T2 cables. So, as recommended, I had installed a fan on each end. Alas, the cable over time became unreliable—connecting and disconnecting randomly from my OWC dock, blanking out the monitor connected to it. As much as I liked the length—and when they work, they're great—be prepared to replace them every couple of years. For some installations, however, they provide the only solution.Works perfectly, as expected. The connectors are a bit looser than I'd like, going into my MacPro (late 2013), but these cables are the only solution if your desk, monitor and keyboard are too far for a copper tb cable. Very happy with the performance, and will treat them as if they're made from glass (which, they probably are!)

I should have read the reviews more closely but there is no other real option for extending thunderbolt except buying a hub for ever 3 meters maybe, which is what I'm about to try. This cable worked great for 6 months and then it became intermittent and then started failing. I think it's the heat. The optical converters built in to each end of the cable run VERY hot, so over time the components just ware out and overheat. If you can keep the cable cold, it might be fine, but that's a bit silly to be a requirement. I was using it for an Apogee Symphony audio interface. I've emailed the company yesterday but haven't heard back from them yet. Hoping they'll refund my money to make this right.

Not the sellers fault ***This is my second corning 18ft cable. first one i broke myself when it was pressed on too tightly and got clamped in the rack door that the hardware was in. So that was on me other than the ridiculously thin protection around it. I opened it up and saw that the cables are thin as hairs. It's nuts that the manufacturer wouldn't wrap this cable in a reasonably sized rubber sleeve. Like, you know, every other thunderbolt cable in the world.That said, the cable I have now, being my second, has just stopped working. It was great while I had it. I used it to connect a PC to my audio interface on the other side of my studio wall. Today I was doing my everyday studio work listening to projects and it suddenly just stopped working. Nothing was done to provoke it. Cable wasnt moved, cut, kinked, touched or even looked at! It just stopped. I have read that this happens to this cable so beware and have a backup if you really really need to have this length because there's seemingly a monopoly on this cable because of the length and its poorly made. This cost me a lot of money today and I wish I had a backup for it. Even more so, I wish I never bought it in the first place because it's crazy expensive and I dont want it anymore. In retrospect I wish that I just dealt with the PC being in the room to avoid a cycle of needing a to replace this crap cable with only the exact crap cable.

Basically, it's a cable. And it works flawlessly. Data transmission speed is as good as thunderbolt 2 spec. But cable itself is too thin. Its diameter seem to be close to conventional single ear phone wire not both stereo. It might be broken if I bend it too much. It is my rough guess.I still believe it is good choice for long range cable for thunderbolt.

High quality cable, twist it badly - can break.

This is actually the very first review I've ever written for an item on Amazon. I'm a professional re-recording mixer, and one of the challenges is getting the noisy disk arrays and/or hard drives away from the mixing environment - I'm on an Imac, so the computer is in the studio. This cable, while pricey, seemed like it would solve my problem. I read the reviews where people had cable failures, and honestly, I chalked it up to the standard "problem exists between the chair and keyboard" scenario. This is otherwise known as "finger trouble" or "the nut behind the wheel". I imagined people being indelicate with the cable, no strain relief, yanking on the cable instead of the connector to unplug, etcetera. Thinking myself immune to these myriad issues, I bought the cable, and installed it with the utmost care. I delicately routed it, gently secured it, made sure there was adequate strain relief at both ends, and paid attention to the radius of all bends so that this expensive cable could happily adapt to it's new home. I connected each end exactly once. I fired up the computer and the disk array, and everything worked like a charm. There the cable stayed, unmolested and making my life wonderful. For exactly 23 days. I got up from my studio chair this morning with everything behaving as it should. I sat back down this evening, and the cable was dead. I couldn't believe it. I swapped the optical cable out for a standard copper one, and it works. Boo. This expensive radical cable has failed. Happily, I'm still within the Amazon return window, so I'll be returning this. Not sure if I'll try to get another one, or whether I'll build an enclosure to control the sound of the disk array and just put it closer to the computer.

Cable works great and the quality is good. It is a bit stiff and ungainly to coil/control (I'm assuming due to the optical material) but this is not a big deal or a deal breaker. I've not not clocked the speed but I haven't noticed any speed loss when archiving or transferring the multiple terabytes of photos that have moved through this cable on a regular basis. Another positive thing I've noticed is that the plugs do not get anywhere near as hot as a standard thunderbolt cable. My only real complaint would be the price but, no one held a gun to my head and it is worth it for the additional length.