WhatCable icon
WhatCable icon

WhatCable

A macOS menu bar app that reads the e-marker chip inside your USB-C cables and tells you in plain English what each one can actually do. When something is charging slowly or running at reduced speed, it names the weak link.

WhatCable screenshot 1

Cost / License

  • Freemium (Pay once)
  • Open Source

Platforms

  • Mac
  • Homebrew
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3alternatives
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Features

Properties

  1.  Privacy focused
  2.  Lightweight

Features

  1.  Ad-free
  2.  Command line interface
  3.  Works Offline
  4.  No registration required
  5.  No Tracking
  6.  Apple Silicon support
  7.  Hardware Monitoring
  8.  Sits in the menu bar

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WhatCable information

  • Developed by

    GB flagDarryl Morley

  • Licensing

    Open Source and Freemium product.

  • Pricing

    One time purchase (perpetual license) that costs $10 + free version with limited functionality.

  • Written in

  • Alternatives

    3 alternatives listed

  • Badge

    Get an embeddable badge for WhatCable

  • Supported Languages

    • English
    • Dutch
    • Spanish
    • French
    • Polish
    • Portuguese
    • Italian
    • German
    • Hindi
    • Korean
    • Japanese
    • Armenian
    • Latvian
    • Norwegian Bokmål
    • Russian
    • Turkish
    • Ukrainian
    • Chinese

AlternativeTo Categories

OS & Utilities, System & Hardware

GitHub repository

  •  8,734 Stars
  •  265 Forks
  •  77 Open Issues
  •   Updated  
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Official Links

AppStores & Other Links

What is WhatCable?

Every USB-C cable looks the same. A 240W, 40Gbps Thunderbolt cable and a charge-only USB 2.0 cable from a phone box five years ago are physically identical, and there is no way to tell them apart by looking.

Most of them carry an e-marker chip that describes exactly what they support. macOS reads it. It just never shows you.

WhatCable sits in the menu bar and surfaces that data as plain English. Power delivery rating, data speed, Thunderbolt support, active or passive, vendor and product ID where the cable reports them. Plug a cable in and you get an answer in a second.

The part people find most useful is the verdict. When your Mac is charging at 60W instead of 96W, or an external drive is running at USB 2.0 speeds, the cause is the cable, the port or the device at the other end. WhatCable tells you which one, so you stop swapping cables at random.

Free to use. Pro is a one-time purchase, no subscription. No account, no telemetry, works entirely offline. Available as a direct download or via Homebrew.

Requires Apple Silicon and macOS 14 or later. Reading cable data needs IOKit access that the App Store sandbox does not allow, which is why it is distributed directly.