# darrylmorley/whatcable

macOS menu bar app that tells you, in plain English, what each USB-C cable plugged into your Mac can actually do

Repository: https://github.com/darrylmorley/whatcable
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/whatcable
Homepage: https://whatcable.uk
Language: Swift
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: apple-silicon, hardware-info, iokit, mac-app, macos, menubar, menubar-app, swift, swiftui, thunderbolt, usb-c, usb-power-delivery, utility
Last push: 2026-08-26T21:46:51+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 76/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:39:23.370411+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 84, longevity 8
- inputs: {"age_days": 124, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 25, "gap_med": 0, "n_releases_24m": 118}
- flags: young, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 8553, forks 260 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:23.456713+00:00)

## What it is
WhatCable is an open-source macOS menu bar app that reads IOKit data to explain, in plain English, what each connected USB-C cable, charger, dock, or device can actually do. It diagnoses charging bottlenecks, data-speed limits, cable e-marker identities, and mid-session port faults, with an optional paid Pro tier and a bundled CLI.

## Use cases
- figure out why my Mac is charging slowly
- identify what a USB-C cable can actually do
- check if a cable supports Thunderbolt or USB4 speeds
- find out which part of my USB-C setup is limiting data speed
- read a cable's e-marker power and speed rating
- diagnose an external SSD that keeps disconnecting
- check whether my 4K display is running at full refresh rate
- troubleshoot a dock that negotiates differently on different Macs

## When to choose
- you need plain-English USB-C and Thunderbolt diagnostics on an Apple Silicon Mac
- you want to identify unlabeled cables and their real capabilities
- you're debugging slow charging or degraded data links on macOS
- you want a free, signed, no-setup menu bar utility with an optional CLI

## When to avoid
- you need USB-C diagnostics on Windows or Linux
- you're on an Intel Mac or macOS 13 or earlier
- you need raw low-level IOKit dumps rather than interpreted verdicts
- you need cross-platform or headless-only tooling without a GUI

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: developer-tools, gui
- domain: hardware, developer-tools
- platform: -
- tags: usb-c, thunderbolt, usb-power-delivery, menubar-app, swiftui, hardware-diagnostics, apple-silicon, iokit, cable-diagnostics, macos, desktop

## Member repositories
- darrylmorley/whatcable (main) score 76

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:23.456713+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:26:18.763877+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/darrylmorley/whatcable (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:23.456713+00:00, sha 3788eabfa736)
  - homepage: https://whatcable.uk (fetched 2026-08-29T08:26:39.573541+00:00, sha c8b42922ab75)
  - site_page: https://www.whatcable.uk/instructions (fetched 2026-08-29T08:26:39.576887+00:00, sha 05110c205158)
  - site_page: https://www.whatcable.uk/pro (fetched 2026-08-29T08:26:39.579671+00:00, sha e851f8513495)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.