Cable Detective
Cable Detective is a Mac utility that shows the live state of USB-C, Thunderbolt, and MagSafe ports on Apple Silicon Macs.
What is Cable Detective?
Cable Detective is a diagnostic utility for Mac that helps users understand what their USB-C, Thunderbolt, and MagSafe ports are doing in real time. It is designed for Apple Silicon Macs and is useful when you want to confirm charging behavior, data speed, DisplayPort lane usage, or what kind of cable and device are actually connected. The app can show negotiated power details, reported cable identity information, and port-level connection data that is often hard to see elsewhere in macOS. It also offers plain-English explanations generated on the Mac for users who want help interpreting the readings. This makes it helpful for troubleshooting chargers, docks, displays, storage devices, and cables during everyday setup or support work.
Key features
- View live status for USB-C, Thunderbolt, and MagSafe ports
- Check charging direction, negotiated wattage, and USB-PD power details
- See reported cable identity information from supported e-marker data
- Identify connection speed such as USB 2.0, USB 3.x, USB4, and Thunderbolt
- Inspect DisplayPort lane state for connected displays and adapters
- Read plain-English explanations of port and cable behavior on the Mac
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Safety overview
Status: Mostly safe
Cable Detective is a legitimate diagnostic tool for checking port and cable behavior on a Mac. Its reported use is local to the Mac, and the developer states the app does not make network requests for its core analysis. Because it reads hardware connection state and may be used while plugging and unplugging accessories, keep the app updated so you benefit from fixes for past stability problems that affected some versions. If you notice freezes, restarts, or unusual behavior while testing cables or chargers, close the app and install the latest version before using it again.
Recommendation: Keep Cable Detective if you regularly troubleshoot chargers, cables, docks, or external displays on an Apple Silicon Mac. If you do not use it, you can remove it without affecting macOS, though you will lose its port diagnostics and on-device explanations.
Common paths
/Applications/Cable Detective.app
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