@stockpicks @Arkasiraee Not possible on iPhone, also not possible on Android. It exists on macOS though. darrylmorley/whatcable
3 likes · 8 views
240W or charge-only: your Mac's USB-C cables look alike!
WhatCable is free and open source. It names your charging bottleneck.
Source: darrylmorley/whatcable
Save this. Which cable is slowing your Mac down?
#OpenSource #MacOS
2 likes
WhatCable: macOS menu bar app that tells you what each USB-C cable plugged into your Mac can actually do (8.9k stars)
What it does
All text below is quoted directly from the project README.
>A small macOS menu bar app that tells you, in plain English, what each USB-C cable plugged into your Mac can actually do, and why your Mac might be charging slowly.
What it shows:
- At-a-glance headline: Thunderbolt / USB4, USB device, Display connected, Charging only, Slow USB / charge-only cable, Nothing connected
- Charging diagnostic: when something's plugged in, a banner identifies the bottleneck
- Mid-session fault warnings: if a cable develops trouble while it's plugged in (a power overcurrent, or the connection dropping and coming back), a banner appears on the port. It reads the port's own fault counters, so it catches faults that only show up once a cable is under load.
- Cable e-marker info: the cable's actual speed (USB 2.0, 5 / 10 / 20 / 40 / 80 Gbps), current rating (3 A / 5 A up to 60W / 100W / 240W), and the chip's vendor
- Charger PDO list: every voltage profile the charger advertises (5V / 9V / 12V / 15V / 20V…) with the currently negotiated profile highlighted in real time
- Thunderbolt fabric: when a Thunderbolt / USB4 link is active, shows per-lane speed, generation (TB3, TB4, TB5), and the full switch topology for multi-hop connections through docks, plus the active tunnels riding that link so you can see which protocol is going where
- Cable identification: if the cable's e-marker fingerprint matches a known cable in the bundled database, the brand and model are shown alongside the raw specs
- Desktop widget: small, medium, and large WidgetKit widgets showing live cable status on your desktop
>brew install --cask darrylmorley/whatcable/whatcable
Repository
darrylmorley/whatcable
Repository stats
|Metric|Value|
|:-|:-|
|Stars|8,928|
|Forks|270|
|Last release|v1.5.0 (2026-10-13)|
|Languages|Swift 89.1%, Nunjucks 5.3%, C 2.2%|
|Contributors|24|
|AI contributor accounts (Claude / Codex / Cursor / Copilot)|claude: 144|
|AI co-authored commits|Claude: 143|
Main contributor
|Field|Value|
|:-|:-|
|Name|Darryl Morley|
|GitHub|@darrylmorley|
|Commits to this repo|196 (top contributor)|
|Bio|I'm a Software Developer working in E-commerce. Creator of WhatCable - USB-C cable inspector for Mac.|
|Company / Location|UK|
|Followers|213|
──────────────────────────────
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118 points · 4 comments
G: WhatCable is a macOS menu bar app that tells you in plain English exactly what each USB-C cable plugged into your Mac can do, plus why charging might be slow. See per-port diagnostics, charging and data speed insights, E-marker details, Thunderbolt to… darrylmorley/whatcable
4 views
1: WhatCable is a macOS menu bar app (open source) that explains, in plain English, what USB-C cables can do for your Mac. It surfaces IOKit data, diagnoses charging, data speeds, e-marker details, and Thunderbolt topology. Pro adds power metering, diagn… darrylmorley/whatcable
5 views
抽屉里那堆USB-C线功能分不清，还在犯愁？这工具直接把答案甩给你。
WhatCable是macOS菜单栏小工具，线一插上就读取IOKit数据，用大白话告诉你：
1️⃣ 这根线能不能充电
2️⃣ 支不支持数据传输
3️⃣ 能不能跑雷电协议
再也不用贴标签靠猜了，插上一目了然。Mac用户强烈推荐！
🔗 darrylmorley/whatcable t.co
1 like · 105 views
Just starred ollama-plugin-cc. It allows you to use a local Ollama model with Claude Code to review your code or delegate tasks, serving as an Ollama port of the codex-plugin-cc.
darrylmorley/ollama-plugin-cc
2 likes
@psyvision @wesbos Anker usb c hub, usb a to c cable. Tried a dozen until whatcable showed frameo detected. Then did the adb stuff fine.
darrylmorley/whatcable
1 like · 194 views
Mentions
@stockpicks @Arkasiraee Not possible on iPhone, also not possible on Android. It exists on macOS though. darrylmorley/whatcable
240W or charge-only: your Mac's USB-C cables look alike! WhatCable is free and open source. It names your charging bottleneck. Source: darrylmorley/whatcable Save this. Which cable is slowing your Mac down? #OpenSource #MacOS
WhatCable: macOS menu bar app that tells you what each USB-C cable plugged into your Mac can actually do (8.9k stars) What it does All text below is quoted directly from the project README. >A small macOS menu bar app that tells you, in plain English, what each USB-C cable plugged into your Mac can actually do, and why your Mac might be charging slowly. What it shows: - At-a-glance headline: Thunderbolt / USB4, USB device, Display connected, Charging only, Slow USB / charge-only cable, Nothing connected - Charging diagnostic: when something's plugged in, a banner identifies the bottleneck - Mid-session fault warnings: if a cable develops trouble while it's plugged in (a power overcurrent, or the connection dropping and coming back), a banner appears on the port. It reads the port's own fault counters, so it catches faults that only show up once a cable is under load. - Cable e-marker info: the cable's actual speed (USB 2.0, 5 / 10 / 20 / 40 / 80 Gbps), current rating (3 A / 5 A up to 60W / 100W / 240W), and the chip's vendor - Charger PDO list: every voltage profile the charger advertises (5V / 9V / 12V / 15V / 20V…) with the currently negotiated profile highlighted in real time - Thunderbolt fabric: when a Thunderbolt / USB4 link is active, shows per-lane speed, generation (TB3, TB4, TB5), and the full switch topology for multi-hop connections through docks, plus the active tunnels riding that link so you can see which protocol is going where - Cable identification: if the cable's e-marker fingerprint matches a known cable in the bundled database, the brand and model are shown alongside the raw specs - Desktop widget: small, medium, and large WidgetKit widgets showing live cable status on your desktop >brew install --cask darrylmorley/whatcable/whatcable Repository darrylmorley/whatcable Repository stats |Metric|Value| |:-|:-| |Stars|8,928| |Forks|270| |Last release|v1.5.0 (2026-10-13)| |Languages|Swift 89.1%, Nunjucks 5.3%, C 2.2%| |Contributors|24| |AI contributor accounts (Claude / Codex / Cursor / Copilot)|claude: 144| |AI co-authored commits|Claude: 143| Main contributor |Field|Value| |:-|:-| |Name|Darryl Morley| |GitHub|@darrylmorley| |Commits to this repo|196 (top contributor)| |Bio|I'm a Software Developer working in E-commerce. Creator of WhatCable - USB-C cable inspector for Mac.| |Company / Location|UK| |Followers|213| ────────────────────────────── 📌 How many great GitHub repos have you discovered and completely forgotten about? Don't let another useful tool disappear into your Reddit feed. Get the community's best repos, organized by category, plus key takeaways from real developer discussions, delivered to your inbox twice a week. 📬 Never lose track of great repos again. Subscribe free.
G: WhatCable is a macOS menu bar app that tells you in plain English exactly what each USB-C cable plugged into your Mac can do, plus why charging might be slow. See per-port diagnostics, charging and data speed insights, E-marker details, Thunderbolt to… darrylmorley/whatcable
1: WhatCable is a macOS menu bar app (open source) that explains, in plain English, what USB-C cables can do for your Mac. It surfaces IOKit data, diagnoses charging, data speeds, e-marker details, and Thunderbolt topology. Pro adds power metering, diagn… darrylmorley/whatcable
抽屉里那堆USB-C线功能分不清，还在犯愁？这工具直接把答案甩给你。 WhatCable是macOS菜单栏小工具，线一插上就读取IOKit数据，用大白话告诉你： 1️⃣ 这根线能不能充电 2️⃣ 支不支持数据传输 3️⃣ 能不能跑雷电协议 再也不用贴标签靠猜了，插上一目了然。Mac用户强烈推荐！ 🔗 darrylmorley/whatcable t.co
Just starred ollama-plugin-cc. It allows you to use a local Ollama model with Claude Code to review your code or delegate tasks, serving as an Ollama port of the codex-plugin-cc. darrylmorley/ollama-plugin-cc
@psyvision @wesbos Anker usb c hub, usb a to c cable. Tried a dozen until whatcable showed frameo detected. Then did the adb stuff fine. darrylmorley/whatcable