Can you use any sort of USB-C extension cable with the Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter?

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Can you use any sort of USB-C extension cable with the Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter?

I'm using an iPad Air 4th Gen, and will be using it for heavy A/V work. This includes hooking up HDMI for video output, and USB audio interface plus MIDI controllers via a powered USB 3.0 hub. The purpose is to task the iPad with midi-triggered video for an on-stage solo act (synth player with a midi rig). The iPad is taking over the video task in order to free up the MacBook CPU cycles for VST plugins. Anyways...

I want to have some slack at the connection from the Apple Multiport Adapter into the iPad USB-C jack. But I've read that most USB-C extension cables do not work with extreme data transfers, or certain resolutions of HD Video over HDMI such as what I want to do. I've also read that USB-C has a cable length effective limit of 1m or 3.3ft.

I notice Apple doesn't even sell a male-to-female USB-C extension cable here on their site.

Has anyone successfully done anything similar to what I'm trying to do, without video failures or data loss, when using a third-party 1m extension cable? Please advise if you've got the experience.

iPad Air, iPadOS 14

Posted on Apr 7, 2021 7:46 AM

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Answer 1

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LotusPilot

Community+ 2025

Level 10

301,634 points

Apr 7, 2021 8:04 AM in response to rdorsche

USB-C encompasses a variety of functions - high rate data, high bandwidth video and high power. As such, for reliable operation when using USB-C, be sure to only use fully certified cables. To my knowledge, you will not find a certified USB-C extension cable.

USB Type-C Length Limitations & Features:

1m (3.3 feet) — USB 3.1 Gen 2 SuperSpeed Plus:

Data transfer rates of 10Gbps
Up to 100W power output
Supports up to 4K resolution video output
Backwards compatible with existing USB 3.0 and USB 2.0

3m (9.8 feet) — USB 3.1 Gen 1 SuperSpeed:

Data transfer rates of 5Gbps
Up to 100W power output
Supports up to 4K resolution video output
Backwards compatible with existing USB 3.0 and USB 2.0

4m (13 feet) — USB 2.0 High Speed:

Data transfer rates of 480Mbps
Up to 15W power output
Backwards compatible with USB 1.1

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Answer 2

rdorsche Author

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11 points

Apr 7, 2021 8:30 AM in response to LotusPilot

"...be sure to only use fully certified cables. To my knowledge, you will not find a certified USB-C extension cable."

Thank you, LotusPilot. This quoted bit here confirms (for me) what I surmised from all of the forum topic conversations out there. There's barely any information on this matter available as of this date.I guess my only option is to "buy-n-try" a few cables and see what happens.

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Can you use any sort of USB-C extension cable with the Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter?

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