How can I identify Mac Studio Thunderbolt Cable Generations?

FWIW. When I have cables that are not properly marked, I use a cable tester to verify which USB/Thunderbolt standards that it supports.

The Thunderbolt cable included with the Studio Display is a 1m Thunderbolt 4 cable. Apple provides this cable as it provides the highest data transfer rates and video capabilities for Thunderbolt 4 devices.

For your setup, I suggest:

• Use the supplied Thunderbolt 4 cable with your MacBook Pro M4 Max for the best performance.
• If you're buying new cables, ensure they are Thunderbolt 4-certified. These cables are backward-compatible with Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C but provide the highest bandwidth and versatility.
• For your MacBook Air M2, a high-quality USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 cable can suffice, given its lower bandwidth requirements compared to the Pro. However, you can certainly use USB/Thunderbolt 4 cables if you wish, but will not gain any additional data throughput with them as they would be limited by these Macs' capabilities.
• Also, be aware, to obtain the highest data throughput performance, the cable length needs to be short. That's why Apple only includes a 1m cable with their display.

There are literally dozens out there, and it depends on what your testing goals are. They also very in price depending on functionality. As you can imagine, professionals that need to do this for a living, use quite expensive testers.

I suggest that you do an Internet search for USB cable testers. You also want a tester that verifies things like PD status if you are also wanting to check out charging cables.

To get you started, here is a page from Amazon to scan through:

• https://www.amazon.com/s?k=usb+cable+tester&crid=3S0E8YF9TPVJL&sprefix=USB+cable%2Caps%2C169&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_8_9

For simple testing, I use the following:

• https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Y8BPVV4?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

Otherwise, I use a Fluke meter that is dedicated for network testing ... but now you are getting into the $2K+ range.

You're very welcome! Happy testing!