FireWire 800 9 Pin to FireWire 400 6 Pin Bilingual Cable – 3 Feet, Black

A few years ago, Apple stopped installing the then-common FireWire serial connection ports on MacBook Pros and iMacs, switching first to USB 3.0 and then to Thunderbolt. Many other manufacturers had already abandoned FireWire or other versions of IEEE-1394 in favor of USB 3.0. That left lots of people “stranded”; there are still millions of MacBook Pros, PCs and peripheral devices in use which depend on FireWire serial connections, but fewer and fewer manufacturers are providing support for them.

The issue is complicated even more by the fact that FireWire standards changed in the 2000s to allow increased data transmission speeds. IEEE-1394a was known as FireWire 400 because its peak transfer speed was 400 Mbps. The updated IEEE-1394b standard, known popularly as FireWire 800, doubled maximum throughput to 800 Mpbs. Unfortunately for users, FireWire 400 and 800 utilize different ports and connectors, so they don’t easily “talk” to each other.

We can help – at least when it comes to FireWire cables. One of our most popular IEEE-1394 cables allows you to connect your older FireWire 400 devices to the newer FireWire 800 ports found on MacBook Pros and other machines released before the switchover. (There are still some high-end applications for which FireWire is still be used, because many techies believe it’s still a superior and more reliable technology; this cable is ideal for them as well.)

The Cmple FireWire 800 to 400 cable is bilingual, which means that you can plug the 6-pin connector to the port on your FireWire 400 device and the 9-pin connector to the port on your FireWire 800 computer device, and they’ll be able to talk to each other – data will be transmitted perfectly and seamlessly between the two devices.

This cable is designed for ultimate data transfer between the attached FireWire computers or peripherals. It features state-of-the-art twisted pair construction and highly-effective triple-shielding, which will maximize transfer rates while reducing interference and crosstalk problems significantly. In fact, this cable is rated for throughput up to 800 Gbps, dependent of course on the speed of your devices and their ports. The fully-molded connectors and strong PVC jacket protect the high-quality wiring inside, so there’s little chance anything will interfere with the cable’s performance.

Our FireWire 800 to FireWire 400 cable is fully plug-and-play and hot swap compatible, so you don’t have to shut anything down if you want to switch cables. Just plug each connector into each port and you’re ready to go.

This cable is available in two colors and several length as well.

3 feet,  6 feet,  10 feet,  15 feet

Black,  Clear

Taking a look at the full specifications of the Cmple FireWire 800 9-pin to FireWire 400 6-pin bilingual cable:

• Twisted pair construction and triple shielding, to reduce crosstalk and maximize speed
• Rated up to 800 Mbps (limited by device/port speed)
• Meets all FireWire 800 and IEEE-1394b specifications
• Molded construction
• Connectors: one 9-pin IEEE-1394b male, one 6-pin IEEE-1394a male
• Plug-and-Play
• Hot swap compatible
• Length: 3 Feet
• Color: Black

Beware of “FireWire 800 adapters” which simply plug onto one end of a FireWire 400 cable and then into a FireWire 800 port – many of them simply don’t work. What you really need is a cable specifically designed to connect FireWire 800 to FireWire 400, and with outstanding performance at a price under $5 our Cmple cable is impossible to beat.