This $7 cable is secretly the most useful thing in my tech bag

• Vafoton's palm-sized cable is available for $6.80.
• It's compatible with Thunderbolt 4, 240W power and 40Gbps data transfer.
• The cable might be a little too short for some users.

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Your day can be derailed by not having the right cable. I know, because it happened to me last year. I found myself in a rental car that didn't support wireless Apple CarPlay, so my options were to listen to the radio for nine hours, or buy a crazy overpriced (but cheaply made) cable from a gas station. 

Also: If your USB-C device isn't charging, I always consider this quick fix first

I was forced to do the second option. $30 later (yes, really) I was able to listen to my audiobook again. After this experience, I vowed to add ...