Apple, it seems, is trying to make its popular Thunderbolt cable more accessible for users who want to try it out in the future.

Per reports, Apple has slashed the price of its 2-meter Thunderbolt cable from $49 to $39. The Thunderbolt cable, which can be used for data transfers and for display attachment purposes, was originally released in mid-2011.

Moreover, the company has also released a shorter version of the cable at 0.5 meter, with a new price tag of $29. The Thunderbolt interface features two 10-Gbps channels per ports, allowing for data transfer speeds that are twice as fast as USB 3.0.

"With Thunderbolt, you get superfast data transfer speeds and huge expansion capabilities. It features two 10-Gbps data channels per port, which means data transfer is up to twice as fast as USB 3 and up to 12 times faster than FireWire 800," the official page states.

"Thunderbolt technology supports blazing-fast data transfer with two independent channels of 10 Gbps each. Use the Apple Thunderbolt Cable to connect your Thunderbolt-equipped peripherals to your iMac, Mac mini, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air."

One of the costliest features of developing the cables, CNET states, "is that they make use of active electronics, something that's proved difficult for third parties to create less expensive versions of at competing lengths. Kanex, for example, makes four sizes of Thunderbolt cable up to 3 meters but had its 2 meter version on sale for the same $49 price as Apple."

The CNET report also says that the new price changes, although nothing major, have arrived at a time when third-party companies are stepping up mass production of optical Thunderbolt cables that boast about delivering lengths of up to 30 meters.

"That's as opposed to the current, copper Thunderbolt technology, which must remain shorter but that can supply 10 watts of power to connected devices. Worth noting is that those newer optical cables will require optical Thunderbolt ports."

The Apple Thunderbolt cable can be used to connect the user's Thunderbolt-equipped peripherals to his or her iMac, Mac mini, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air. The cable, as a secondary purpose, can also be used for target disk mode between two Mac computers that support Thunderbolt, or to use an iMac as a display for a MacBook Pro equipped with Thunderbolt.