This is a specific question that I haven't found the answer:
I have a new S88 Mk3 that is connected to a Mac Studio. The four ports on the back of the Studio are Thunderbolt 4; the two on the front are USB C. The supplied cable is too short for my music room configuration, so I am using a 10-foot USB C cable plugged into the back--Thunderbolt 4. It works fine.
So, I then used a 15-foot USB C cable, which is the length I really needed. It would not work in any of the ports (Thunderbolt 4) on the back of the studio, but works in the ports (USB C) on the front of the Mac Studio. I am thinking it could be the length of the cable (15-footer) may be too long for data transfer, or the cable(s) I have tried are not "full access", which as I understand, have additional wiring in the connections.
I have struck out trying to find the reason for the differences.