Right now, you can head to your favorite online retailer and find a mystical cable: certified Ultra96 HDMI. It’s real, it’s licensed, and it supports up to 96Gbps — double what HDMI 2.1 ever managed.

Why is it mystical?

Because at the time of writing, there are no devices that support HDMI 2.2, which means there are zero devices that can make use of this incredible 96Gbps throughput, no matter how shiny and alluring the marketing is.

The 96Gbps HDMI cable is available a year early

HDMI Forum says go

The HDMI Forum finalized the HDMI 2.2 spec in June 2025, releasing the details and creating a great deal of excitement. HDMI 2.2 doubles the maximum bandwidth from 48Gbps to 96Gbps, using a new data signaling scheme called Fixed Rate Link 2.

It’s a huge step forward. It means you can run an uncompressed 4K stream at 240Hz, or even 8K at 60Hz, which is frankly bonkers. Given we still have very little consumer-focused 8K content, adding support for 16K seems unnecessary — but more on this in a moment.

It’s not a clean sailing though. Despite the Ultra96 HDMI cable being very much available to buy, as of mid-2026, chipmakers are only just beginning to support the FRL2 silicon. As widely reported, Rob Tobias, president of the HDMI Licensing Administrator, said as much at Computex 2026: the first HDMI 2.2 products with real 96Gbps throughput aren’t expected until 2027.

Now, a delay is normal when it comes to HDMI, and indeed, most tech standards. HDMI 2.1 launched in 2017, and the first devices to use it, such as the LG OLED TV, didn’t hit the shelves until 2019.

“Ultra96” sounds like a guarantee, but it’s doing a lot of lifting

Three speeds all under one badge

The Ultra96 HDMI badge feels like a certification. But it’s also just a cover-all name that manufacturers can add to anything hitting 64Gbps, 80Gbps, or the full 96Gbps under the HDMI 2.2 spec.

In that, something with the Ultra96 label could deliver two-thirds of what the name implies, with nothing else on the packaging telling you which tier you’re using. The spec sheet will be the only way to really tell what you’re actually using.

The Ultra96 HDMI label does guarantee other features, mind. Just not the one you think it would. For example, if you see that label, it means the cable and manufacturer have been specifically tested by the HDMI Forum, the non-profit organization that oversees HDMI development.

Within that, it means fully compliant support for all HDMI 2.2 standards and features, such as uncompressed full chroma formats like 8K@60Hz and 4K@240Hz at 4:4:4 chroma, 10-bit and 12-bit color, along with the previously mentioned ultra-high resolutions (8K and 16K).

Similarly, that testing means the cable has passed electromagnetic interference (EMI) testing. This means the Ultra96 HDMI cable won’t interfere with other cables, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth signals, as well as being resistant to EMI itself.

Also, it means the cable is fully backward compatible with previous HDMI versions. That sounds like a given, but at times, cheaper cables will refuse to work properly depending on the hardware in use.

So, when will the Ultra96 HDMI cable actually live up to expectations?

2027, if the timeline is right

All the signs currently point to HDMI 2.2 launching at some point in 2027. Nvidia’s next GPU generation and AMD’s RDNA 5 architecture are the ones expected to carry HDMI 2.2 support, and neither has a release date more specific than “late 2027 or after.”

Other unconfirmed rumors also point to the next console generation also supporting HDMI 2.2 via RDNA 5, with it seeming highly likely that Microsoft and Sony will want to ship with 2.2 rather than what will be an aging 2.1 standard.

But there are rumors in the rumors. As reported by VideoCardz, while HDMI 2.2 is expected in 2027, prolific leaker Kepler_L2 has already suggested that RDNA 5 won’t use HDMI 2.2 to its full capabilities, instead implementing 64Gbps and 80Gbps versions.

Furthermore, as with HDMI 2.1, it’ll take years for the wider ecosystem to start supporting HDMI 2.2 fully. As with most standard rollouts, it’ll typically start with the high-end devices at the top of the tech food chain, before filtering down to cheaper hardware as the standard ages.

Buying an Ultra96 HDMI cable isn’t wrong, but don’t bother for now

None of this makes the Ultra96 cable a bad purchase. If you need a new HDMI cable anyway, an Ultra96 one is backward compatible with everything you already own and built to a stricter standard than most cables on the shelf.

If it’s cost-effective and you’re a frequent hardware upgrader, it’s not a problem at all. But if you’re sticking with your current TV, GPU, games console, and so on, keep your wallet firmly in your pocket for now.