Firewire 1394 Cable

FireWire cables are used for data transmission. They carry power (allowing devices with low power requirements to run without a dedicated power supply). 

There are many alternatives to FireWire, and Apple themselves discontinued their production in 2014 to make way for the new and improved Thunderbolt cables.

FireWire 1394A is capable of speeds up to 400 Mbps (50 MB/s) and the newer 1394b is capable of transfer speeds up to 800 Mbps (100 MB/s).

It is possible to convert a 9 pin 1394b cable to a 6 pin 1394a cable, however, the speed will be bottlenecked to 400 Mbps.

FireWire was popular for media setups as they were one of the first cables to deliver near real-time transfer speeds.