The cable length is only for the spec. You can get longer cables that achieve the higher bandwidth, they're just not certified for that.

Right, so per spec it is a downgrade.

mort96 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

And? The question stands, why is the USB 4 spec a downgrade?

	▲	BearOso 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Probably because with USB 3.2 2x2 they were reviewing too many longer cables that didn't meet the requirements, so they lowered the length so companies didn't submit them only to fail to get certified. It's worth noting that 1.2m is now in the USB4 spec.