You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Which Cable/Adapter? MacBook Air Mid-2012 to MacBook Air 2020 M1

WHY is this so hard to be sure of? I want to migrate my Mid-2012 MacBook Air to the new 2020 M1 MacBook Air. What dang cable/adapter do I need? Thank you, people who know this stuff!

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Nov 18, 2020 5:55 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 18, 2020 7:39 AM

The fastest way is going to be to plug the drive you've been using for your time machine backups into the new machine and use that for the migration assistant instead of direct machine to machine.


You may need an adapter, but you may want to keep one handy anyway. I have one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FX2LW35/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 18, 2020 7:39 AM in response to Chiquitanita

The fastest way is going to be to plug the drive you've been using for your time machine backups into the new machine and use that for the migration assistant instead of direct machine to machine.


You may need an adapter, but you may want to keep one handy anyway. I have one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FX2LW35/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Nov 18, 2020 6:36 AM in response to Chiquitanita

Oh: I have looked at all the Apple Support pages I could find, as well as some other tech sites and retailer sites. I've also identified the ports on each. It seems I need USB 3 (aka Thunderbolt 2) to USB 4 (aka just Thunderbolt)?

But the terminology on cable connectors across sites is inconsistent, and I'm afraid of getting into the buy/ship/return/buy/ship/return spiral. Sigh.

Nov 18, 2020 8:18 AM in response to KiltedTim

Ah, very good to know! I thought direct cable connection would be fastest, thank you! And thanks for the hub recommendation; it's in my cart now and will almost certainly come in handy as you point out. I'll do Time Machine migration and then hope there's not too much cleanup for apps. Still keeping the 2012, so shouldn't be too stressful. Been a long time since I've had a new computer, so I'm eager to get on it.

Which Cable/Adapter? MacBook Air Mid-2012 to MacBook Air 2020 M1

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.