Target Disk Mode between 16" MBP and 2012 MBP: USB-C to A?

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Target Disk Mode between 16" MBP and 2012 MBP: USB-C to A?

Hello,

My friend has a 2012 15" MacBook Pro and a 16" MBP that he just bought, on the way. I'm going to help him migrate the old machine to the new world and hoping for the fastest way to go about it.

My initial thought is to boot the 2012 machine into Target Disk Mode, connect the two Macs, then use Migration assistant on the new 16" machine to get it done.

Mostly I'm curious about the physical connection between the two systems. He has a USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter on the way with the new machine. I already have a USB-A to USB-A Cable (male on both ends) I could use to connect them, if that's a viable solution.

Otherwise, I was looking at these USB-C to USB-A 3.0 adapters, if need be. Any reason these wouldn't work?

Or will I be ok with the Multiport Adapter that he's going to have?

Thanks!

Posted on Dec 9, 2020 5:16 PM

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Answer 1

Dec 9, 2020 5:27 PM in response to Kevin Brock

Kevin Brock wrote:

Hello,

My friend has a 2012 15" MacBook Pro and a 16" MBP that he just bought, on the way. I'm going to help him migrate the old machine to the new world and hoping for the fastest way to go about it.

My initial thought is to boot the 2012 machine into Target Disk Mode, connect the two Macs, then use Migration assistant on the new 16" machine to get it done.

Mostly I'm curious about the physical connection between the two systems. He has a USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter on the way with the new machine. I already have a USB-A to USB-A Cable (male on both ends) I could use to connect them, if that's a viable solution.

Otherwise, I was looking at these USB-C to USB-A 3.0 adapters, if need be. Any reason these wouldn't work?

Or will I be ok with the Multiport Adapter that he's going to have?

Thanks!

The most trouble free way to move to a new machine, is using the Setup Assistant on the initial boot— you have one shot here. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205749

If that opportunity has past, the second best way is use the Migration Assistant.

How to move your content to a new Mac https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204350

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Answer 2

Kevin Brock Author

Level 4

2,390 points

Dec 9, 2020 5:31 PM in response to Allan Jones

Allan,

We have no desire to use the old Mac as an external monitor. The goal is to pull in as much data as possible from the old Mac to the new Mac. A migration. That's why I referred to the Multiport adapter: it has a USB connection on it. So I was wondering if this will allow for a data transfer between the two machines.

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Answer 3

Kevin Brock Author

Level 4

2,390 points

Dec 9, 2020 6:06 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thanks Grant,

For the sake of speed I'm certainly trying to avoid WiFi, if I can. So that was something else I was considering: making a clone of the old machine using Carbon Copy Cloner, then using this as my 'source drive' to move to the new machine.

But...my external drives are still USB 3.0. Will I be able to use an adapter to get from USB-C to USB-A 3.0? Or is USB-A, in all regards, as you stated earlier, not going to suffice?

The apple document says "Copy files from a USB storage device. Connect the storage device to your MacBook Pro using a USB-C to USB Adapter" So we're back to my original question: will this multiport adapter that I initially mentioned going to be adequate for the task of connecting the new MBP to my USB drive/clone?

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Answer 4

Kevin Brock Author

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2,390 points

Dec 9, 2020 6:17 PM in response to leroydouglas

Great! But is there any reason why the USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter that we're going to have won't work? The item's overview says, "Use the standard USB port to connect devices such as your flash drive or camera or a USB cable for syncing and charging your iOS devices."

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Answer 5

Allan Jones

Level 9

77,678 points

Dec 9, 2020 5:29 PM in response to Kevin Brock

< duplicate deleted>

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Answer 6

Kevin Brock Author

Level 4

2,390 points

Dec 9, 2020 6:09 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Good to know. Thanks for your input!

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Answer 7

Kevin Brock Author

Level 4

2,390 points

Dec 9, 2020 5:37 PM in response to leroydouglas

Thanks Leroy,

I've seen those docs, but the real question comes do the connection between the two macs.

What physical connection is going to be the fastest? Will my proposed USB connection work or not?

These documents only refer to USB "storage devices" or Ethernet. Will the old mac in Target Disk Mode, via USB, not work?

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Answer 8

Dec 9, 2020 5:58 PM in response to Kevin Brock

Your proposed USB-A to anything will not suffice.

If you cannot make a target disk Mode connection with a Firewire or Thunderbolt cable, you will have to use your home Network. If either leg of that is Wi-Fi, it will work, but is likely to be slow. if both can be connected to your Router with Ethernet cables instead, it will be much faster.

Transfer files between two Mac computers using target disk mode - Apple Support

If you have a backup (onto an external drive) you could connect that drive to the new Mac and use the backup in place of the original source files.

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