Wifi or Thunderbolt for migration assistant?

I ordered the new M1 and it will be here tomorrow....will it be quicker to use wifi or should I just connect them both via thunderbolt port? My Internet is so/so but it's only going via internal router so I don't think that's an issue.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Aug 23, 2021 6:23 PM

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Cable connecting Macs to migrate data to new M1 Mac From old Mac to new. It wasn't clear to me how migrating data is done with cabled Macs i.e. how do I ensure that they are indeed connected? I don't want them networked - or do I? I want to move data from a 2008 MacBook Pro running MacOS El Capitan to a new MacBook Pro with the aid of Migration Assistant but I assume it'll be faster to cable connect them vs. wifi. Thanks for your help, Tom
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If you ever want to migrate from one M1 MacBook Pro to another M1 MacBook Pro using Thunderbolt Spoiler: it works! Problem: if you use the standard Migration Assistant workflow, it takes a couple of hours because they use Peer-to-Peer Wifi network with 20MBit - even though there is one Thunderbolt4 cable connection between the machines. Whatever I did, it always used this super slow connection. Searched the internet for a proper solution but did not find anything. But okey, I got this solved - at least it worked for me (photo evidence)! I have two M1 16'' MBP and need to migrate from the 500GB SSD (MPB1) to 1TB SSD (MPB2) version. Purchased a Thunderbolt4 cable today at the Apple Store. What I did after a couple of fails and searches on the net: MBP2: startup MBP2 and setup one admin user, skip all iCloud and whatever setup steps plugin Thunderbolt4 cable to both MBP1 and MBP2 MBP2: go to network settings and add a fixed IP address to the Thunderbolt Bridge, for example 10.0.5.1 and network mask 255.255.255.0 (no router) MBP2: Activate Internet Sharing on MPB2 and share the Thunderbolt Bridge for Wifi Clients -> the MPB2 will now open up a WiFi network, good idea to check the wifi settings and change the password to your own needs MBP1: startup the standard user and set the IP Address of the Thunderbolt Bridge to 10.0.5.2/255.255.255.0 MBP1: connect to the MBP2 shared wifi network too (normally named after the computers name eg "MacBook Pro") MBP2: start the Migration Assistant and start just like you would do normally (migrate from another Mac, Volume, TimeMachine) MBP1: start the Migration Assistant and select "transfer to another Mac" Actually the macs now recognized each other and selected the fastest interface for the transfer - the Thunderbolt Bridge with 1686 MB/s! Choose whatever you want to transfer. I discovered the highest transfer rate was at 423 MB/s! Unfortunately I did not stop the time, but I think it took around 30mins to transfer 460GB. I think it is a big advantage, that both macs don't use another wifi and you have the Thunderbolt Interfaces with fixed IPs. That should do the deal! Side fact: USB-C cables are USB cables. Correctly recognize Thunderbolt 4 Cables by the printed Lightning Logo on the plug. Everything else is "only" USB3 ... I did not try it using the USB-C cable - but I assume it works, only the network interface is named differently in steps 3 and 5. Devices: MacBook Pro 16'' on Mac OS Monterey 12.2
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1 reply

bbesspete

Community Specialist

Aug 24, 2021 12:31 PM in response to JohnPT

Hello, JohnPT.

Thanks for posting in Apple Support Communities. Congratulations on your new Mac!

A wired connection is recommended if you have concerns about Wi-Fi stability. Here is the specific section of the macOS User Guide for reference: Transfer your information to Mac from another computer or device - Apple Support

Let us know if you have any questions along the way! Take care.

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Wifi or Thunderbolt for migration assistant?