Will using a thunderbolt cable speed up the transfer of information from my old iMac w/ Time Machine backup to my new iMac?

Will using a thunderbolt cable speed up the transfer of information from my old iMac w/ Time Machine backup to my new iMac?

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Aug 4, 2023 2:13 PM

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Posted on Aug 4, 2023 2:19 PM

In comparison to what? USB-A? If you have a TB ready device (or thee proper passthrough adapter if needed) and the port on the Mac matches the cable then yes it should.


But speed is not that big a deal with Time Machine. The initial backup will take longer because it's a full disk dataset. Subsequent backups will be more shorter in duration because TM will be adding to the set, not creating a completely new one. And it runs in background is takes minimal resources ... hardly noticeable.

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Aug 4, 2023 2:19 PM in response to Steps73

In comparison to what? USB-A? If you have a TB ready device (or thee proper passthrough adapter if needed) and the port on the Mac matches the cable then yes it should.


But speed is not that big a deal with Time Machine. The initial backup will take longer because it's a full disk dataset. Subsequent backups will be more shorter in duration because TM will be adding to the set, not creating a completely new one. And it runs in background is takes minimal resources ... hardly noticeable.

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Will using a thunderbolt cable speed up the transfer of information from my old iMac w/ Time Machine backup to my new iMac?

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