transferring data from 2017 mac air to new 2024 mac air with only thunderbolt usb4 ports

acatom wrote:

That was a good article thanks and may be useful in the future but I would need to be able to connect the two macs. My problem is that I can't find the proper cables to connect the 2 computers: USB A to USB 4 (thunderbolt). All the new mac air has for ports are 2 Thunderbolts. These are not the same as the older Lightning connections.

Macs never used Lightning connectors, except on Magic Keyboards and Magic Mice. Lightning is a small, flat, reversible connector similar to (but not the same as) USB-C. You see it on many iPhones and iPads – although even there, Apple is now transitioning to the newer and more capable USB-C.

Thunderbolt started out on a Mini DisplayPort connector (Thunderbolt 1 and 2). When Intel was coming up with Thunderbolt 3, work on USB-C ("one Ring^H^H^H^H connector to rule them all") was going on. Intel believed (correctly) that Thunderbolt would have more future on USB-C, and so moved it there.

I have to find some adapter to mate the USB A to the Thunderbolts.

Unless you're in the market for a Thunderbolt dock, the type of adapters that you want involve going from USB-C (USB) to USB-A (USB). The fact that your new MacBook Air can speak Thunderbolt on its USB-C ports does not mean that everything that you plug in there needs to understand Thunderbolt. The Mac will adapt to whatever is plugged in as long as they speak a common protocol. In this case, USB.

A Thunderbolt dock could actually add USB-A ports in the sense of "plugging in a USB-A PCIe card" – not just in the sense of "plugging in a USB-A hub".

Note that many Amazon vendors will describe USB-C (USB) or USB-C (DisplayPort) products as "Thunderbolt-compatible" even though their products do not use Thunderbolt. They're trying to reassure Mac users that their products will work with Macs, but these product descriptions often make it harder for people to understand how things work.

I'm also interested in the availability of adapters for sd cards and such.

There are lots and lots of USB card readers. Some plug in via USB-C, and even those that don't can be plugged in with the use of an adapter.

Still, I need my files transferred to the new mac air - I can't believe this can be a problem! Surely there must be some way to connect the standard USB A to the Thunderbolt USB 4??

You can get USB-C to USB-A cables that aren't just charger cables, and that can carry data at USB 3.0 or 3.1 Gen 2 speeds.

I'm not sure if they would be enough to let you do a migration, though. Target Disk Mode used to be quite flexible, but now, I believe that if either Mac is running Big Sur or later (which the new one will be), a Target Disk Mode link has to be a Thunderbolt one.

That would require the use of a $50 Apple Thunderbolt 3-to-2 adapter and a $30 Thunderbolt 1/2 cable to hook up one of the USB-C (Thunderbolt 3) ports on your new Air to the Thunderbolt 2 port on your old Air. If you are going to spend that sort of money, it would make more sense to migrate via an external drive – which you could then repurpose for backing up the new machine.

Let's separate the issue of ports from the issue of data transfer.

Your MacBook Air (13-inch, 2017) has

• One Thunderbolt 2 port, with a Mini DisplayPort connector, that can double as a Mini DisplayPort
• Two USB-A (USB 3.0) ports
• A headphone jack
• A MagSafe 2 charging port

Your M2 or M3 MacBook Air has

• Two multi-purpose USB-C (USB, USB4, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 3, charging) ports
• A headphone jack
• A MagSafe 3 charging port

You say that you have USB-A cables, sticks, and cards. As long as you are talking about traditional USB protocol, at speeds up to 10 Gbps (USB 3.1 Gen 2) speed, it is easy to convert between USB-C and USB-A in either direction.

Some of the options out there include:

• The Apple USB-C to USB Adapter and a similar AmazonBasics product. These take up one USB-C port and give you one USB-A port.
• Small inline plug adapters (which you can often get for several for $10). I used to think these were neat, but then someone said that if they don't have active circuitry like the Apple adapter, they could potentially allow devices to connect in ways that would damage hardware.
• Simple USB-A hubs that plug into a USB-C port. These often offer four to six USB-A ports. As with USB-A-only hubs, you want a hub with its own power supply.
• More elaborate USB-C docks and Thunderbolt docks which may offer multiple things in addition to USB-A ports (e.g., card readers, places to plug in a display, the ability to provide power to your notebook).

If you're setting up the new Mac and want to migrate all of the old data from the old Mac, an easy way to do this is to

• Make a current backup of the old Mac – using Time Machine, Carbon Copy Cloner, or SuperDuper! – on a USB drive.
• Transfer the USB drive to the new Mac (you may need a USB-C to USB adapter).
• Point Migration Assistant at the Time Machine backup or "startup disk" (bootable clone backup)

gliwice Said:

"transferring data from 2017 mac air to new 2024 mac air with only thunderbolt usb4 ports: Are there adapters for cards, USB A cables etc. that connect to the thunderbolt ports? I see some for use with USB C on more recent mac air's but I need to use my USB A cables, sticks and cards. I would greatly appreciate some help,"

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Transferring from Non-Silicon to a Silicon Mac:

Go Here: Transfer Files Between a Mac with Apple Silicon and Another Mac - Apple Support

gliwice Said:

"transferring data from 2017 mac air to new 2024 mac air with only thunderbolt usb4 ports: [...]I could go on but I'll spare you."

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There's no need to be rude. I'm just an everyday Apple user like yourself. And I'll leave it at that.