Migration Assistant in macOS has matured over a few years from a fragile device that usually failed in transferring your identification—your apps, recordsdata, preferences, and different knowledge—from one Mac to a different. It’s now fairly dependable, and I’ve used it a number of occasions in recent times with out fail.
However one ache level pertains to how briskly recordsdata switch. Ideally, you need to join two Macs with a Thunderbolt 3 or 4 cable. A USB-C plug doesn’t guarantee it’s Thunderbolt—some USB 3.1 and three.2 cables sport USB-C plugs, however when related between two Thunderbolt 3 ports on Macs solely carry 480 Mbps (USB 2.0 speeds) as a substitute of as much as 40 Gbps. You possibly can verify the cable to verify the lightning-bolt icon seems on each ends. If it doesn’t, it may be tough with out various element to confirm that you’ve the precise cable. Thunderbolt 4/USB4 cables are common and don’t have to be a particular kind. (This column will help you inform USB-only and Thunderbolt cables aside.)
What in the event you’re certain, you plug the cable into each Macs, start Migration Assistant’s switch, and the velocity is horrible? You possibly can see within the Transferring Your Info display screen which methodology is in use: on the backside, it ought to present Present Connection and the strategy: Wi-Fi, Ethernet, or Thunderbolt. (Ethernet is subsequent finest, providing 1 Gbps; Wi-Fi depends on a peer-to-peer methodology that’s about 200 occasions slower than Thunderbolt in my testing.)
In some variations of Migration Assistant, you’ll be able to click on Connection Particulars and see the obtainable strategies and the way they check for efficiency in Migration Assistant. If you happen to don’t see Thunderbolt listed there, it’s merely not getting used.
Some customers have discovered the next will help you switch at Thunderbolt speeds:
- As a substitute of utilizing Migration Assistant on each Macs, boot into Goal Disk Mode on the Mac you’re transferring from. The Mac you’re migrating to will acknowledge it as a supply and let you choose it. This could bypass some macOS points. (This column tells you how you can use Goal Disk Mode with Intel or Apple silicon M-series Macs.)
- Be certain that Thunderbolt Bridge mode is enabled and reveals Linked with a inexperienced dot in > System Preferences/Settings > Community. If it’s energetic on each Macs and also you see “Not related,” it’s believable your cable isn’t working or isn’t the proper variety. If it’s not current, click on the plus signal (Monterey and earlier) or … (Ventura) button, select Add Service, and select Thunderbolt Bridge from the Interface menu. Click on Create.
This Mac 911 article is in response to a query submitted by Macworld reader Isidore.
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