#USE MAC ETHERNET FOR FILE TRANSFER HOW TO#
#USE MAC ETHERNET FOR FILE TRANSFER MAC OS X#
#USE MAC ETHERNET FOR FILE TRANSFER INSTALL#
#USE MAC ETHERNET FOR FILE TRANSFER WINDOWS#

Read and write speeds of a 10GB file of just below 100 MBps. I looked up if I could find a benchmark, I found some here: IP over Thunderbolt is almost as fast it seems as Target Disk Mode, just lags app. See this iFixIt tear apart.Īs for speed I didn’t benchmark it, but especially in Target Disk Mode it feels like the drive is actually in your computer. Yeah, Tunderbolt cable si about $25, not cheap, but it appear that there is quite some stuff in it. If not available, click the “ +” in the lower left corner, and add it now as shown below. Go to “ ” “ System Preferences” “ Network” and see if there is a network defined called “ Thunderbolt Bridge“. On one of my Mac’s it was already installed, and on the other one I still had to add it – which is really very easy. On both Mac’s you’ll need to make sure the “ Thunderbolt Bridge” network adapter is installed.

#USE MAC ETHERNET FOR FILE TRANSFER INSTALL#

That’s easy … Step 2 – Install or enable on both Mac’s the “Thunderbolt Bridge” network adapter Step 1 – Connect the Thunderbolt cable to both Mac’s So copy files to/from either Mac.įor this FileVault can stay on, but you’ll have to enable File Sharing. But in return you can get file sharing in two ways. This method is not super complicated, just takes a few more steps to setup. Here we in essence make a tiny network connection between the two Mac’s so we can use existing network protocols to access files on either Mac.

#USE MAC ETHERNET FOR FILE TRANSFER MAC OS X#

Like with a USB drive, on Mac-B, you will need to eject the drives that are writable properly before powering down the other Mac ( Mac-A). Once ejected, you can power down Mac-A by pressing and holding the Power Button until the Mac shuts down (takes about 8 seconds) and reboot to Mac OS X if needed.Īnother way to access or share files is by using “ IP over Thunderbolt“. Now this part you should pay attention to … For example: tiny displayport connectors look a lot like Thunderbolt connectors – but they are most certainly not the same.įor the cable and connection on your computer, look for the Thunderbolt “lightning zap” logo: Identify ThunderboltĪs usual, with these tiny connectors, it’s always a guess if what we’re dealing with. If you’re running Mac OS X newer than 10.6.8 then you should be fine.įor this purpose we use a standard Thunderbolt cable, which we connect on the Thunderbolt port of each of the two Mac’s. Just make sure both Mac’s are up-to-date with their OS X and firmware updates. Both Mac’s need to run at least Mac OS X 10.6.8.One standard Thunderbolt cable (find them at the Apple Store or at Amazon).2 Mac’s with a Thunderbolt connector (typically a model from 2011 or newer).

#USE MAC ETHERNET FOR FILE TRANSFER HOW TO#

So in this article I’m going to show you, how to use a Thunderbolt cable, to transfer files very fast from one Mac to another. It is said that the theoretical speed of Thunderbolt is up to 10 Gbit/sec, where as Thunderbolt 2 even goes up to 20 Gbit/sec. Now that Firewire is no longer, give Thunderbolt a try, you’ll be impressed again. If you’ve ever tried using “ Target Disk Mode” or “IP over Firewire”, then I’m sure that you were impressed, at the time, about the achieved transfer speeds. High-Speed Data Transfers between Macs with Thunderbolt In this article, I’ll show you how you can have a very fast data transfer between two Mac’s, using a Thunderbolt cable.

#USE MAC ETHERNET FOR FILE TRANSFER WINDOWS#

Please keep in mind, in case you’re having old Mac’s that have Firewire: this works exactly the same as with FireWire, you’d just use a Firewire cable instead. The firewire trick works under Windows as well (see this old Article). Unfortunately, Firewire has gone out of the graces of Apple and has been replaced with Thunderbolt (and USB 3.x), and the trick to connect 2 Mac to each other over a Firewire cable have been lost and forgotten. This did not only help us in sharing files between 2 Mac’s, it even allowed you to boot one Mac from the DVD or CDRom drive on the other Mac, which is great when you have only one Mac with a CD or DVD drive. Back in the day, when Firewire was a standard for any Mac, we could use Firewire to directly connect one Mac to another and transfer files at a very respectable speed – the so called “ Target Disk Mode” or “IP over Firewire”.

Use mac ethernet for file transfer