I was able to copy a Parallels 20GB virtual machine in less than ten minutes. You can then access any data that may reside on the Mac and even use Migration Assistant, providing an automated way to transfer your documents and applications from an old Mac to a new one.Īnd because we’re using Thunderbolt, the speeds are phenomenal, especially if you’re transferring data between two Macs that are equipped with SSDs.

Now that the Mac is in Target Disk Mode, it will appear as an external hard drive on the Mac it’s connected to. After a few seconds, the Thunderbolt logo will appear on the Mac signifying it’s now in Target Disk Mode.Power on the Mac whilst holding down the T key.Power off the Mac you would like to use in Target Disk Mode and connect a Thunderbolt cable from it to another Mac you intend to access it from.With the launch of Thunderbolt, Apple brought back TDM, arguably one of FireWire’s best features. Migration Assistant was then updated to support network transfers over Ethernet and Wi-Fi as an alternative way of transferring data. TDM was integral to Migration Assistant in OS X, a utility that transfers all user data, apps and settings from one Mac to another, simply by connecting your old Mac to a new one.Īpple began phasing out FireWire a few years before Thunderbolt was announced and certain Macs, most notably the original MacBook Air, dropped support for Target Disk Mode.

Simply put, a FireWire-equipped Mac had a special mode that turned it into an external storage device that was accessible by connecting it to another Mac using a standard FireWire cable. Target Disk Mode (TDM) is a function of the Mac that was introduced back in 1999 with the slot-loading iMac G3 and first supported in Mac OS 8.6.

This guide requires the use of a Thunderbolt cable which you can purchase from Amazon or the Apple Store. Back when FireWire was standard on the Mac, it supported a number of features that made it possible to directly connect Macs to one another and transfer data at high speeds: Target Disk Mode and IP over FireWire.Īlthough FireWire has all but disappeared, Thunderbolt can offer the same functionality for modern Macs with Thunderbolt Target Disk Mode and Thunderbolt Networking.

Firewire cable for macbook air