10GE network on Apple M1 Macs

[Paul F]

Hi Guys,

Did anyone try 10Ge TB adapters on M1 macs? I have Sonnet and going to try it once my mini will arrive next week. I can't find any details on that.

 

[Paul F]

Ok, It is working fine, however M1 ports are slower than TB3 on intel MACs

 

[Gnattu]

How did you test the speed? I ran iperf and it gave me 9.90Gbits which is same on Intel.

 

[Paul F]

How did you test the speed? I ran iperf and it gave me 9.90Gbits which is same on Intel.
View attachment 1682798

Yes Iperf doesn't show it... it is very strange probably a bug in MacOs or something. Try copying normal files or do some work over the network:

Here is the video where the host describes similar thing.

 

[Gnattu]

Yes Iperf doesn't show it... it is very strange probably a bug in MacOs or something. Try copying normal files or do some work over the network:

Here is the video where the host describes similar thing.

That guy even not able to achieve 1Gbits line rate in iperf, it is a different problem in his settings.

 

[Paul F]

That guy even not able to achieve 1Gbits line rate in iperf, it is a different problem in his settings.

Did you actually watch video? His NIC is in TB3 dock. He also tested speed with TB3 SSD in video. I have similar picture, my old Mac mini (Intel one) was getting higher speeds over TB3 Sonnet than now with M1 Mini, not a huge difference but noticeable. Unfortunately I didn't took screenshots. If you have Intel Mac - give it a try yourself.

 

[MK500]

How did you test the speed? I ran iperf and it gave me 9.90Gbits which is same on Intel.
View attachment 1682798

Was this using the Sonnet box as well? Did you need to install any drivers?

Has anyone tried OWC yet? https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TB3ADP10GBE/

 

[Gnattu]

Did you actually watch video? His NIC is in TB3 dock. He also tested speed with TB3 SSD in video. I have similar picture, my old Mac mini (Intel one) was getting higher speeds over TB3 Sonnet than now with M1 Mini, not a huge difference but noticeable. Unfortunately I didn't took screenshots. If you have Intel Mac - give it a try yourself.

Can you elaborate on your usecase more detailed?
Intel is not faster(and actually slower) on my system, testing an SMB share from same server.

The file copy test supports the same conclusion, how did you feel the "noticeable differences", if at all?

 

[Gnattu]

Was this using the Sonnet box as well? Did you need to install any drivers?

Has anyone tried OWC yet? https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TB3ADP10GBE/

They are using same 10Gbit NIC(AQC107) I guess, OWC even lists M1 Macs as officially supported models.
You do not need install extra drivers, its included in macOS. You just plug it in and it will work.

 

[understudyhero]

Something that I didn't know - MacOS will gladly let you set an adaptor to manual 10gb and act like everything is awesome when you are still connected to a 1gb port.

Once I plugged it into the 10Gb port, it has speeds that match my i7 Mac mini w/ built-in 10Gb ethernet and the trashcan Mac Pro it replaced.

M1 Mac mini (Base model) with:
Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adaptor to:
27" Thunderbolt Cinema Display to:
Thunderbolt 2 OWC enclosure with:
AQC107 based card

Switch: 10gb UniFi Switch XG 6 POE
Test transfers: QNAP TVS-871 with 10Gbe add-on, QNAP TS-451+