Fastest way to migrate one MBP to another?

[tmiw]

While I'm waiting for my 13" rMBP to arrive, I've been researching Migration Assistant. In the past I've just restored from Time Machine, but there has to be a faster way than that.

Which migration method is quickest in Migration Assistant? I have a Firewire cable available (though I'll need a Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter) and a USB Ethernet adapter. I'm open to buying stuff as long as it's reasonably priced.

 

[chakdey]

Isnt there a option for over wifi or usb, How long does this take? I have about 400GB thats going to be migrated to my new macbook next week.

 

[xxBURT0Nxx]

It's not that Time Machine is slow, but it is limited by the speed of hard drives and potentially bottlenecked by the connection used.

If you are copying to/from a platter HDD, you cannot increase the speeds, you are stuck with the slow speed of the HDD.

If you are lucky enough to have SSD's you can see improved speeds, but using a connection like USB 2 will still cause a bottleneck because it doesn't have enough bandwidth to handle the full speed of the SSD. A connection like Thunderbolt would give you the fastest speeds because it won't bottleneck the SSDs

What kind of computer are you migrating from? If it has a platter hard drive it is going to be the same speed as a time machine backup.

 

[tmiw]

What kind of computer are you migrating from? If it has a platter hard drive it is going to be the same speed as a time machine backup.

Mid-2010 15" MBP. It came with a platter drive but I upgraded to a SSD later on. I'm not sure if I can justify getting the TB->Firewire adapter because I don't have anything that needs FW. At the same time, I hear the direct Ethernet method is pretty buggy and my TM backups are on platters.

 

[xxBURT0Nxx]

yeah, honestly going to be easiest to just set the computer up to restore from a time machine backup and then go out to dinner for a while. Or set it before you leave for work/school in the morning, or before bed at night and it will be done when you get home/wake up.

If you did get the TB>FW cable it would be faster but FireWire is still a bottleneck in the connection.