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New Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire 800 adapter

Hmm... No upgrade path from Pro to Pro Retina?

Ok, so... I just ordered a MacBook Pro Retina, very excited. Can't wait for it to get here.

And then I started thinking about the upgrade path. There is no thunderbolt on my older MacBook Pro. There is no Firewire on the new Retina. How am I going to transfer all my stuff to the new system? Am I just out of luck, no nice smooth upgrade using slave disk mode like in the old days...?

Ug. That sucks. I do NOT want to have to reinstall all my apps from scratch.
 
zbeckman said:
Ok, so... I just ordered a MacBook Pro Retina, very excited. Can't wait for it to get here.

And then I started thinking about the upgrade path. There is no thunderbolt on my older MacBook Pro. There is no Firewire on the new Retina. How am I going to transfer all my stuff to the new system? Am I just out of luck, no nice smooth upgrade using slave disk mode like in the old days...?

Ug. That sucks. I do NOT want to have to reinstall all my apps from scratch.
Click to expand...

I am actually looking forward to starting over with a clean machine. It gives me an opportunity to evaluate what i truly need and eliminate the bloat!
 
zbeckman said:
Ok, so... I just ordered a MacBook Pro Retina, very excited. Can't wait for it to get here.

And then I started thinking about the upgrade path. There is no thunderbolt on my older MacBook Pro. There is no Firewire on the new Retina. How am I going to transfer all my stuff to the new system? Am I just out of luck, no nice smooth upgrade using slave disk mode like in the old days...?

Ug. That sucks. I do NOT want to have to reinstall all my apps from scratch.
Click to expand...

I guess you can use a usb/thunderbolt ethernet adapter
 
zbeckman said:
Ok, so... I just ordered a MacBook Pro Retina, very excited. Can't wait for it to get here.

And then I started thinking about the upgrade path. There is no thunderbolt on my older MacBook Pro. There is no Firewire on the new Retina. How am I going to transfer all my stuff to the new system? Am I just out of luck, no nice smooth upgrade using slave disk mode like in the old days...?

Ug. That sucks. I do NOT want to have to reinstall all my apps from scratch.
Click to expand...


Fret not

You have 4 pretty straight forward options.

1) put your old machine in target disk mode and use the new thunderbolt to FireWire adapter

2) backup your old machine with time machine to a time capsule or external hd, then plug new machine into that drive

3) transfer the information over your home network which I believe migration assistant can still do after you finish your Mac setup as new.

4) take the hd out of your old machine and put it in an external USB enclosure of some kind temporarily
 
zbeckman said:
Ok, so... I just ordered a MacBook Pro Retina, very excited. Can't wait for it to get here.

And then I started thinking about the upgrade path. There is no thunderbolt on my older MacBook Pro. There is no Firewire on the new Retina. How am I going to transfer all my stuff to the new system? Am I just out of luck, no nice smooth upgrade using slave disk mode like in the old days...?

Ug. That sucks. I do NOT want to have to reinstall all my apps from scratch.
Click to expand...

I kept my old MacBook Pro backed up on a FW800/eSATA drive, so I just transferred it over with a eSATA to USB3 adapter

You could also start the old one up in target disk mode (provided it's not too old I guess), and do it over USB 2, just set it up to run overnight.
 
zbeckman said:
Ok, so... I just ordered a MacBook Pro Retina, very excited. Can't wait for it to get here.

And then I started thinking about the upgrade path. There is no thunderbolt on my older MacBook Pro. There is no Firewire on the new Retina. How am I going to transfer all my stuff to the new system? Am I just out of luck, no nice smooth upgrade using slave disk mode like in the old days...?

Ug. That sucks. I do NOT want to have to reinstall all my apps from scratch.
Click to expand...

I've restored from TM backups flawlessly.

/Jim
 
Does anybody have any idea when in July these adapter are supposed to actually be released? I talked a guy at an Apple Store in late June and he said that, although the adapters are listed in their supply stock, they haven't shipped yet and have no specific shipping date. I need one of these doohickies to connect my Saffire Pro 40 recording interface to my new Retina Pro as soon as possible.
 
where's the firewire adapter? why would they sell this thing (MBA) w/o a means of connecting to all my firewire stuff? (that I bought trusting Apple would do me right).... And, why is the Belkin breakout box so expensive: $390?
 
jackwindinhair said:
where's the firewire adapter? why would they sell this thing (MBA) w/o a means of connecting to all my firewire stuff? (that I bought trusting Apple would do me right).... And, why is the Belkin breakout box so expensive: $390?
Click to expand...

They said it would be out in July. July is less than 25% over.
 
This adaptor is like a Chupacabra. We know it exists, but no one has seen it in the wild. :)
 
dhartung02 said:
I am actually looking forward to starting over with a clean machine. It gives me an opportunity to evaluate what i truly need and eliminate the bloat!
Click to expand...

I eliminated about 20gb of bloat and everything is running beautiful.
 
Chippy99 said:
I cannot for the life of me think why anyone would want either of those.

Is there a computer in existence that has a thunderbolt port, but no FireWire or Ethernet ports?
Click to expand...

Really? Macbook Air. MacBook Pro Retina.

I have an TB to Ethernet. Two actually... the MBPr actually shipped with one. I could REALLY use the TB to Firewire since I have a bunch of FireWire stuff.
 
wethackrey said:
Really? Macbook Air. MacBook Pro Retina.

I have an TB to Ethernet. Two actually... the MBPr actually shipped with one. I could REALLY use the TB to Firewire since I have a bunch of FireWire stuff.
Click to expand...

The retina doesn't ship with an ethernet adapter.
 
zulusafari said:
Would it be safe to assume that this adapter could work in reverse? I think the assumption is that it is normally used to plug the thunderbolt into a computer and then use the FW800 to plug into a hard drive, etc. BUT would it be possible to plug the thunderbolt unto a thunderbolt only hard drive and then plug the FW800 side into a computer?

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Interesting question. Frankly, I don't see why it wouldn't work. The adapters are active devices.
 
Greg M said:
The retina doesn't ship with an ethernet adapter.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure why you'd say that. You're saying I'm lying? Really? WTF?

Here it is, in the black box with the paperwork, screen cloth and decals.
mbpr_enet_small.jpg
 
GGJstudios said:
From: Apple - MacBook Pro with Retina display - Technical Specifications
Click to expand...
Yes, I know what the original product specification said. That's why I now have two, since I ordered one before the MBPr arrived. As I said in my post, my MBPr shipped with one. The traditional black folder that contained the user guide, decals and cleaning cloth has been made thicker to include the Thunderbolt to GigEthernet adapter.

I assure you, I did not fake this photo with Photoshop.

ether_package.jpg
 
wethackrey said:
I'm not sure why you'd say that. You're saying I'm lying? Really? WTF?

Here it is, in the black box with the paperwork, screen cloth and decals.
Image
Click to expand...

I didn't receive one with my Retina. I just went and looked in case I had missed something but there wasn't anything there.

Apple states that one doesn't come with it and I didn't get one. You lucked out, good for you.
 
GGJstudios said:
You said you're not sure why Greg M would say, "The retina doesn't ship with an ethernet adapter." I gave you the answer to why he would say that.
Click to expand...
OK This is just getting silly now. His comment was made to my post in which I clearly said I'd received an adapter that had been shipped with my MBPr. The only conclusion I can draw to his saying that it "doesn't ship with an ethernet adapter" is that he's suggesting I'm not telling the truth.
 
Greg M said:
I didn't receive one with my Retina. I just went and looked in case I had missed something but there wasn't anything there.

Apple states that one doesn't come with it and I didn't get one. You lucked out, good for you.
Click to expand...
This is very odd indeed. When did you receive yours? Mine was shipped on June 27th and landed on July 2nd. The black fold-over "Designed by Apple in California" box with the decals and such is die cut to accommodate the Ethernet adapter and the black plastic tray the Mac sits in has been extruded with an opening deep enough to accommodate the thicker box.

I'd be curious to know if yours was shipped before or after mine.
 
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