Best way to transfer information from old iMac to new imac

[mfouks]

I am getting my new IMac tomorrow. I don't use time machine and I have most of my data on a separate external hard drive. What is the best way to transfer the files on the internal hard drive to the new IMAC. Thanks for any advice.

 

[AntnyMikal]

Personally I used the migration assistant to get everything from my MM to the new iMac, Cat6 ethernet cable and followed the directions. I'd suggest a thunderbolt cable if you have one, I thought I did but didn't so i used the Cat6 which I believe is the next fastest option. Took about few give or take to complete the whole process from boot to transfer to using the iMac, my MM had a little over 500gb on internal HDD. If your internals are SSD it might even be faster.

Pretty sure you could use some other apps like carbon copy or another drive cloning app and get it done as well, and I'm sure there is another thread about migration assistant and other options too with some pretty good info too.
Here ya go
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/using-migration-assistance.1929810/

 

[AZhappyjack]

Another vote for the Migration Assistant. Works great. I've used it to migrate my data on my last two Macs.

 

[mfouks]

Personally I used the migration assistant to get everything from my MM to the new iMac, Cat6 ethernet cable and followed the directions. I'd suggest a thunderbolt cable if you have one, I thought I did but didn't so i used the Cat6 which I believe is the next fastest option. Took about few give or take to complete the whole process from boot to transfer to using the iMac, my MM had a little over 500gb on internal HDD. If your internals are SSD it might even be faster.

Pretty sure you could use some other apps like carbon copy or another drive cloning app and get it done as well, and I'm sure there is another thread about migration assistant and other options too with some pretty good info too.
Here ya go
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/using-migration-assistance.1929810/

Thanks, my computer arrived this morning. Its actually a bizarre situation. I got a call from my bank saying my CC had been compromised. Looks like Apple never got paid as the bank cancelled that transaction. When I called Apple to tell them about it and to put through the charge again, they swore they had been paid as they never ship without a payment. I'm sure I'll be hearing from them next week or at some point when they figure it out.

 

[mfouks]

Another vote for the Migration Assistant. Works great. I've used it to migrate my data on my last two Macs.

thanks. I'll try that method.