OK, the problem is you have a Mini with a 500gb drive, and you need to "slim down" the contents and then migrate "your stuff" to a 256mb MBP drive.
So... you've got to "throw a bunch of stuff out" before the migration begins.
This will be a LONG post.
I suggest you PRINT THIS OUT and keep it for reference.
CHECK OFF each step as you go along.
You're going to need an EXTERNAL drive (can be 500gb or larger, doesn't matter.
You're going to need CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper (either can be downloaded for free and used for 30 days).
What to do first:
1. Connect the external drive to the Mini
2. Open Disk Utility and ERASE IT to "Mac OS extended with journaling enabled"
3. When done, quit DU and open CCC
4. If you've never used CCC before, it is simple to use. Put the "source" (the internal drive) on the left. Put the "target" (external drive) on the right. Accept all the default settings, then click "clone" and "let 'er go". It will take a while, so be patient.
Now that you have a bootable cloned backup, you need to do this:
1. Power down, all the way off
2. Press the power-on button and IMMEDIATELY hold down the option key and KEEP HOLDING IT DOWN until the startup manager appears
3. Select the EXTERNAL drive with the pointer and hit return.
4. Do you get booted up? OK, it's going to look EXACTLY like the internal drive looks, so go to "About this Mac" and check to see that you are indeed booted from the external drive.
Now it's time to start "pruning".
1. Download "AppCleaner" from here:
https://freemacsoft.net/appcleaner/
2. It should work fine if just "left on the desktop".
3. Open AppCleaner -- very simple to use
4. Now, open your applications folder so it's visible in the finder
5. Find the icon for the first app you want to get rid of. Drag 'n' drop it into the AppCleaner window.
6. AppCleaner will "look around" for all files associated with that app, present them in its window with a "remove" button
7. Click the remove button and everything is moved into the trash.
8. Empty the trash.
9. REPEAT with each app you want to get rid of
What you also should do is, from time to time do a "get info" on the icon for the external drive. What you're watching is the "Used" number -- you want to see the amount of gb used "drop down" as you remove apps.
Since your MBP drive is 256gb (actual space available for storage will be a little smaller), I would suggest that you "prune down" the size of the drive to about 200-220gb, so that plenty of space is left for "temp" and "swap" files and for a little "future growth".
So... you may need to remove more than "just apps" to "make room".
The goal here is to use the external drive to create a trimmed-down fascimile of your old drive that you can migrate all at once
.
Once you've got this done, it's time to move on to the actual migration.
But that's a whole 'nuther thing...
[doublepost=1546445431][/doublepost]OP wrote:
"Actually Migration Assistant will do what I need."
Will it?
With a NEW Mac, you don't want to use "Migration Assistant" (per se).
You want to use the "Setup Assistant" as you first set up the Mac.
If you set up the new Mac first,
and then try to run Migration Assistant later, you -may- have problems if you also try to bring over your (older) account.
You'll end up with TWO accounts, and trying to "merge them together" could cause difficulties, particularly with permissions.
Hmmm... I know Migration Assistant (and Setup Assistant) will migrate apps, but does it let you "pick and choose" individual apps to migrate or "leave behind"?
Seems to me it didn't offer this option the last time I used it (but that was a while ago).
