Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Cloning SSD from Pro to an Air?

M

mattb79

macrumors member
Original poster
Would there be any problems cloning the SSD of a 13" MacBook Pro over to the SSD of an 11" MacBook Air?

The SSD is a 240GB OWC (only 80GB used) and I'm getting the 128GB MBA.

Are there issues cloning and transferring between different systems?
 
mattb79 said:
Would there be any problems cloning the SSD of a 13" MacBook Pro over to the SSD of an 11" MacBook Air?

The SSD is a 240GB OWC (only 80GB used) and I'm getting the 128GB MBA.

Are there issues cloning and transferring between different systems?
Click to expand...

You might want to boot using USB enclosure containing the SSD first. If it boots, it shouldn't be a problem. Otherwise, you might want to use Migration Assistant instead.

But yes, I'd like to know about this as well, cause I'm migrating my stuff from 17" MBP with OWC SSD to 13.3" Air.
 
Since MBA has no Ethernet or FireWire port, you should get an external enclosure for the SSD as suggested above. Otherwise you would have to do it wirelessly which is VERY slow.

There can always be issues when cloning HD/SSD between two different systems thus I would not clone it. You can put the SSD in enclosure and then drag&drop the files you need.
 
I will be moving data from my Rev B MBA to my new maxxed out 13" 2010 MBA. As far as I can see options are:
Option 1 : 2 x USB to ethernet adaptors and ethernet cable to use migration assistant.
Option 2: Wireless migration assistant (slower than option 1.)
Option 3: Clone current MBA to external hard drive - then restore on 2010 MBA

My current MBA only has 10GB of its 128 SSD free including:
50GB music
16GB photos
8 GB documents / files

Love to hear best recommendations from people! I usually like to start fresh, but it often takes days to really get essential data over, and everything up and running - so I'm considering Option 1.

Happy to hear recommendations.
 
I seriously would not clone to a dissimilar unit (I could be wrong, I'm just not sure)

I Use the migration assistant, it's the same thing.

I clone to a USB drive and then migrate from that.
 
I am on the same boat and hope someone may share his/her experience.

I plan to use an external USB drive, there is no problem copy all my files/document etc, but how do I move my installed applications, I guess simply copy them will not work.
 
Another option is to do a Time Machine backup to an external USB HD. Then when setting up the new laptop you get an option to restore everything from the Time Machine backup (from the laptop you're migrating from). This covers applications and all your existing environment.
 
lily69 said:
I am on the same boat and hope someone may share his/her experience.

I plan to use an external USB drive, there is no problem copy all my files/document etc, but how do I move my installed applications, I guess simply copy them will not work.
Click to expand...

There's an app called " Migration assistant" located in your utilities folder (located in applications). It works really well.

Just use the free app "Carbon copy cloner" (Google it) and make a clone to your USB drive. Then use the Migration assistant. It will ask you where to migrate from, Choose 'another drive" (or something like that)'

It's very easy and i've done it this way many time.

You don't want to just copy files. That's a very time consuming way. This way is MUCH easier (in the long run)
 
So, are we talking about using Carbon Copy to clone the existing drive, but not as a bootable...?

Will that transfer files AND programs without needing to reinstall?

Files aren't really a problem. I just hate sitting there all weekend, reinstalling every program I use.

What's going to be the best way to move programs and files from an MBP to an MBA without causing system conflicts etc.?
 
mattb79 said:
So, are we talking about using Carbon Copy to clone the existing drive, but not as a bootable...?

Will that transfer files AND programs without needing to reinstall?

Files aren't really a problem. I just hate sitting there all weekend, reinstalling every program I use.

What's going to be the best way to move programs and files from an MBP to an MBA without causing system conflicts etc.?
Click to expand...

No. Just put your old SSD into an external USB enclosure, then hook it up to the new Air (i.e. boot from it). If it boots fine, you can clone it using CCC.

If it doesn't boot, you can use Migration Assistant (after you boot into the Air). Transfer everything from the SSD into the new air. Everything as in, it will look and behave exactly as if it's your old machine. So yeah, essentially similar to cloning.
 
ok... so should I upgrade to iLife 11 on my current MBA before doing all this?

Obviously my new MBA will come with iLife 11 pre installed...
so as anyone used Migration Assistance to move data from iPhoto 09 to iPhoto 11?

Also why clone current hard drive to a USB drive?
Can't you just connect the two MBA and use Migration Assistant?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back