Migration Assistant from Intel-based to M2 - Will all apps initially be Intel?

[DC41]

A client, who lives 2000 miles away, has asked me for help transferring everything from his cir. 10-year-old MacBook Air to his new M2 Air. I've done some searching and found answers to my questions... but one.

I assume Migration Assistant transfers all the Intel-based apps to the M2. Will he have to just go into each app and update it to the Apple Silicon version? Will the M2 automatically recognize the difference and download the AS version? I guess it doesn't matter if it's a universal file. Will something like MacUpdater speed things up?

Also, if any of you have encountered any landmines or best practices beyond Apple's Support Page I'd appreciate you passing them along. AFAIK the old machine is working fine besides a few out of disk space errors he's been getting from his 128G HD.

Also, can someone recommend a VNC client I can use to log onto his machine if necessary?

Thanks!

 

[jdogg836]

Haven't tried a 10 year old MacBook Air to Apple Silicon Migration, but in direct contrast to the Apple Sucks guy above both times I have Migrated from Intel to M1/M2 went seamlessly. YMMV, the age of the computer is what gives me pause. In that span of time we've eliminated both 32-bit compatibility as well as the switch to Apple Silicon.

1. What OS is the original machine running? There might be more to worry about than just the Intel > M2 migration.
2. Has the client looked through Applications under System Report? This lists all the Application information I'd use to judge how simple this transfer will be.

Intel apps carried over directly, launching one the first time will prompt you to install Rosetta 2 for Intel compatibility. Only one of my apps takes a significant performance hit when running under Rosetta 2, although to be fair it was always kinda sluggish. My guess is it's the app.

Universal Binary apps are not automatically installed over the top of intel versions, which viewing System Report will prepare you for. Most of the newer apps and App Store apps installed on my Mac were already updated to their universal binaries on my old machine, so this was only something I looked at afterwards to verify.

 

[KPOM]

Given the age of the old Mac, I’d advise using Migration Assistant to transfer files, but unless your client has downloaded the latest versions of all his apps and ensured they are all 64-bit it might be easier to reinstall apps clean. MacOS will recognize which apps are incompatible and will flag them as such.

 

[Sydde]

In that span of time we've eliminated both 32-bit compatibility as well as the switch to Apple Silicon.

True, but according to MacTracker, a mid-2012 MBA can run Catalina, which is the OS that killed 32-bit.

 

[Mike Boreham]

A client, who lives 2000 miles away, has asked me for help transferring everything from his cir. 10-year-old MacBook Air to his new M2 Air. I've done some searching and found answers to my questions... but one.

I assume Migration Assistant transfers all the Intel-based apps to the M2. Will he have to just go into each app and update it to the Apple Silicon version? Will the M2 automatically recognize the difference and download the AS version? I guess it doesn't matter if it's a universal file. Will something like MacUpdater speed things up?

Also, if any of you have encountered any landmines or best practices beyond Apple's Support Page I'd appreciate you passing them along. AFAIK the old machine is working fine besides a few out of disk space errors he's been getting from his 128G HD.

Also, can someone recommend a VNC client I can use to log onto his machine if necessary?

Thanks!

For myself I use Screens and Screens Connect to log in to my own machines remotely, but for ad hoc support to distant relatives I get them to install TeamViewer which is very straightforward to use and works brilliantly, and free.

I have migrated two machines Intel to Apple Silicon without problem so I don't think Intel to AS is a problem per se, but in my case the intel machines were latest macOS and all apps bang up to date. No 32bit apps. It might be worth spending time getting the Intel machine up to date. Macupdater which you mention is a brilliant app which I use all the time. Usually as an aid to tell what needs updating and then I launch the app and update from within the app. If there is a lot of updating to do I recommend making a backup of his old Intel machine before doing anything, and putting it away in a cupboard until a few months after the whole exercise.

In any case there is nothing lost by trying a migration first. If it all goes pear shaped you can always start over with on the Silicon Mac (just Erase all content and settings gets you quickly back to factory condition....don't need to erase or reinstall stuff...wonderful new Monterey feature for silicon and T2 equipped Intel macs!).

 

[EdT]

I am (hoping) to buy a new Mac in October. I used to have my current Intel Mac backed up by a Router Time Capsule but when Apple quit supporting it and faster WiFi speeds were available on 3rd party routers I quit using it even for as a backup device. I still physically have the Time Capsule but it’s several years out of date.

I also have a Synology NAS on my network, and I believe it also has an Apple compatible backup app on it. I haven’t tried using it.

I’ve been using Apple computers since around 2008-2009- I don’t remember exactly- but this would only be my 3rd computer. My current computer is a late 2015 iMac Quad Core I7, with 24 GB memory.

I used Migration Assistant when I backed up my original 2008-ish and transferred programs to my current computer, but I had a lot of problem, especially with Adobe programs. In the end my Adobe programs never worked properly and I ended up buying and using Affinity software instead. I also had problems with Dropbox but eventually those got ironed out and I haven’t had a problem for 3 or 4 years at all.

So…how do I transition to a new M-series computer? I have some dbpoweramp software that I used to move music files and a few videos onto the NAS, and I still have a bunch of residual Adobe CS3 folders that were installed with my last migration but are obviously non functional, and I wouldn’t want them to be moved to a new system. I also have a Canon Ink Jet and an Epson Fast Photo scanner that I definitely DO want on any new system. I’m trying to be proactive and have an idea how to back up my old computer to my new one so I can minimize problems ahead of time.

 

[Fishrrman]

I say, use migration assistant.

The [intel] apps will migrate over.

HOWEVER...
They may or may NOT run.
- Those that are 64 bit (not 32 bit) may run fine under Rosetta2.
- Some 64 bit apps may not run or not run properly under Rosetta (will need to be upgraded).
- 32 bit apps won't run at all.

The only way you're going to know is to try them, see what works and what doesn't work.

Best way to migrate:
1. Take new Mac out of the box, put on table. DO NOT open the lid yet.
2. Run a "last backup" on the old Mac. I recommend either SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner for a "cloned backup", but time machine will do if that's what you have.
3. Connect the backup drive to the NEW Mac.
4. NOW open the lid on the new Mac for the first time -- it will boot automatically.
5. Begin setup. At the appropriate moment, setup assistant will ask if you wish to migrate from another drive. YES, you do.
6. "Point the way" to the backup drive, then give setup assistant time to digest everything. Be patient.
7. Setup assistant will present a list of things to migrate. I'd suggest accepting the default choice (everything), and just "let 'er go".
8. It will take some time, so again, be patient.
9. When done, you should see the login screen, just as on the old Mac.

Once done, now it's time to start checking migrated apps to see if they run or not.

 

[pshufd]

I am (hoping) to buy a new Mac in October. I used to have my current Intel Mac backed up by a Router Time Capsule but when Apple quit supporting it and faster WiFi speeds were available on 3rd party routers I quit using it even for as a backup device. I still physically have the Time Capsule but it’s several years out of date.

I also have a Synology NAS on my network, and I believe it also has an Apple compatible backup app on it. I haven’t tried using it.

I’ve been using Apple computers since around 2008-2009- I don’t remember exactly- but this would only be my 3rd computer. My current computer is a late 2015 iMac Quad Core I7, with 24 GB memory.

I used Migration Assistant when I backed up my original 2008-ish and transferred programs to my current computer, but I had a lot of problem, especially with Adobe programs. In the end my Adobe programs never worked properly and I ended up buying and using Affinity software instead. I also had problems with Dropbox but eventually those got ironed out and I haven’t had a problem for 3 or 4 years at all.

So…how do I transition to a new M-series computer? I have some dbpoweramp software that I used to move music files and a few videos onto the NAS, and I still have a bunch of residual Adobe CS3 folders that were installed with my last migration but are obviously non functional, and I wouldn’t want them to be moved to a new system. I also have a Canon Ink Jet and an Epson Fast Photo scanner that I definitely DO want on any new system. I’m trying to be proactive and have an idea how to back up my old computer to my new one so I can minimize problems ahead of time.

Do you know which Mac you want to upgrade to?

Here was my approach:

Get an M1 Mac mini and put it next to my Intel Mac. My current setup is an M1 Mac mini 16/512 and it sits next to a 2014 iMac 27 i7, 500 GB SSD, 4 GB Video. If there is something that I need to run on Intel Architecture, like Windows, then I run it on the iMac. I have migrated all of my programs to Apple Silicon, either because they have Apple Silicon native programs, or run well under Rosetta 2. I do have one program that runs acceptably under Rosetta 2 that I don't see getting natively ported.

So ideally you'd have both systems and do a transition over time. I plan to use the iMac for some time because I can throw programs which don't use a lot of CPU but use a lot of memory on the iMac because the RAM is so cheap on it.

I call this kind of computer cluster computing or cooperative computing.

My approach to migration is to install new versions of the programs, if available, then move the data over via NAS. It takes more time than Migration Assistant but it requires that I look through all of my old stuff and it's a good time to clean up stuff that is no longer required.

 

[deconstruct60]

A client, who lives 2000 miles away, has asked me for help transferring everything from his cir. 10-year-old MacBook Air to his new M2 Air. I've done some searching and found answers to my questions... but one. ........ Also, can someone recommend a VNC client I can use to log onto his machine if necessary?

Two parts. doing the VNC part first.

By default VNC is not encrypted. So unless you have some way of creating a VPN tunnel to that remote client's local LAN some 'random' VNC client is probably a bad idea if going to be administration tasks on the remote system.

Several VNC servers do offer encryption but only when paired between their server and their client. ( Some folks do ad hoc VPN by creating a SSH tunnel between client server. If remote client is on a LAN behind a router/firewall that also requires hoops to jump through).

I've used RealVNC over a VPN connection. The server side of the pair costs money to license (and if want to login via a cloud account path (through a firewall and not direct IP address that is likely behind a firewire need the enterprise license). The client is free ( but do not get encryption with other VNC servers ).


Apple's 'built in" screen sharing is suppose to be encrypted secure.

Turn Mac screen sharing on or off

On your Mac, use screen sharing to connect to another Mac on your network and display its screen on your Mac.

support.apple.com

https://www.macworld.com/article/671414/how-to-remotely-access-control-a-mac-desktop.html


This can use Apple's "find by AppleID" servers to find the Mac. And is suppose to be using the same stuff as AppleRemoteDesktop software uses. Which is a bit "slim" on the encryption

" ... All Remote Desktop tasks—except Share Screen, and the copying of data and files using Copy Items and Install Packages—are encrypted for transit. This information is encrypted using the AES with a 128-bit shared key that was derived during authentication. ..."
https://support.apple.com/guide/remote-desktop/encrypt-network-data-apdfe8e386b/mac

keystrokes are 'safe' but giving free looky-loo at what is on the screen.

Apple's default, free VNC facilities are really intended for trusted LAN networks; not random coast-to-coast connections.

I assume Migration Assistant transfers all the Intel-based apps to the M2. Will he have to just go into each app and update it to the Apple Silicon version? Will the M2 automatically recognize the difference and download the AS version? I guess it doesn't matter if it's a universal file. Will something like MacUpdater speed things up?

A good sanity check would be to have the client got to system report

Apple menu > about this Mac > System Report > Software > Applications

Then sort by "Kind" column. ( Apple , Intel , Universal , etc. ) and then select "Print..." and do a PDF > Save to File .
Everything 32 bit is a problem. The Universal stuff is zero problems ( there is a 'fat' binary there that has both versions). On an Intel system there really should be nothing "Apple" installed.

Apps that are managed by the Mac App store should either be Universal binary or "fix" themselves on the next update ( or simply delete/remove and redownload).

Migration Assistant (MA) should shovel all of the 32-bit apps into a pile in a folder , if I recall correctly. ( Those are 'dead' there is nothing to do for those ). "rescuing" data from those apps should be done on the Intel machine before you do the migration.

The non appstore apps may or may not have updated with a universal binary. Some developers are download on link A if you have macOS Intel and link B if you have macOS Apple Silicon. That... migration assistant is not going to deal with at all. MA isn't going to chase down every random decision that every random developer made.

If it is a general x86 app that the developers have been regularly updating ... it should just work (via Rosetta 2). Nothing special need to do.

What will happen is the first time that user runs an macOS Intel only app is that it is converted by Rosetta2 . So it is not MA's job to cover the specific task you are trying to tag it with. Rosetta2 will recompile the Intel binaries into a Arm binary that is hidden from causal view. That will be run the first time and the arm binary run after that. ( some apps load libraries dynamically... those can end up being recompiled dynamically. But still transparent. )

That said, there is some stuff that Rosetta2 does not do. If the user has 6-16 year old drivers for quirky hardware. Rosetta 2 is not going to cover those. ( they are dead. ) . If the user is using a more modern app that only makes AVX calls. Rosetta 2 doesn't cover the whole x86-64 instruction set. Some x86-64 apps have code which will load slower alternative code if AVX is not present. That older, slower code will pass through the compilation process. So to some extent won't know until run the app. ( developers who are proactive probably would have sent email warnings if there was major Rosetta 2 hiccups. But with a 10 year old machine, there are also likely apps that no one is putting effort into anymore . )

If they are running any x86 virtualization software. That is largely dead also. Rosetta2 doesn't do that class of software either. If want to run Arm code in new Arm VM then likely need new software. ( There are some emulators to run x86 code but slower and generally more cumbersome. )

Also, if any of you have encountered any landmines or best practices beyond Apple's Support Page I'd appreciate you passing them along. AFAIK the old machine is working fine besides a few out of disk space errors he's been getting from his 128G HD.

My recommendation would be to do two backup snapshots. One last one with this overstuffed disk drive. Second, do some very substantive house cleaning ( deinstall 32-bit apps lying around. Get rid of apps haven't barely used . rescue data from apps that are about to die (no app on modern macOS Apple Silicon supported., etc. ).


If there is any Antivirus software I would consider deinstalling that also before migration and do a completely fresh install after migrations with appropriate, fresh downloads. ( some Antivirus implementations have crufty x86 crap in them ( *cough* Norton) . Any kernel-extension/driver that is x86 won't work (and some install these to run their own firewall 'features' and other stuff. ) . And need to be able to download Rosetta 2 or other Apple mothership updates during the initial set up. )


There are also a number of things that Apple has warned about in the last 3-4 upgrades before Apple Silicon came out about QuickTime codecs that were going away . etc. If trying to snap shot a really old , stale macOS on Intel image over to a new system then current migration assistant may not hunt down all of those 'old' problems. MA is good at migrating from still supported to 'newest' ; not huge leaps.

 

[EdT]

I say, use migration assistant.

The [intel] apps will migrate over.

HOWEVER...
They may or may NOT run.
- Those that are 64 bit (not 32 bit) may run fine under Rosetta2.
- Some 64 bit apps may not run or not run properly under Rosetta (will need to be upgraded).
- 32 bit apps won't run at all.

The only way you're going to know is to try them, see what works and what doesn't work.

Best way to migrate:
1. Take new Mac out of the box, put on table. DO NOT open the lid yet.
2. Run a "last backup" on the old Mac. I recommend either SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner for a "cloned backup", but time machine will do if that's what you have.
3. Connect the backup drive to the NEW Mac.
4. NOW open the lid on the new Mac for the first time -- it will boot automatically.
5. Begin setup. At the appropriate moment, setup assistant will ask if you wish to migrate from another drive. YES, you do.
6. "Point the way" to the backup drive, then give setup assistant time to digest everything. Be patient.
7. Setup assistant will present a list of things to migrate. I'd suggest accepting the default choice (everything), and just "let 'er go".
8. It will take some time, so again, be patient.
9. When done, you should see the login screen, just as on the old Mac.

Once done, now it's time to start checking migrated apps to see if they run or not.

Since the OS I am running is the latest MAC OS that still runs Intel I’m not worried about 32 bit programs except that I don’t want them automatically transferred to a new machine if I can avoid it.

The 2015 iMac is running Monterey, which I think is going to be the last Intel compatible OS. I may be wrong there.

What I hope to buy....What I wanted was another iMac. The Mac-Mini has too few ports and I don't know if it can handle it when I batch convert a significant number of RAW photographs into jpegs or other formats after processing them. Maybe a M2 Mac-Mini with more graphic cores and more memory would be capable, but I don't know. Everyone is saying that a Mac Mini Pro (for lack of a better name) will possibly be announced in October. I'm looking at what is available as far as true-color monitors besides the 27 inch Studio Monitor, but most of what I see is 4K, not true color, not as bright, or is even more expensive than Apple's Studio Monitor.

Because I try to buy at the top end of what's available (within reason and my budget) I also tend to hold onto the computers for a long time. I don't really think that I am enough of a power user to need a Studio Max but I will admit I want one. Until I price it out, and then I hope something is coming soon thats in between the Mini and the Studio. But the programs I am using for my photography are definitely bogging down, and I'm about to be running on an OS that Apple isn't officially supporting.

 

[EdT]

Do you know which Mac you want to upgrade to?

Here was my approach:

Get an M1 Mac mini and put it next to my Intel Mac. My current setup is an M1 Mac mini 16/512 and it sits next to a 2014 iMac 27 i7, 500 GB SSD, 4 GB Video. If there is something that I need to run on Intel Architecture, like Windows, then I run it on the iMac. I have migrated all of my programs to Apple Silicon, either because they have Apple Silicon native programs, or run well under Rosetta 2. I do have one program that runs acceptably under Rosetta 2 that I don't see getting natively ported.

So ideally you'd have both systems and do a transition over time. I plan to use the iMac for some time because I can throw programs which don't use a lot of CPU but use a lot of memory on the iMac because the RAM is so cheap on it.

I call this kind of computer cluster computing or cooperative computing.

My approach to migration is to install new versions of the programs, if available, then move the data over via NAS. It takes more time than Migration Assistant but it requires that I look through all of my old stuff and it's a good time to clean up stuff that is no longer required.

I mostly answered you initial question in my reply to Fishrrman above, but I am hoping for a Mac-Mini Pro to be announced in October. I realize that this is a rumored Apple announcement and not something Apple has actually stated is going to happen. I would love to buy a Studio Max, but I don't know if I need anything near that much capacity and I definitely know I don't want to pay well over $3000 to buy both a Studio Max and a monitor.

I currently don't have a Windows machine. I got rid of the last one about a year ago and haven't bought another. I meant to, but life got in the way with Covid and family problems. Now I'm wondering if I really need both. I really didn't use my Windows computer much before, and haven't had one for well over a year and it hasn't been much of an inconvenience.

My heavy usage is photography, I have a Canon and a newer Nikon Z6 and I take pictures for family and friends and some schools and very small companies. It is side money at best (the schools I don't actually charge anything) so I can't justify a pro machine for what I would make with my photography.

 

[jdogg836]

True, but according to MacTracker, a mid-2012 MBA can run Catalina, which is the OS that killed 32-bit.

Exactly, which is why I asked what OS it was running. I don't just ASSUME it's updated to Catalina, not everyone is as diligent with updates...especially the older ones that required searching out the OS in the Mac App Store.

 

[deconstruct60]

Since the OS I am running is the latest MAC OS that still runs Intel I’m not worried about 32 bit programs except that I don’t want them automatically transferred to a new machine if I can avoid it.

The best way to avoid copying them over is to delete them. Migration assistant generally won't automagically delete non apple software for you. Some software comes with specific installer/uninstallers. They don't have to use Apple standard app footprint management systems. ( can be randomly built stufff downloaded from the web). At best it may move it out of the way. Some 32-bit apps are left in place but show up in Finder with a slash through the icon. That is a hint for the user to clean that up).

If there is a 'harmful' driver that is old I think Apple might shuffle it into the trash can, but still doesn't delete it.


As I mentioned in another replay above, it is probably prudent to do two backup snapshots. One of the old system as it last existed. Then proceed to clean up the 'easy' parts . ( go to system report. Find old 32-bit stuff. Uninstall . etc. ) . Sometimes there is funky drivers that app installers spray over multiple locations that is not so easy to do. (and uninstaller doesn't clean up. )


After a couple of migration assistant moves I usually take time to consider just doing clean installs of the apps ( move only the settings and user files. "other" and "apps" just don't move. (don't move admin only account if one is set up. ).

The 2015 iMac is running Monterey, which I think is going to be the last Intel compatible OS. I may be wrong there.

Apple hasn't stopped doing macOS on Intel at all. There is likely 4+ more years of macOS on Intel. If your Mac system runs out it is because it is fell on the vintage/obsolete list more so than macOS on Intel stopped. (it was likely time for new Intel system even if there was no Apple Silicon to go to ). macOS Ventura (13 ) drops the iMacs prior to 2017. ( 2017+5 is out the support window in general for the Intel versions at this point. )

What I hope to buy....What I wanted was another iMac. The Mac-Mini has too few ports and I don't know if it can handle it when I batch convert a significant number of RAW photographs into jpegs or other formats after processing them. Maybe a M2 Mac-Mini with more graphic cores and more memory would be capable, but I don't know.

M2 in MBA/MBP 13" does have a more memory and more GPU core options. That really should not be in doubt.
But yes, a Mini M2 Pro would make lots of sense to retire the lingering Intel Mini with. Even the increase in RAM the M2 has is still less than half the Intel Mini covers.

Depends upon if the RAW converter/ingest you are using leverages GPUs (and Metal APIs) or not. A M2 Pro would increase both CPU and GPU core counts so it wouldn't matter which one the RAW processing was using.

If the RAW processing is CPU bound. the Max (in a Studio) is not only overkill but largely a waste as a hefty chunk of the increased cost would be more GPU cores which are not making a difference. [ Even Adobe though has caught up to leverage modern Metal GPUs so should get some traction here for most converters. ]

Everyone is saying that a Mac Mini Pro (for lack of a better name) will possibly be announced in October.

I'm looking at what is available as far as true-color monitors besides the 27 inch Studio Monitor, but most of what I see is 4K, not true color, not as bright, or is even more expensive than Apple's Studio Monitor.

There are still LG UltraFines lingering around. Not inexpensive, but not as expensive as the Studio Display.
There are two orders of magnitude more 4K monitors on the market so some 'below' and 'above' the Studio Display should be expected. They are being sold to a much , much larger, diverse set of folks.


There are some IPS Black monitors around that don't hit the same high end peak brightness as the Studio Display but do have better contrast along some profiles as a trade off.

and I'm about to be running on an OS that Apple isn't officially supporting.

Apple is going to support macOS on Intel for a while. What Apple is not going to to stretch their guidelines to support "Old as possible" Intel Macs. That is gone and that always had limits anyway. The '5-7 years after end of sales' is now much closer to a '5 maximum at best'. ( There is a group of folks that have 'wagged their fingers ' at Apple's pronouncements by hacking around end-of-support dates. That is falling away over time also. )

 

[EdT]

The best way to avoid copying them over is to delete them. Migration assistant generally won't automagically delete non apple software for you. Some software comes with specific installer/uninstallers. They don't have to use Apple standard app footprint management systems. ( can be randomly built stufff downloaded from the web). At best it may move it out of the way. Some 32-bit apps are left in place but show up in Finder with a slash through the icon. That is a hint for the user to clean that up).

If there is a 'harmful' driver that is old I think Apple might shuffle it into the trash can, but still doesn't delete it.


As I mentioned in another replay above, it is probably prudent to do two backup snapshots. One of the old system as it last existed. Then proceed to clean up the 'easy' parts . ( go to system report. Find old 32-bit stuff. Uninstall . etc. ) . Sometimes there is funky drivers that app installers spray over multiple locations that is not so easy to do. (and uninstaller doesn't clean up. )


After a couple of migration assistant moves I usually take time to consider just doing clean installs of the apps ( move only the settings and user files. "other" and "apps" just don't move. (don't move admin only account if one is set up. ).





Apple hasn't stopped doing macOS on Intel at all. There is likely 4+ more years of macOS on Intel. If your Mac system runs out it is because it is fell on the vintage/obsolete list more so than macOS on Intel stopped. (it was likely time for new Intel system even if there was no Apple Silicon to go to ). macOS Ventura (13 ) drops the iMacs prior to 2017. ( 2017+5 is out the support window in general for the Intel versions at this point. )




M2 in MBA/MBP 13" does have a more memory and more GPU core options. That really should not be in doubt.
But yes, a Mini M2 Pro would make lots of sense to retire the lingering Intel Mini with. Even the increase in RAM the M2 has is still less than half the Intel Mini covers.

Depends upon if the RAW converter/ingest you are using leverages GPUs (and Metal APIs) or not. A M2 Pro would increase both CPU and GPU core counts so it wouldn't matter which one the RAW processing was using.

If the RAW processing is CPU bound. the Max (in a Studio) is not only overkill but largely a waste as a hefty chunk of the increased cost would be more GPU cores which are not making a difference. [ Even Adobe though has caught up to leverage modern Metal GPUs so should get some traction here for most converters. ]






There are still LG UltraFines lingering around. Not inexpensive, but not as expensive as the Studio Display.
There are two orders of magnitude more 4K monitors on the market so some 'below' and 'above' the Studio Display should be expected. They are being sold to a much , much larger, diverse set of folks.


There are some IPS Black monitors around that don't hit the same high end peak brightness as the Studio Display but do have better contrast along some profiles as a trade off.





Apple is going to support macOS on Intel for a while. What Apple is not going to to stretch their guidelines to support "Old as possible" Intel Macs. That is gone and that always had limits anyway. The '5-7 years after end of sales' is now much closer to a '5 maximum at best'. ( There is a group of folks that have 'wagged their fingers ' at Apple's pronouncements by hacking around end-of-support dates. That is falling away over time also.

Most (probably all) of my 32 bit programs are Adobe programs. I bought the entire suite a short time after buying my first iMac. I just did upgrades until Adobe went subscription, which I think happened before Apple went 64 bit. I don’t remember for certain and it doesn’t matter, if I could have upgraded Adobe at that time I didn’t. I have subscribed on and off to LightRoom but if I don’t have a project that needs it I let it lapse.

I don’t like laptops personally. I have a work laptop that I have to use to program and debug industrial controllers and their programs but it’s a work machine and I’m not supposed to use it for my own apps or programs. And it’s Windows. My preference is a desktop with a large screen, lots of memory and as fast of a processor as I can afford. Laptops tend to be more expensive for the same level of memory/hard drive/processor and screen size than a desktop. So that’s why I’m looking at Mac Mini of some type seriously, eand wishing I could justify a Studio Max.

Since I’m hoping for an October surprise of some sort I’m not up against a deadline. I still have my airport time capsule router and I can probably get it to work. I just don’t want it to try to be my router, and it’s been a while since I’ve used it, so I’m not sure about setting it up. Push comes to shove I can try saving to my NAS or just buy a 3 GB hard drive and set Time Machine to use that.

 

[DC41]

Thanks for all of your suggestions and support! I should mention that I'm a marketing consultant who learned long ago to support myself with IT. Mainly Windows with a little Linux thrown in. My relation with this client is for marketing services, but since he accounts for a substantial amount of my monthly billing, I really couldn't say no when he asked.

My first Mac was the first M1 Air 16G 1T. I gave it to my wife when I bought a MacBook Pro Max last November. I'm pretty up to date on everything from M1 on but sorely lacking in knowledge on macOS before Big Sur.

I think my plan of action will be as follows (we can always use FaceTime from his iPhone if I need to see something on either machine before I can log onto them).

1. Have client review all apps in the system report looking for 32bit apps and asking if he still runs them... if not delete them. Actually, I don't know if I'll do this. See step 2. I assume there is a column for 32/64 bit in the older OSs? I've never seen one on Big Sur or later. Also, deconstruct60, how do you print the app list? I can't find the command anywhere.
2. Boot up the M2 and use MA to transfer files only.
3. Once MA is complete boot up the M2.
4. Install Teamviewer on the M2 (I've used it regularly on my PC workstation to support my dad) and log onto his M2.
5. Make sure there aren't any OS or other Apple bits that need updating.
6. Go down the list of apps installed on the old machine (apps he still uses) and download and install the latest (hopefully AS) versions. I don't want to stick him with a bunch of apps requiring Rosetta. Kinda defeats the whole idea behind AS.
7. Go through the preferences with him to get it set up the way he wants it.
8. Have him launch the apps he uses regularly. Make sure they run, and he can find the docs he's looking for.
9. Have him store the old machine for a few months to make sure nothing was missed.
10. Profit!

I really doubt he has any legacy hardware, apps, or other possible hiccups. He doesn't do much more than Microsoft Office, Teams, email, and browse. He's never used anything but Safari. He'll have to start to use Outlook because that's what his company requires, so goodbye Apple Mail!

I really do appreciate all the well-thought-out responses.

Thanks!