Migration Assistant to replicate an existing Mac mini

[ukms]

Hi All

I usually setup a new Mac from scratch (I don't buy that many ) and have never used the migration assistant.

I have an M2 Mac mini that I have set up exactly how I like for home. Ive just splashed on a used M2Pro that I managed to grab at a steal as a secondary device for work. If I use the migration assistant, can I set up the new one to completly replicate my existing Mini ?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Mike Boreham]

It should do, but in any case you lose nothing by trying it first. If you don’t like the result just do “Erase All Content and Settings” to put it back to factory settings and set it up from scratch.

My experience with MA has mostly been good, but not every time.

 

[ChrisA]

Hi All

I usually setup a new Mac from scratch (I don't buy that many ) and have never used the migration assistant.

I have an M2 Mac mini that I have set up exactly how I like for home. Ive just splashed on a used M2Pro that I managed to grab at a steal as a secondary device for work. If I use the migration assistant, can I set up the new one to completly replicate my existing Mini ?

Thanks in advance.

Why would you not want to use Migration Assistant? Do you like typing in things like your time zone and Google account information and manually copying files? Migration Assistant can do this for you and will not forget anything or make a typo. I don't see any disadvantage at all to using it.

One More Thing. Make a good time Machine backup and then put that external drive away someplace until you have the new computer working the way you want.

 

[Fishrrman]

My advice for "replication":

Get an external drive large enough to hold the contents of the old Mini.

Download SuperDuper by clicking this link:

https://shirt-pocket.com/downloads/SuperDuper!.dmg

SD is FREE TO USE for what we're going to do.

Use SD to clone the contents of the old Mini to the drive.
(SD is one of the easiest-to-use apps out there, no instructions are needed)

When the new Mini comes, take it out of the box and set it up.
DO NOT PRESS power on yet.
Connect the backup.
NOW press the power on button for the first time.

Begin setup. When setup assistant asks if you wish to migrate from another drive, YES, you do.
Point the way for SA to "see" the backup, then give it some time to digest everything.

I'd migrate EVERYTHING.
Just let SA do its job -- it may take a little while.

When done, you should see your login screen, just as it appeared on the old Mini.

Good luck.

 

[ukms]

Thanks very much for all the replies …. Appreciated!

 

[VitoBotta]

I absolutely love Setup Assistant/Migration Assistant + TimeMachine. Makes it so easy to migrate from a Mac to another.

 

[Ben J.]

If the macs have different versions of macOS installed, you might have issues - or not. Apps might need updates. Not a big deal. Be prepared also, that you might get some alerts on first boot. Some installed system extentions might need you to enable disk acces and other things in the Privacy and Security part of the System Settings. This is not a problem, in fact it's a part of the modern macOS' great security protection.