Moving coding computer (Python, R, SQL) from Intel to Apple Silicon

[Mity]

I'm finally getting an Apple Silicon Mac for my coding computer. I've been using an M1 Air as my personal machine for a few years now (I love it!) but I had stuck with my old Intel Macbook Pro for my coding projects because I didn't want to deal with moving things to an ARM machine. Well, I have no choice now. I'm worried that things will not be so simple because I have the x86 version of Python, R, mySQL, Postgres, etc installed on my old Intel machine.

What is the best way to move everything over to an Apple Silicon Mac? Should I just use Time Machine? Should I connect the two computers via Thunderbolt and manually transfer things over? I want to makes sure all my dependencies and environments don't break. If anyone went through this same process, please let me know the best way to proceed.

 

[Slartibart]

the native version of everything you mention are significantly faster then the intel version. For Python and R you should also install the native frameworks and libraries for AS. The suggested backup approach or copying over the intel versions/installs will impact calculation speed.

 

[Mity]

the native version of everything you mention are significantly faster then the intel version. For Python and R you should also install the native frameworks and libraries for AS. The suggested backup approach or copying over the intel versions/installs will impact calculation speed.

I was really hoping for a faster way but that makes sense.

 

[chown33]

I'd probably use the M1 as a test-bed for exploring and evaluating things. It can evaluate how to transfer files & tools, the speed of AS-native tools & libs, and so on. Treat it like a work project in its own right.

As a test-bed, you can wipe out whatever you just tried on the M1 and start over, without any effect on the original Intel machine. Only after I got everything working on the M1 would I transfer the work to the new Coding computer. I'd probably also be thinking of test sequences to run on all the Macs, and automate the output comparison to make sure everything stayed the same.

You could install tools on the new Coding computer and test them, but don't do any serious work on it until a well-tested migration has been shown to work on the M1.

 

[theorist9]

.

 

[hans1972]

I had the same problem but from the administration side. I was moving from an MBA 2018 to an M2 MBA.

I decided early on to reinstall everything from scratch and not use Time Machine at all, but instead copy config files and similar manually. Sometimes, I didn’t even do that and just configured everything manually.

The reason was that I wanted to use software compiled for Apple Silicon whenever possible. Additionally, I wanted to avoid bringing along old plugins or configurations that I might not even use.

I chose to install the simplest things first and those that could be tested independently. At regular intervals, I took a Time Machine backup. I noted the date, time, and what I had installed and tested. This would make it easier to determine which backup to revert to if needed.

For me, everything went smoothly, so I never had to use Time Machine for restoration.

Of course, it’s also possible to do it the other way around—starting with the most difficult tasks first.