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Moving from Old Mac to a Newer Mac?

E

everson38

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 11, 2021
7
1
Hey all,

So i must pre state I am not very techy, so apologies if asking very basic question.

I am considering upgrading from my iMac 11,3 27 inch mid 2010 to say something of 2017 / 2018 iMac of same size (to try save on cost of a brand new unit ). How do I about copying all the information i.e Apps , software, hard drive into a newer iMac?

Will I need to redownload all my items or is there some type of apple syncing you can do?

Again apologies if it is a super basic question

Thank you.
 
We don't know where in the world you are.
If it's the USA, Best Buy is selling the 2020 iMacs (new) right now at very good prices.

Best way to migrate (and it's my opinion only) is from a cloned backup drive created using with CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper. Both apps are free to download and use for 30 days, so creating one for the migration would cost you nothing.

Some will say to do it using an ethernet cable. Never tried it myself. I will guess it works, but could be slower, and possibly more problematic.
 
Migration Assistant helped my MacBook Pro-Mojave gather and run CS4
from a Time Machine back up from a MacBook Air running El Capitan
when the dvd's would not accept the passcode for that software.

so a "thumbs up" for Migration Assistant!
 
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I've done it using both Migration Assistant and Carbon Copy Cloner, and MA is the best way to go IMO. Because there will inevitably be some sort of issue with older softwares not running on a newer machine type thing, and MA deals with that. CCC doesn't, and has led to problems. MA is now by far my preferred method. I once used CCC (a long time ago mind), and was left with a non-bootable drive. All the files were there, but the OS got screwed up somehow and left me needing to do a full rebuild of the system, which wasn't fun. MA does everything properly.
 
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Boidem,

What did you have Migration Assistant access to transfer your data+apps+settings?

I've used Migration Assistant with CCC backups multiple times with no ill effect.
It may be necessary after migration to input registrations for apps like Adobe but this can be true for the other methods as well.

If any 32 bit apps are transferred over during migration, that are incompatible with Catalina or a later OS, they won't interfere with the OS's functionality. That said, I recommend OP delete all 32 bit apps on his 2011 iMac, make a backup for transfer, then run MA.
 
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My wife’s mid range 24” iMac arrives today to replace her 2014 Mac Mini. We have a Time Machine backup on an external drive. All we want to transfer are photos, email account, Safari bookmarks and a few documents. Can I simply connect the TM to the new iMac and then use MA? How do I specify what to transfer?
 
stradify said:
Boidem,

What did you have Migration Assistant access to transfer your data+apps+settings?
Click to expand...
I can't remember exactly; I 'cleaned' up the old HDD/Mac, to have as small an amount of data to copy as possible (all important files etc backed up to other drives already as a matter of course). The most recent time was when migrating to my new iMac around a year ago. I find MA deals with any little issues relating to hardware and compatibility and that, and optimises things accordingly. I think the issue I had that one time with CCC was because I was trying to clone a much larger drive to replace one that was too small and inadequate. Who knows what the issue was. But fortunately all important files were backed up, I just had to reformat the larger drive, install it and set everything up from scratch, then transfer files and settings over.

The most recent time using MA; I simple plugged my old MacMini into the ethernet port of the new iMac's power supply, selected it in the network, and left it all to run while I went and did something else. Took like 30 mins or something. And then when finished, some older invalid apps had been moved to the trash I think. They were obsolete anyway. All the stuff that mattered was still in place. It was marvellous.
 
My approach is to setup file sharing between the two systems and run them both for a couple of weeks while moving things over over that period of time. I like to start off with a clean system in general.

So this means installing the latest version of the operating system and programs and then moving files over the LAN.
 
I would do a Time Machine backup just in case and then try Migration Assistant first. Although personally ... Time Machine has been working for me for 15 years.
 
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1) I would not buy another Intel Mac in 2022, regardless how cheap it is.
2) 10+ years and a new system architecture should be reason enough to set up a new system.
3) iCloud will already make lots of settings and data available on a new machine.
 
Gudi said:
1) I would not buy another Intel Mac in 2022, regardless how cheap it is.
2) 10+ years and a new system architecture should be reason enough to set up a new system.
3) iCloud will already make lots of settings and data available on a new machine.
Click to expand...

I sold a 2014 iMac, maxed out except for SSD, two weeks ago. The buyer looked really pleased. I offered money back if not pleased as well and have not heard back. The 27 inch iMacs are a bit of a special case because of the form factor, screen and upgrade options. I use a 2010 iMac 27 on my desk and it's perfectly fine for office stuff. I run my production on the Mac Studio next to it. The 2010 iMac was $100 and worst case, I could use it for a monitor.
 
Gudi said:
iCloud will already make lots of settings and data available on a new machine.
Click to expand...
DON'T use iCloud, would be my advice. A friend did this and it all went horribly wrong. Fortunately most of his important stuff was backed up, but some apps refused to work, notably iMovie, which required some complicated computer gymnastics to get the machine working properly again. I have no idea what he did, but iCloud was at the core of it all. And that was just to update the OS.
 
Boidem said:
DON'T use iCloud, would be my advice. A friend did this and it all went horribly wrong. Fortunately most of his important stuff was backed up, but some apps refused to work, notably iMovie, which required some complicated computer gymnastics to get the machine working properly again. I have no idea what he did, but iCloud was at the core of it all. And that was just to update the OS.
Click to expand...
That doesn't make any sense.
 
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Boidem said:
DON'T use iCloud, would be my advice. A friend did this and it all went horribly wrong. Fortunately most of his important stuff was backed up, but some apps refused to work, notably iMovie, which required some complicated computer gymnastics to get the machine working properly again. I have no idea what he did, but iCloud was at the core of it all. And that was just to update the OS.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what you're talking about. All iCloud syncs is data, not installed apps. You can't restore a whole Mac from an iCloud backup the way you can on an iPhone or iPad. I've been using iCloud for years and migrated to new Macs many times. The system and the installed apps are handled by the Mac OS installer and by Migration Assistant, respectively. User files are also carried directly from one machine to another by Migration Assistant, and then if you have iCloud Drive turned on they will sync more current versions (if any) that way afterward. Some apps sync some of their settings and data directly via iCloud -- but again, the actual installation of those apps is handled with Migration Assistant unless you install them directly from the App Store or an installer file you have.
 
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Choco Taco said:
That doesn't make any sense.
Click to expand...
Well, it might not, but that's because I don't really understand what went wrong. But essentially, he tried restoring his machine from an iCloud backup, and several apps stopped working/disappeared. Obvs user error, but it's enough to put me off relying on iCloud alone as a safe and secure backup solution. It simply would not update iMovie to a version that was compatible with the latest OS, which was weird. So he had no working iMovie. Which is very very strange. Every time I tried fixing it (not knowing about the iCloud thing), it just would not work. Eventually, he tried updating things with the internet connection turned off (via a downloaded version of the OS installer etc), and it worked. When he turned the internet back on, the iMovie problem returned. A message saying 'this version of iMovie is no longer recognised' or something. He eventually reset his iCloud account, deleted that backup, and hey presto everything worked again. It was as tohugh the machine kept wantng to revert to an older version of software or somethng. Very strange. Obviously I can't tell you everything that happened, as he's not tech savvy and I didn't get anywhere near the full story. He did try to blame me, because nobody wants to admit they've stuffed up, but it had nothing to do with me at all.
 
ignatius345 said:
I'm not sure what you're talking about. All iCloud syncs is data, not installed apps. You can't restore a whole Mac from an iCloud backup the way you can on an iPhone or iPad
Click to expand...
I have no idea what he tried doing. He claimed he tried restoring from the iCloud backup, but then that must have just been files. Something he did meant that iMovie kept reverting back to an older version, or so it claimed. I was not party to everything he did. I might not even have been his fault! We deleted iMoivie at one stage, to try to force a re-download, but that didn't work. Who knows what happened? I don't. All I know is that it just wouldn't bloody work until he'd deleted his iCloud backup (he'd bought a USB HDD enclosure and a pair of HDDS so we managed to get everything that mattered properly backed up). A fresh install of the OS worked perfectly, iMovie and all.

A week later he bought a new MacBook. 🤣
 
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We did a transfer yesterday from a 2014 Mac mini to a 20221 iMac. We were very impressed with iCloud. Everything got transferred and we had not problems.
 
Bodhitree said:
i agree with @Gudi … I wouldn’t buy an Intel mac now, chances are the update support period will be very short.
Click to expand...
Yes, Apple will drop Intel software support as quickly as possible. We already see lots of very capable Intel Macs dropped from macOS. Ventura doesn't support anything older than 2017. Monterey still supported Macs from 2015, the Mac mini from 2014 and the Mac Pro from 2013. But the software side is only a symptom of what's going on on the hardware side. Apple Silicon is a game changer. Not just faster but on another level of responsiveness. Somebody compared the ARM transition with the impact SSDs had on performance. And I suspect, because this runs so much cooler, there might even be fewer hardware problems when these machines get old.
 
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Gudi said:
Yes, Apple will drop Intel software support as quickly as possible. We already see lots of very capable Intel Macs dropped from macOS. Ventura doesn't support anything older than 2017. Monterey still supported Macs from 2015, the Mac mini from 2014 and the Mac Pro from 2013. But the software side is only a symptom of what's going on on the hardware side. Apple Silicon is a game changer. Not just faster but on another level of responsiveness. Somebody compared the ARM transition with the impact SSDs had on performance. And I suspect, because this runs so much cooler, there might even be fewer hardware problems when these machines get old.
Click to expand...

I was with two sisters from the other coast yesterday. They both had Early 2020 MacBook Airs while I had my 2021 MacBook Pro. They didn't know about Apple Silicon and asked me why it was a thing. So I told them about the battery life that I got with my system and explained that Apple Silicon is far more efficient than Intel's chips.

Then I pulled up Geekbench 5 scores comparing my system to theirs and one saw that my system can do six times the work of their systems. I think that that gives them an idea but you really don't feel the difference until you use one for a couple of days. Their systems have to be on the charger a lot more than my system.

They were also impressed that my laptop had Magsafe. They have had older MacBooks in the past so they knew what it is.
 
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