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New MacBook Pro and External Hard Drive?

J

J Fan 5

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 3, 2016
8
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Hello this is my first post here.

I have a question about getting a new Mac.

I have a MacBook Pro (non retina, 5400 RPM HDD from 2012). I've regretted not getting a Retina MacBook Pro for a long time, and now my mbp is having some problems, so I'm strongly considering upgrading.

Here's where I'm uncertain: The 2012 MacBook is the first Mac I've ever owned. I have an external HD with full Time Machine Backups of my data on it.

If I were to get another mbp, I can migrate all of the data from the External HD to the new MBP, correct? But also, once the data is transferred to the new MacBook Pro, can I then continue to use that same External HD as a Time Machine backup for the new mbp? Because I recall, when formatting the External HD with my current MBP, I had to "erase" it, even though it was brand new and empty at the time. Would I have to "erase" it again, to use it with a new MacBook Pro? Because then I would lose all of the data.

So my problem is (sorry I don't have a ton of experience with this) : Should I, when I get a new MBP, migrate the data from the External HD, and then re-format the HD? Or, should I transfer the data from the external HD, and then buy a new external HD? Sorry if these are bad questions, I'm pretty new to all of this.

Thanks everyone.
 
Time Machine asked you to reformat the disk because it was formatted for PC, not Mac use. Do you remember if you bought a drive specifically for the Mac? If a drive doesn't say it's specifically formatted for the Mac, it's almost always formatted for the PC. You should be able to restore from your Time Machine disk and continue using it.

The following has instructions for migration from Time Machine to a new Mac:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204350
 
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treekram said:
Time Machine asked you to reformat the disk because it was formatted for PC, not Mac use. Do you remember if you bought a drive specifically for the Mac? If a drive doesn't say it's specifically formatted for the Mac, it's almost always formatted for the PC. You should be able to restore from your Time Machine disk and continue using it.
Click to expand...

It is a 1 TB WD HDD that, when I bought it, was advertised as "For Mac." I'd like to transfer all of my data to a new MBP, and then continue using the same external HD for time machine on the new MBP. That'd be ideal, I'm just not sure if it'll work out that way.

Edit: Also, thank you for the Apple Support link.
 
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