question about carbon copy cloner and changing computers

Yes. CCC makes a complete clone of your OS, apps, files, preferences, etc.

 

Something worth mentioning.

CCC can do a complete clone (i.e., EVERYTHING), or, it can "copy selectively" (just copy what you wish to copy).

Will the new MBAir use the same OS as the old MBAir?

If so, a "full clone to an external drive, and full clone back to new Air" will be fine.

However, if the new Air has a newer version of the OS on it, you may want to be careful about what you "clone back".

If the second scenario is true, you might consider this:
1. Use CCC to create a full clone backup, but...
2. When you have the _new_ Air, use Migration Assitant to "bring over" from the cloned backup your accounts, data, apps, settings ONLY, while leaving the core of the old OS "behind"

 

I would use migration assistant for a different computer. That way you have the OS that came with it.

 

I don't think I'd want to restore a new computer from CCC. Aren't there hardware specific things for every computer that wouldn't work right with a different computer? I would use Migration Assistant.

 

OS X does not care about the hardware it is installed on, a clone restored from a different type of machine will work fine. You can test this any time you want by making a bootable copy of a laptop install on USB drive then boot it say on a Mac Pro you will find it just works. Now you would want to change the machine name as that will get copied over giving you two machines named the same on the network that is the only gotcha I have found doing it. Even with that you still end up with differently named machines as OS X will do a MachineName and MachineName 1 depending on which machine connects to the network first.

 

[[ If I get a mini, can I still use the clone of my Air? Or does it not work across different hardware? Sorry if this is a stupid question but I don't know how this works. ]]

Unsure about that.

If you have a cloned backup drive (clone of your MacBook Air), you might try this:
1. Connect clone backup to Mini
2. "Switch boot" the Mini (hold down option key at startup until startup manager appears, if cloned backup is displayed as a boot source, try booting from it and see what happens)
3. If the Mini will boot from the cloned backup of the Air, you _should_ be able to clone from the backup to the Mini and boot that way.

 

Great problem solving exercise. Kudos.

As OSX also has its hidden partition, CCC should be able to get that as well which is important.

 

I have used CCC when I upgraded a drive on the exact same computer (or one that was identical). For example, when I first installed an SSD into my 15" MBP back in 2008... I wanted an exact clone of my drive.

However, every time that I replaced a computer with a newer model... I chose to not use CCC, but instead use migration assistant or Time Machine backups.

/Jim