I've a Mac that's 2017 and just got a new M1 MBP coming. There's 5 years stuff that would be convenient to just simply migrate but I also wonder if that's just a lot of baggage that could also potentially be a slog for the new mac. When I open Activity Monitor, I just see random stuff in there that I have no clue what they are. It leads me to wonder whether I should do that or should I just start fresh and just try to download everything I have from scratch and port files over without migrating.
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Should you really migrate old mac to new?
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I store photos, videos, music, writing projects etc. in the cloud and on a backup drive, so my systems typically run pretty lean. Therefore, I usually migrate from one to the next. Given a large and bloated system, though, I'd consider starting fresh and restore the necessary stuff from my backup drive.
I'm pretty sure when I make the move from Intel to M1 I'll start fresh.
I’m also thinking about this at the moment. Still going strong on a 2016 MBP and about to order a M1Pro one.
I’ve always just migrated my previous Mac. But I might go for a clean setup this time. Gives me a change to really look at the apps i’m using and skip some.
Haven’t really decided yet, so i’ll be keeping an eye on the comments in this thread.
I’ve always just migrated my previous Mac. But I might go for a clean setup this time. Gives me a change to really look at the apps i’m using and skip some.
Haven’t really decided yet, so i’ll be keeping an eye on the comments in this thread.
so all your cloud data will auto migrate to new computer once you log in. any other data can be copied from old to thumb drive, etc then put on new computer. done
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I started fresh (including iCloud Photo Library) when moving from my old 2008 15" MBP to my New 16" M1 MBP, especially going from Intel to M1 (see more details in the thread below). It's been such a delight to add back in only just what I need and the peace of mind knowing that it minimized any potential conflicts or corruptions...
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Any Disadvantages to 2TB of Storage vs 1TB on the new MBP?
Hi all. So here's an update. After our great discussion a few weeks back, I decided to upgrade the BTO SSD storage option from 1TB to 2TB, as spending the additional $400 made more sense to me when considering all the advantages of a larger internal SSD. What pushed me over the top was the...
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I'd say "it depends". If your current Mac is stable and not loaded up with years of garbage, it makes sense to migrate everything, assuming your current Mac wasn't already migrated from an even older Mac that had years of garbage itself!
But if you have a 2017-2018 Mac, freshly setup at the time and don't experience issues then just doing a full migrate to the new Mac makes sense. I've done a couple M1 Pro MacBooks from older MacBooks and using a thunderbolt cable, it was quick and painless.
But if you have a 2017-2018 Mac, freshly setup at the time and don't experience issues then just doing a full migrate to the new Mac makes sense. I've done a couple M1 Pro MacBooks from older MacBooks and using a thunderbolt cable, it was quick and painless.
True. I did start fresh with my M1 Mini, and it was pretty simple. I usually migrate so as not to break/lose any paid-for non-Apple apps.
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Only downside of a fresh install is you can't link to an existing time machine backup.
I migrated my Intel MBP to my M1 MBP, which was quick and easy, but found I had unsolvable (by Adobe tech support) issues with my Adobe apps, so wiped the drive and did a fresh install.
I migrated my 2014 iMac to my 2020 iMac and it went fine, and I was able to pickup exactly where I left off, which was a huge advantage for working from home. However I still have some leftover minor settings and configurations that are annoying that I don't seem to be able to correct (like printing ALWAYS defaults to landscape). I think the next time around I will do a fresh install, but that will likely take days to weeks to fully reinstall all apps, permissions, etc.
I migrated my 2014 iMac to my 2020 iMac and it went fine, and I was able to pickup exactly where I left off, which was a huge advantage for working from home. However I still have some leftover minor settings and configurations that are annoying that I don't seem to be able to correct (like printing ALWAYS defaults to landscape). I think the next time around I will do a fresh install, but that will likely take days to weeks to fully reinstall all apps, permissions, etc.
So, there are 3 buckets of things to consider:
1) The OS.
2) Apps. and their settings
3) your files
Obviously the new machine comes with the new OS so #1 is covered. For #3, you're OK if you have files synced to iCloud and/or another cloud service. For anything that's not synced, you'll want to have an easily accessible backu and, obviously, run the backup right before moving things.
So the issue are apps and their settings. If you have a LOT of customized settings for apps, you can try to move those over (in Application Settings etc) but that can be a pain. The apps themselves aren't usually an issue - reinstalling apps is boring and takes some time but is easy.
1) The OS.
2) Apps. and their settings
3) your files
Obviously the new machine comes with the new OS so #1 is covered. For #3, you're OK if you have files synced to iCloud and/or another cloud service. For anything that's not synced, you'll want to have an easily accessible backu and, obviously, run the backup right before moving things.
So the issue are apps and their settings. If you have a LOT of customized settings for apps, you can try to move those over (in Application Settings etc) but that can be a pain. The apps themselves aren't usually an issue - reinstalling apps is boring and takes some time but is easy.
I just did the same thing, when I got my 14" M1 Pro. Was upgrading from my 5-yr old 2016 13" MBP w/ Touch Bar. I decided to setup my 14" MBP as a new Mac, reinstalled all the apps I needed / wanted, and copied over my files manually. I was on the fence, but even more so given the change from Intel to Apple Silicon, I thought it was worth the trouble.
For my files / documents (which ended up being around 300gb), rather than use an external drive, I connected the 2 laptops directly via a Thunderbolt 3 cable. This of course is only if you have some time overlap with your 2 computers (as I did). This was super straightforward and blazing fast (copied a little over 300gb in <20mins). My external drives are all mechanical HD's (eg. WD Black and Red 7200rpm drives) so would've taken a LONG time to transfer to and from the drives.
For my files / documents (which ended up being around 300gb), rather than use an external drive, I connected the 2 laptops directly via a Thunderbolt 3 cable. This of course is only if you have some time overlap with your 2 computers (as I did). This was super straightforward and blazing fast (copied a little over 300gb in <20mins). My external drives are all mechanical HD's (eg. WD Black and Red 7200rpm drives) so would've taken a LONG time to transfer to and from the drives.