Store Pick Up Refurb Macbook Pro M4 Questions

[rwh63]

FINALLY working towards retiring my early 2011 13" Pro. Ordered a 14" M4 16/512 refurb from Apple. Will be going to the store to get it. Was planning on bringing my 2011 and getting them to help transfer all data. I do have a cloud acct., but need to make sure the original documents, photos, music etc is actually transferred to the laptop. If they are just on the cloud, and i cancel the account, all items disappear from my laptop (just had that happen on my iphone music. All music disappeared on two devices because itunes match was cancelled. Originally all music was transferred to my phones from my laptop. Signing up for itunes match meant the music was no longer actually on the device).

anyway, my 2011 has inoperative usb A ports. does have TB1 and firewire. Got about 300 GB of material on the 2011. About 100 Gb is copied on the cloud. Most of it is music/photos/documents.

Any suggestions on how this will go?

 

[960design]

I purchase new iPhones (x3) every year(x17?) and new macbook pros (x2) every three years (x??).
I have yet to lose a single item in a transfer. Your concerns are justified, as crazy stuff has happened to many on mac rumors.
Step 1:
Log into iCloud account via Safari.
Step 2:
Verify all data is found under Drive > Browse.
Step 3:
That's it. If the file is NOT there it will not transfer when you sign into the new mac using that iCloud account.

What do you mean by "cancel the account"?
Wipe your computer, remove your account from that mac?
That just removes all data from the Mac and verifies you would like to remove your iCloud account as well. It does not remove items from iCloud.

Easy way is to just mirror the computers by sitting them next to each other and turning on the new computer. The new computer will run you through a few prompts and then transfer all data, exactly like the old computer ( could take a few hours, depending on amount of data ).
Before you wipe the old computer, verify everything is on the new computer.

User Experience Note:
Ensure you have put everything you want to keep in you Documents folder.
Verify Settings > iCloud > Drive > [x] iCloud Drive & [x] Desktop & Documents Folder are enabled.
Whatever is stored on your desktop, files or documents folder will now sync to the cloud and will be available to all devices signed in with your account.

Good luck, you got this!

PS
iTunes Match allows you to retain access to all original music on the original device. If the service is cancelled, the device with the original song retains the song (forever, you own it) and the copies on the other devices are removed.

 

[Fishrrman]

None of your USB ports work?
Sounds like you're in a pickle.

Hmmm...
I have a way that might work for you.
If you PRINT OUT this reply, and follow it carefully, I predict a very high chance of success.

1. When the new one arrives, exercise patience and don't open the lid yet -- you don't want it set up until "the right time".
2. You're going to need an EXTERNAL USB3 2.5" SATA drive enclosure. Like this:

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)

www.amazon.com

(sorry for the long link)
3. You'll also need a Phillips #00 driver. A Torx T-6 driver would help, but you don't absolutely require it. Order when you order the enclosure.
3a. You'll also need one of these cable adapters (which will prove its worth in other ways once you have the new MBP):

Cable Matters 5Gbps USB C to USB 3.0 Adapter - 6 Inches, USBC Male to USBA Female OTG Adapter, Black

The Cable Matters USB 3.1 Type-C to Type-A adapter provides a convenient connection between the newest devices with USB Type-C and legacy USB peripherals with Type A. It adapts the Type-C port on a computer to connect all legacy equipment, peripherals, cables, hubs and chargers that ...

www.amazon.com

4. JUST BEFORE you unbox the new Mac, take the back off the old MBP using the Phillips #00 driver. You'll see the internal drive.
5. You need to lift out the old drive and disconnect it it from the cable. It will probably have 4 "nubs" on the sides. These are what the Torx driver is for, but all you need it a pair of pliers to GENTLY loosen the nubs and remove them.
6. Put the drive into the enclosure. It should snap in without tools.
7. Connect it to the NEW MBP. Use the USBa-to-USBc adapter cable.
8. Now... lift the lid on the NEW MPB for the first time. It will boot automatically.

Next, begin setup.
At the appropriate moment, setup assistant will ask if you wish to migrate from another drive. YES, you do.
So... point the way to the external drive. Does setup assistant "see it"?
If so, great -- give SA time to "digest" everything.

Setup assistant will present you with a list of stuff to migrate, such as
Applications
Accounts
Settings
Data

A BIT OF SPECIAL ADVICE:
Since you're MBP is as old as it is, I would suggest that you DO NOT migrate the old applications, as many will need updates or just won't run at all.
So... UNcheck the applications box.

But... leave everything else checked.

Once you're ready, turn SA loose and let it do its thing. It will take a while.

BE FOREWARNED:
Not everything may end up where you think it might.
This is because on the new m-series Macs, Apple "limits" where you can create folders and put things.
Some files may end up in a folder named [something like] "relocated items".
You'll have to sort this out manually later on.

AS FAR AS APPLICATIONS GO:
You may need to download updated 3rd-party apps, or perhaps find new ones altogether.
That's the way it goes when you migrate from "that old" to new.

IF FOR SOME REASON SETUP ASSISTANT WON'T WORK:
You still have options.
What you could do is to setup WITHOUT the old drive, for now.
Get your new account up-and-running.

Then, you can consider connecting the external drive and MANUALLY MIGRATING stuff a little at at time from the old drive. It's more work. But sometimes one has to do, what one has to do.

If you need to do this manually, BE AWARE that your new account will be "different from" the old one, even if you use the same username and password.
So... DO THIS with the old drive:
a. Get to the finder and connect the drive
b. Let its icon mount on the desktop, do not "open" it
c. Click ONE time on the drive icon to select it
d. Bring up the "get info" box for the drive (type command-i)
e. At the bottom of get info click the lock and enter the password you're using on the NEW MBP
f. Put a check into "ignore ownership on this volume" (sharing and permissions)
g. Close get info.
Now you can copy stuff from the old drive to the new MBP, and anything you copy will "fall under the ownership" of your NEW account (avoiding permissions problems).

Good luck on all of this...!

 

[rwh63]

At the store, getting everything done. Including about 90 gb of music.

 

[rwh63]

None of your USB ports work?
Sounds like you're in a pickle.

Hmmm...
I have a way that might work for you.
If you PRINT OUT this reply, and follow it carefully, I predict a very high chance of success.

1. When the new one arrives, exercise patience and don't open the lid yet -- you don't want it set up until "the right time".
2. You're going to need an EXTERNAL USB3 2.5" SATA drive enclosure. Like this:

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)

www.amazon.com

(sorry for the long link)
3. You'll also need a Phillips #00 driver. A Torx T-6 driver would help, but you don't absolutely require it. Order when you order the enclosure.
3a. You'll also need one of these cable adapters (which will prove its worth in other ways once you have the new MBP):

Cable Matters 5Gbps USB C to USB 3.0 Adapter - 6 Inches, USBC Male to USBA Female OTG Adapter, Black

The Cable Matters USB 3.1 Type-C to Type-A adapter provides a convenient connection between the newest devices with USB Type-C and legacy USB peripherals with Type A. It adapts the Type-C port on a computer to connect all legacy equipment, peripherals, cables, hubs and chargers that ...

www.amazon.com

4. JUST BEFORE you unbox the new Mac, take the back off the old MBP using the Phillips #00 driver. You'll see the internal drive.
5. You need to lift out the old drive and disconnect it it from the cable. It will probably have 4 "nubs" on the sides. These are what the Torx driver is for, but all you need it a pair of pliers to GENTLY loosen the nubs and remove them.
6. Put the drive into the enclosure. It should snap in without tools.
7. Connect it to the NEW MBP. Use the USBa-to-USBc adapter cable.
8. Now... lift the lid on the NEW MPB for the first time. It will boot automatically.

Next, begin setup.
At the appropriate moment, setup assistant will ask if you wish to migrate from another drive. YES, you do.
So... point the way to the external drive. Does setup assistant "see it"?
If so, great -- give SA time to "digest" everything.

Setup assistant will present you with a list of stuff to migrate, such as
Applications
Accounts
Settings
Data

A BIT OF SPECIAL ADVICE:
Since you're MBP is as old as it is, I would suggest that you DO NOT migrate the old applications, as many will need updates or just won't run at all.
So... UNcheck the applications box.

But... leave everything else checked.

Once you're ready, turn SA loose and let it do its thing. It will take a while.

BE FOREWARNED:
Not everything may end up where you think it might.
This is because on the new m-series Macs, Apple "limits" where you can create folders and put things.
Some files may end up in a folder named [something like] "relocated items".
You'll have to sort this out manually later on.

AS FAR AS APPLICATIONS GO:
You may need to download updated 3rd-party apps, or perhaps find new ones altogether.
That's the way it goes when you migrate from "that old" to new.

IF FOR SOME REASON SETUP ASSISTANT WON'T WORK:
You still have options.
What you could do is to setup WITHOUT the old drive, for now.
Get your new account up-and-running.

Then, you can consider connecting the external drive and MANUALLY MIGRATING stuff a little at at time from the old drive. It's more work. But sometimes one has to do, what one has to do.

If you need to do this manually, BE AWARE that your new account will be "different from" the old one, even if you use the same username and password.
So... DO THIS with the old drive:
a. Get to the finder and connect the drive
b. Let its icon mount on the desktop, do not "open" it
c. Click ONE time on the drive icon to select it
d. Bring up the "get info" box for the drive (type command-i)
e. At the bottom of get info click the lock and enter the password you're using on the NEW MBP
f. Put a check into "ignore ownership on this volume" (sharing and permissions)
g. Close get info.
Now you can copy stuff from the old drive to the new MBP, and anything you copy will "fall under the ownership" of your NEW account (avoiding permissions problems).

Good luck on all of this...!

yikes, what a write-up! hope you cut and pasted this essay.....thank you. so, at the store they signed me into my icloud acct. where i had backed up much of my data. to get permanent copies onto my laptop they unchecked optimized. the only major thing not on the cloud was my music, though i did have an itunes match account. i wanted my old itunes library, nearly all transferred from my own cds, to transfer in its entirety to what is now apple music. unfortunately, at some time in the past, apple got rid of the old itunes because of music copyright issues, and the staff had to dump all my music into a document file, which is where i need to go to access it now. bummer. i'll work on that later. i still have my itunes match acct., which acts as a cloud service for music.