Hi, for the past 10+ years, usually after purchasing a new machine, I used TimeMachine migration to move everything from the previous MacBook Pro to the new one. Since MacBook Pro with Apple Silicon do not use Intel CPU, does TimeMachine migration works as usual? In case I have some very old software (e.g. Adobe CS5 suite, Office for Mac 2004? 2008?) from the previous machine, will they still work after migration to the new machine? Will such older programs slow down overall performance of the new Silicon Mac?
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Using TimeMachine for Migration from Intel Mac to Apple Silicon Mac
- Thread starter hajime
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I can't speak for the Intel to M series TimeMachine migration because I didn't use it. As far as non-M series apps, macOS will use emulation software, and automatically install it if needed, to run older apps that are compatible. As far as old 32-bit apps like Office for Mac 2004 and 2008, they won't run on any Mac that is not using Mojave or earlier versions of macOS. The M series Macs come with Monterey, so they require 64-bit apps.
I did a TM Migration for my wife's M1 Air and a Machine to Machine migration for my 14 MBP. In both cases it went smoothly (worked as usual).
The Migration Wizard works across CPU platforms. Most apps supporting M1/M1 are Universal; your Intel system should already have the correct versions, if available. There are a few apps usually available from outside the App Store that are Intel or M1 only. The Intel versions will work with Rosetta2, but you might get minor performance improvements switching to M1.
Just keep in mind that the migration from and older Intel-based Mac may bring over old software and configurations that aren't fully compatible with your new M-series Mac, so there could be some potential issues caused by the migration. If your Intel-based machine is several MacOS versions back, it might be a better idea to set up your new Mac as a new system and then just reinstall the apps that you need and know will run along with your personal files.
There's no hard or fast rule on when it is better to set up as new, but if you're moving from outdated, no longer supported versions of the operating system to a brand new one, you should seriously consider the 'new' option. It should also save you a significant amount of storage by not having a bunch of incompatible applications sitting around taking up space.
There's no hard or fast rule on when it is better to set up as new, but if you're moving from outdated, no longer supported versions of the operating system to a brand new one, you should seriously consider the 'new' option. It should also save you a significant amount of storage by not having a bunch of incompatible applications sitting around taking up space.
As others have said, using TM to migrate from an Intel Mac to a Silicon Mac will work smoothly, but there are some caveats you will need to keep in mind, relative to future MacOS releases.
Right now, when you bring over those x86-64 binaries for the apps you use, once you start them, Rosetta 2 will be installed. This will work fine in the short term, but when Apple drops Rosetta 2 support from that version of MacOS, your x86-64 binaries will stop working. If you absolutely require those applications and there is no update (read: Silicon version of it) available, you'll be restricted to that last version of MacOS that has Rosetta 2 support. So you'll need to think about getting your applications updated as well so you won't be depending on a piece of middleware that will be going away.
BL.
Right now, when you bring over those x86-64 binaries for the apps you use, once you start them, Rosetta 2 will be installed. This will work fine in the short term, but when Apple drops Rosetta 2 support from that version of MacOS, your x86-64 binaries will stop working. If you absolutely require those applications and there is no update (read: Silicon version of it) available, you'll be restricted to that last version of MacOS that has Rosetta 2 support. So you'll need to think about getting your applications updated as well so you won't be depending on a piece of middleware that will be going away.
BL.
I don't have the installation CDs for most apps as each time I just used Migration to move everything from one machine to the next.