HELP! Need to merge files between 2012 and 2021 MacBook Pros

[KY Squatch]

Greetings all. I joined MacRumors just so I could get some help with this Q! (Google searching didn't seem to address it.)

We have a 2012 MacBook Pro that has been our main home computer ... and still is. It's running 10.12.6 / Sierra. When Safari quit supporting that OS, our web browsing eventually slowed way down and got real glitchy (3-4 yrs ago), and we switched to Firefox.

But 2 yrs ago (Nov 2021), we also bought a new MacBook Pro (12.2.1 / Monterey), with the intent of making it our new home Mac. First thing we did was copy all our files from the old Mac to the new one. But due to laziness, different HD / USB connectivity (for backup drives), etc., I STILL haven't made the move.

But I am resolved to start now.

As I said, our 2012 MBP is still our main home office machine. Which mainly means, we still use MoneyDance on it to keep our accounts and pay our bills. But we've also used the 2021 MBP for two years, and that means that there are numerous files on it (mainly PDFs and photos) that have been added since copying our old Mac's files onto it 2 years ago.

So both Macs once contained identical files. But in the following 2 years, we've put new files on both Macs independently of each other. Now I want to get them all onto the new machine, and make the old one a "jukebox" / music server.

What is the easiest, and most sure-fire, method to accomplish this?

Thanks in advance for whatever help you can offer. We really appreciate it!

Frank / KY Squatch

 

[ChrisA]

Greetings all. I joined MacRumors just so I could get some help with this Q! (Google searching didn't seem to address it.)

We have a 2012 MacBook Pro that has been our main home computer ... and still is. It's running 10.12.6 / Sierra. When Safari quit supporting that OS, our web browsing eventually slowed way down and got real glitchy (3-4 yrs ago), and we switched to Firefox.

But 2 yrs ago (Nov 2021), we also bought a new MacBook Pro (12.2.1 / Monterey), with the intent of making it our new home Mac. First thing we did was copy all our files from the old Mac to the new one. But due to laziness, different HD / USB connectivity (for backup drives), etc., I STILL haven't made the move.

But I am resolved to start now.

As I said, our 2012 MBP is still our main home office machine. Which mainly means, we still use MoneyDance on it to keep our accounts and pay our bills. But we've also used the 2021 MBP for two years, and that means that there are numerous files on it (mainly PDFs and photos) that have been added since copying our old Mac's files onto it 2 years ago.

So both Macs once contained identical files. But in the following 2 years, we've put new files on both Macs independently of each other. Now I want to get them all onto the new machine, and make the old one a "jukebox" / music server.

What is the easiest, and most sure-fire, method to accomplish this?

Thanks in advance for whatever help you can offer. We really appreciate it!

Frank / KY Squatch

Easy? There might be some automated way but unless you have thousands of files to move just do it manually. "Share" a folder on one Mac and then open it on the other and simply click and drag the files you need to move.

When findder copies multiple files and finds a conflict it wil stop and ask you if you want to overwrite a file with the same name or skip it. So it is safe to highlight 100 files and drag from the shared to the local folder.

You can automate this with "rsync" using the terminal or there are some point and click apps the provide a graphic interface to rsync. But the 30+ year old rsync is already on your Mac.

Going forard one way to keep the computers in sync is to use a folder that is shared over the network (WiFi or Ethernet) then the files exist only in onle place

A second way to keep data in sync is to use Apple's iCloud service. Keep the data there and let you Macs (and iPad and iPhon) keep themselves synchronized. Apple make this pretty easy

 

[ipaqrat]

Other than the methods ChrisA suggested, Syncovery might be worth a look. https://www.syncovery.com/. I use it to populate my lab machines with identical data sets that get updated on one shared volume. At home, I've used it for Mac-to-Mac sync, like you described, and to reconcile with MS OneDrive after Microsoft borked an upgrade. Documentation on their site is rather decent. I have not contacted them for support.

The vendor is German, so there might be implications if you come in contact with any US federal government work.

 

[ChrisA]

Other than the methods ChrisA suggested, Syncovery might be worth a look. https://www.syncovery.com/. I use it to populate my lab machines with identical data sets that get updated on one shared volume. At home, I've used it for Mac-to-Mac sync, like you described, and to reconcile with MS OneDrive after Microsoft borked an upgrade. Documentation on their site is rather decent. I have not contacted them for support.

The vendor is German, so there might be implications if you come in contact with any US federal government work.

Yes. I use Synology too. It is really the ideal way to go. But it is not cheap. THere are several ways to use the Synology NAS. One is to simply share a folder over the network. The other copies the data to the local disk and keeps it synchronized with the NAS. This work best if you have a large enough local disk to hold the data.

I would have recommended it but people look at the price.

You also need to think of some way to backup a NAS. This adds even more cost for a local backup and a cloud backup. I'd say $600 to $1K price of entry when you add it all up.


German? Synology is a Taiwanese corporation. Perhaps your reseller is German. You can buy Synology on Amazon.

One more thing... THe best Synology NAS' are the ones with the "Plus" in the model number. These are powerful enough to run a variety of services. But the budget models "J" series might be enough. Be sure to set up RAID or a simple mirror (yes this adds to the cost)

 

[ipaqrat]

German? Synology is a Taiwanese corporation. Perhaps your reseller is German. You can buy Synology on Amazon.

😆 Syn Cov Ery

But, yeah, I hear good things about Synology. The better models are not exactly cheap, but then again, cost and value are relative.

 

[Juicy Box]

If I am following correctly (the scenario isn't explained well, imo), you want all the files on your 2012 Mac to be on your newer Mac?

You could easily use the built in migration assistant to move all profiles to the newer Mac.

Maybe I am not understanding the situation, but not sure why no one else has mentioned it. Super easy to use, and it copies all files, settings, apps, etc. over to the new Mac automatically.

Transfer to a new Mac with Migration Assistant - Apple Support

Use Migration Assistant to copy your files from another computer.

support.apple.com

 

[Fishrrman]

My suggestions will be different from the others.

First -- this is one case where you DON'T WANT to use migration assistant. That's because MA "paints" with "too broad a brush" for what you're trying to achieve.

Next -- I suggest the best way will be to copy the "old" files (those on the older MBP) to an "intermediate" drive. Then, connect that drive to the NEW MPB, take steps to avoid permissions problems, and then "manually copy" the files in question, a little at a time.

The drive can be either a USB hard drive, USB SSD, or perhaps even a USB flashdrive of sufficient capacity.

I would format the "intermediary drive" to HFS+ (Mac OS extended, journaling enabled, GUID partition format). That way, there's no problem with it being recognized by both Macs.

Here's how to overcome the permissions issues:
a. Connect the intermediary drive to the NEW MBP and let the icon mount on the desktop
b. DO NOT "open the icon" yet.
c. Instead, click ONE TIME on the drive icon to select it, and then bring up the get info box (you can type command-i)
d. At the bottom of get info, click the lock and enter the password for the account you are using on the NEW MBP.
e. Next, put a check into "ignore ownership on this volume" (sharing and permissions)
f. Close get info.
Now, you can copy files from the drive to the new MBP, and whatever you copy will "come under the ownership" of the new account you are using.

I would also keep some handwritten notes, as to what's been moved, etc.
Keeps you from going round in circles.

Good luck.