MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 /Sierra) to Mac Studio-best way to migrate?

[altmac]

Any experts in migrating from an ancient MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 with Sierra OS....) into Mac Studio (current)?
What will be the best way?
Can I use the Migration Assistance even though the old MacBook Pro is on Sierra?
Would my MacBook Pro backup work?
Shall I just copy my documents and important files and start anew?
What will happen to all the old emails that are on my old MacBook Pro?
Any tips for this process?
Don't know how to go about it.....
Any experienced tips and ideas will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[webbga]

I used the Migration Assistant when I went from a 2015 27" mac to a new mac Studio late last year. I had purchased a thunderbolt 4 cable only to discover it was not compatible with the 27". I had to transfer using the USB cable I had which was very slow. Not knowing how much information you are dealing with here my advise would be to read a few articles online and get some idea what problems or issues you might encounter. Mine took 14 hours, but I do a lot of photography work so photos were an issue. If you are using apps which are leased like Adobe Creative Suite check on the best way to handle those.

Check on the issues of a clean install vs. Migration. There are factors to be considered. Sorry I cannot be more specific, but not knowing what type and how much information you are transferring I would not want to point you in the wrong direction. My best advice is to read some current articles online and prepare beforehand. This is not something we do frequently so everyone needs a refresher course when they do. Good luck...

 

[BrianBaughn]

On your emails…are any of them in folders under "On My Mac" and/or are any of your accounts set up as POP3?

 

[Fishrrman]

I just helped a friend migrate from a 2012 Mac Mini to a new Studio.
It actually went well, with a few provisos.

First:
Do you keep any user-created folders (folders that YOU created) at "the root level" of the drive now? (Root level is "the first level you see" when you open the drive icon).
If so, that's no longer permitted with the new CPU/OS.
You need to re-locate these folders into your home folder somewhere.
If you don't, they will be located -automatically- during the migration (and probably end up in the "users/shared" folder).

Do this before you attempt the migration.

Second:
The best chance of success will be if you use an EXTERNAL USB drive.
If you already keep a backup on an external drive, you can use that.

If you don't have a backup, I suggest that you create a CLONED backup using either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper.
Both of these are FREE to download and use for 30 days ... doing it my way will cost you nothing.

Third:
When the Studio comes, take it out of the box, set it up, but DO NOT PRESS THE POWER ON BUTTON until your backup is connected and ready-to-go.

You probably DO NOT want to create "a new account", but rather keep using your existing account (is that a correct assumption?).

If you create a new account and then use "migration assistant" to bring over your "existing" accounts, you'll end up with TWO accounts (representing "you") and permissions problems if you try to move files between them.

Fourth:
You may do better by NOT migrating applications at all.
REASON WHY:
Many of the 3rd-party apps you're using may need updating or won't run at all.
I suggested to my friend that he try his apps "from an external drive" one-at-a-time, to see if they ran, and could move them "manually" (between applications folders) if they did. If they did not, then don't copy them over at all.
NOTE: As you will have migrated "everything else", the settings, etc., will already be "in place" for such testing.

Fifth:
NOW it's time to press the power on button and begin setup.
Start "clicking through" the setup procedure.
When setup assistant asks if you wish to migrate, YES, you do.
"Aim" setup assistant at your backup and give it time to "digest" everything (may take a while).

Setup assistant will now present you with "a list" of stuff that can be migrated.
I suggest you UNCHECK "applications", but migrate everything else.

It will take a little time for the migration to go through.
When done, you should see your login screen, just as before.

So... log in and start looking around.
Do things look ok?

At this point, because you created a CLONED backup, you can start browsing through the 3rd party applications on the backup, to see if they run or not.

If they do, just copy them (again, I recommend testing one-at-a-time) to the applications folder on the Studio, and then open them again, to be sure.

This worked for my friend and I predict it will work for you.

Good luck!

Please save this thread, and come back and tell us how it went.

 

[altmac]

I used the Migration Assistant when I went from a 2015 27" mac to a new mac Studio late last year. I had purchased a thunderbolt 4 cable only to discover it was not compatible with the 27". I had to transfer using the USB cable I had which was very slow. Not knowing how much information you are dealing with here my advise would be to read a few articles online and get some idea what problems or issues you might encounter. Mine took 14 hours, but I do a lot of photography work so photos were an issue. If you are using apps which are leased like Adobe Creative Suite check on the best way to handle those.

Check on the issues of a clean install vs. Migration. There are factors to be considered. Sorry I cannot be more specific, but not knowing what type and how much information you are transferring I would not want to point you in the wrong direction. My best advice is to read some current articles online and prepare beforehand. This is not something we do frequently so everyone needs a refresher course when they do. Good luck...

Thank you. Will check online....

 

[altmac]

On your emails…are any of them in folders under "On My Mac" and/or are any of your accounts set up as POP3?

I am not sure that I have email "on my mac"....but I do know there is Hotmail...that I think is POP3....

 

[altmac]

Thanks for the detailed tips. Much appreciated. My only worry is that I will end up with bunch of files that I accumulated over the years that I don't really need in the new computer....I DO have a backup ready on external SSD portable HD...but thats a copy of my current MacBook Pro which is probably full of files that are completely not necessary in the Studio computer....I was thinking instead to start the Studio with the same user setting etc....but to copy MAIL, PHOTOS, MUSIC separately.....and only the applications that still can work on new one...(some purchased with code etc. so will need to re download them etc. That way...the new computer will be "clean" of redundant files and will be a better start....eventhough that will be more work.....but might be worth it?!?...what do you think?

 

[altmac]

I just helped a friend migrate from a 2012 Mac Mini to a new Studio.
It actually went well, with a few provisos.

First:
Do you keep any user-created folders (folders that YOU created) at "the root level" of the drive now? (Root level is "the first level you see" when you open the drive icon).
If so, that's no longer permitted with the new CPU/OS.
You need to re-locate these folders into your home folder somewhere.
If you don't, they will be located -automatically- during the migration (and probably end up in the "users/shared" folder).

Do this before you attempt the migration.

Second:
The best chance of success will be if you use an EXTERNAL USB drive.
If you already keep a backup on an external drive, you can use that.

If you don't have a backup, I suggest that you create a CLONED backup using either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper.
Both of these are FREE to download and use for 30 days ... doing it my way will cost you nothing.

Third:
When the Studio comes, take it out of the box, set it up, but DO NOT PRESS THE POWER ON BUTTON until your backup is connected and ready-to-go.

You probably DO NOT want to create "a new account", but rather keep using your existing account (is that a correct assumption?).

If you create a new account and then use "migration assistant" to bring over your "existing" accounts, you'll end up with TWO accounts (representing "you") and permissions problems if you try to move files between them.

Fourth:
You may do better by NOT migrating applications at all.
REASON WHY:
Many of the 3rd-party apps you're using may need updating or won't run at all.
I suggested to my friend that he try his apps "from an external drive" one-at-a-time, to see if they ran, and could move them "manually" (between applications folders) if they did. If they did not, then don't copy them over at all.
NOTE: As you will have migrated "everything else", the settings, etc., will already be "in place" for such testing.

Fifth:
NOW it's time to press the power on button and begin setup.
Start "clicking through" the setup procedure.
When setup assistant asks if you wish to migrate, YES, you do.
"Aim" setup assistant at your backup and give it time to "digest" everything (may take a while).

Setup assistant will now present you with "a list" of stuff that can be migrated.
I suggest you UNCHECK "applications", but migrate everything else.

It will take a little time for the migration to go through.
When done, you should see your login screen, just as before.

So... log in and start looking around.
Do things look ok?

At this point, because you created a CLONED backup, you can start browsing through the 3rd party applications on the backup, to see if they run or not.

If they do, just copy them (again, I recommend testing one-at-a-time) to the applications folder on the Studio, and then open them again, to be sure.

This worked for my friend and I predict it will work for you.

Good luck!

Please save this thread, and come back and tell us how it went.

Thanks for the detailed tips. Much appreciated. My only worry is that I will end up with bunch of files that I accumulated over the years that I don't really need in the new computer....I DO have a backup ready on external SSD portable HD...but thats a copy of my current MacBook Pro which is probably full of files that are completely not necessary in the Studio computer....I was thinking instead to start the Studio with the same user setting etc....but to copy MAIL, PHOTOS, MUSIC separately.....and only the applications that still can work on new one...(some purchased with code etc. so will need to re download them etc. That way...the new computer will be "clean" of redundant files and will be a better start....eventhough that will be more work.....but might be worth it?!?...what do you think?

 

[webbga]

Thanks for the detailed tips. Much appreciated. My only worry is that I will end up with bunch of files that I accumulated over the years that I don't really need in the new computer....I DO have a backup ready on external SSD portable HD...but thats a copy of my current MacBook Pro which is probably full of files that are completely not necessary in the Studio computer....I was thinking instead to start the Studio with the same user setting etc....but to copy MAIL, PHOTOS, MUSIC separately.....and only the applications that still can work on new one...(some purchased with code etc. so will need to re download them etc. That way...the new computer will be "clean" of redundant files and will be a better start....eventhough that will be more work.....but might be worth it?!?...what do you think?

This past migration I did was long, but went fairly well. There are always a few bugs to be worked out and they will crop up one at a time over the first few weeks.
In 2015 I went from an older MAcC to a new 27" and did a "clean" install. I do not remember all the details, but I had a large issue with getting my Adobe Creative Suite reinstalled and running. I was on the phone with Adobe for hours and finally had to turn control of my screen over to them so they could fix the issue. Good luck and I hope everything goes well.

One more thing - sorry. When I transitioned to the Mac Studio my Internet slowed to a crawl. I could not figure out what was wrong. I called my provider and everything was Ok on that end. I was having issues trying to access the sites I used all the time and sites like credit cards and banking were timing out. I finally saw a random post on this site about "Private Relay" which is a beta program in your System Settings >iCloud. I turned it off and the Internet returned to being functional again. I have no idea what bearing this setting has, but be aware just in case.

 

[altmac]

This past migration I did was long, but went fairly well. There are always a few bugs to be worked out and they will crop up one at a time over the first few weeks.
In 2015 I went from an older MAcC to a new 27" and did a "clean" install. I do not remember all the details, but I had a large issue with getting my Adobe Creative Suite reinstalled and running. I was on the phone with Adobe for hours and finally had to turn control of my screen over to them so they could fix the issue. Good luck and I hope everything goes well.

One more thing - sorry. When I transitioned to the Mac Studio my Internet slowed to a crawl. I could not figure out what was wrong. I called my provider and everything was Ok on that end. I was having issues trying to access the sites I used all the time and sites like credit cards and banking were timing out. I finally saw a random post on this site about "Private Relay" which is a beta program in your System Settings >iCloud. I turned it off and the Internet returned to being functional again. I have no idea what bearing this setting has, but be aware just in case.

Thank you. and Thank about the warning about the internet thing...I will watch out for that....

 

[b17777]

My Studio is supposed to be ready for pick up Dec 13 and I will be coming from a 2010 iMac.
I have a FW800 drive with Time Machine back up and the firewire adapters to hook it up to the Studio.
I would like to transfer my account but would prefer to do a clean install of my apps. Mail is one thing I would like to keep all my saved folders for different clients over the years as I frequently reference them. Let us know how the migration goes for you.

 

[b17777]

Thank you. and Thank about the warning about the internet thing...I will watch out for that....

Have you compleated your set up yet ? What method did you use if so and how did it go ?
Picking mine up today and still haven't decided on what route to go with yet.

Thanks

 

[altmac]

Have you compleated your set up yet ? What method did you use if so and how did it go ?
Picking mine up today and still haven't decided on what route to go with yet.

Thanks

Hey, Believe it or not....i haven't done it yet...as life had some other "plans" for me the last few weeks....hope to maybe do it next week....I cannot believe the Mac Studio is still in the box....literally...yea I know.......Please let me know what is your experience at the meantime...Thanks in advance.

 

[b17777]

Hey, Believe it or not....i haven't done it yet...as life had some other "plans" for me the last few weeks....hope to maybe do it next week....I cannot believe the Mac Studio is still in the box....literally...yea I know.......Please let me know what is your experience at the meantime...Thanks in advance.

I followed Fishrrman's instructions above and everything went pretty smoothly. I have a OWC mercury Elite Pro FW800 and USB 3.1 drive that I used for Time Machine on my iMac. Found the USB cable that came with the drive so I didn't have to use multiple FW adaptors. I spent some time moving some video and audio files off the iMac to another external drive to clean it up a bit before doing one last back up. I still have 360MB of music in my iTunes and a large amount of photos to transfer, also 9GB in my documents folder. (which I should have spent time cleaning out also) I did not migrate applications,I chose to install updated versions of what I wanted. Had the new mouse and keyboard attached with USB cables and the external drive attached and turned on.The Studio display stayed dark and I heard something about accessibly options coming out of the computer speaker so I switched the port the display was plugged into and power cycled the monitor and it came on. (not sure what the problem really was) It took a little while to scan the backup drive to determine what was on it to migrate, then gave me the option what to transfer. It took about 2 1/2 hours to complete then a restart and set up my account information. There was a display and Ventura update available.
All my mail folders were exactly the same which was one of my biggest concerns. Installed a new version of Office and dropbox and my purchased versions from the App Store. Pretty painless all in all.
I wish I would have spent more time cleaning up the iMac before hand. It only took 10 days from ordering to delivery and I've been pretty busy with work lately. I got a 2TB drive and have 1.2TB still available.