Migration Assistant: New MBA - Migrate from which machine?

[Buadhai]

I'm waiting for delivery on a new M1 MBA. I currently have accounts on an M1 iMac and a 2019 Intel iMac. I set up the Intel iMac as a new machine (long story) and migrated from the M1 iMac. This seemed to go well, but was mysteriously incomplete. Some applications weren't moved (I'm assuming they were not compatible with an Intel Mac), but Migration Assistant gave no hint as to which apps it ignored. (A list would have been helpful.) Some innocuous data (Bash shell scripts, to name one type) was also ignored.

The Intel iMac is the machine I use every day, so it is more up-to-date than the M1 iMac. However, software on the M1 iMac is more compatible with the MBA.

So, I'm having difficulty deciding from which machine to migrate: the one that's more up-to-date or the one that's more compatible?

Any thoughts?

 

[rm5]

Hmmm, this is interesting. Here's what I'd do: migrate everything EXCEPT Applications from the Intel, and ONLY applications from the M1 iMac. That should be possible through two separate migrations.

 

[Buadhai]

Intersting idea. I will compare applications on both machines.

[edit] And, here's the comparison:

Sellotape:desktop mnewman$ diff m1apps.txt Intelapps.txt
< Adobe
< Adobe Reader.app
> Backblaze.app
< Bonjour Browser.app
---
> Blackmagic Disk Speed Test.app
> Cyberduck.app
> Default Folder X.app
< GraphicConverter 11.app ---
> GraphicConverter 12.app
< Install Adobe Flash Player.app
---
> LanScan.app
> OnyX.app
< RealPlayer Converter.app
< RealPlayer.app
< Remote Desktop Connection.app
> Speedtest.app
> Stats.app
> Tor Browser.app
< iPhoto.app

That M1 iMac sure has some ancient files (iPhoto?) on it. I'm sure it's due to my wife migrating from a 2017 MBA when she got the iMac.

 

[Buadhai]

Well, I'm glad I asked this. What I did was clean up the Applicatons on the M1 iMac by deleting obsolete apps and making sure everything else was up to date. Then I made sure that everything I'm likely to use on the new MBA is on the M1 iMac. So, I'm good to go by migrating from just the M1 iMac.

Thanks to @rm5 for rattling my brain on this.

 

[Buadhai]

I ended up migrating from the M1 iMac. Pre migration setup, including updating the OS on the new machine, took an hour. The migration took an hour using peer-to-peer WiFi. (I connected the two using a USB-C cable, but Migration Assistant ignored that.)

The M1 MBA gets really, really hot. Of course, it's 38ºC (101ºF) inside now, so maybe that accounts for the hot machine.

I like it very much. So easy to type. The trackpad is nice to use. The machine itself is very quick. I think it will easily meet my need for a portable machine.