Setting Up New MBA - Restore from Time Machine or Mac-to-Mac migration?

[Caolan96]

Hi All,

So I've ordered my new 13" Macbook Air (2.13 GHz, 4GB RAM, 256GB Flash) and I'm wondering the best way to transfer data from my 13" MBP?

Which would be the best : Mac-To-Mac migration (via ethernet with the attached adapter) or Restore from Time Machine?

I'm worried about compatibility issues with restoring from time machine, or migration all together, and was contemplating setting it up as a brand new machine, but that would be extremely time consuming.

Also because I have iLife '09 on my MBP will that replace iLife '11 on my MBA?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Caolán.

 

[hachre]

Hi All,

So I've ordered my new 13" Macbook Air (2.13 GHz, 4GB RAM, 256GB Flash) and I'm wondering the best way to transfer data from my 13" MBP?

Which would be the best : Mac-To-Mac migration (via ethernet with the attached adapter) or Restore from Time Machine?

I'm worried about compatibility issues with restoring from time machine, or migration all together, and was contemplating setting it up as a brand new machine, but that would be extremely time consuming.

Also because I have iLife '09 on my MBP will that replace iLife '11 on my MBA?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Caolán.

You need to use the Migration assistant. Restoring from Time Machine is not viable because the Air will run a newer version of Mac OS than your backup.

There are no compatibility issues. Worst case is some programs won't run without installing them again first. But your settings etc will be there.

 

[Caolan96]

okay, what about the different versions of iLife etc, how will that be affected?

Thanks for the help btw.

 

[hachre]

okay, what about the different versions of iLife etc, how will that be affected?

Thanks for the help btw.

The migration assistant will put your data into place and not replace your iLife programs with the older versions. When you start your new versions they will do a one time upgrade on your data.

No problem

 

[tigres]

I plan on using TM, as my old MBA will ship out before my bto arrives. As far as different OS's are concerned- they will both be running 10.6.4. The only capability issues is iLife, which I can just re-install.

 

[hachre]

I plan on using TM, as my old MBA will ship out before my bto arrives. As far as different OS's are concerned- they will both be running 10.6.4. The only capability issues is iLife, which I can just re-install.

Apple usually has newer builds of Mac OS running on new hardware...

 

[Caolan96]

The migration assistant will put your data into place and not replace your iLife programs with the older versions. When you start your new versions they will do a one time upgrade on your data.

No problem

oh thank god, sounds a lot less daunting now
now I just have to wait 'til this baby comes, im gonna be like a 4 year old on christmas morning.

I plan on using TM, as my old MBA will ship out before my bto arrives. As far as different OS's are concerned- they will both be running 10.6.4. The only capability issues is iLife, which I can just re-install.

The new airs are running 10.6.5 :/

 

[tigres]

oh thank god, sounds a lot less daunting now
now I just have to wait 'til this baby comes, im gonna be like a 4 year old on christmas morning.



The new airs are running 10.6.5 :/

So are you saying that TM cannot restore this new MBA from an old one?

 

[hachre]

So are you saying that TM cannot restore this new MBA from an old one?

The resulting restored OS might not boot on the Air. You have to use the migration assistant to transfer the data... Or you can try it and hope it works after all... But you really need to upgrade to 10.6.5 asap then... I hope it will be released 'for the rest of us' soon.

 

[tigres]

The resulting restored OS might not boot on the Air. You have to use the migration assistant to transfer the data... Or you can try it and hope it works after all... But you really need to upgrade to 10.6.5 asap then... I hope it will be released 'for the rest of us' soon.

I have access to it on my dev account.
I will install, but it's beta- so how can they be shipping osx beta's with these machines?

 

[hachre]

I have access to it on my dev account.
I will install, but it's beta- so how can they be shipping osx beta's with these machines?

They always do that. Often it is declared as last final version but the build number is increased. This time they seem to have shipped 10.6.5 with a lower build number than the final will have.

You have to hope it boots up after the restore... Otherwise you can't use your TM backup at all. You need to restore it onto another Mac then, install the 10.6.5 beta there (I'm not sure the beta includes the Air stuff yet!), backup again, and then use the new backup to restore to the Air.

 

[dokindo]

If I have a time machine backup on a USB drive (from an older MBA) can I use this with migration assistant on the new MBA? Sorry for the dumb question. If possible, I thought this might be a better option than a wifi transfer.

 

[tigres]

They always do that. Often it is declared as last final version but the build number is increased. This time they seem to have shipped 10.6.5 with a lower build number than the final will have.

You have to hope it boots up after the restore... Otherwise you can't use your TM backup at all. You need to restore it onto another Mac then, install the 10.6.5 beta there (I'm not sure the beta includes the Air stuff yet!), backup again, and then use the new backup to restore to the Air.

Let me get this straight:

Install the beta on my RevB. Backup, and hope for the best.
Or: restore another iMac that I have, Install the beta- then do a migration? or can I do a migration w/out the beta on the iMac, just from the restore from TM?

Thx.

 

[hachre]

Let me get this straight:

Install the beta on my RevB. Backup, and hope for the best.
Or: restore another iMac that I have, Install the beta- then do a migration? or can I do a migration w/out the beta on the iMac, just from the restore from TM?

Thx.

If you have another Mac available you can restore your MBA onto it and then migrate from there. That will work.

I just learned btw that it doesn't ship with Mac OS 10.6.5 but it ships with a higher than final build of 10.6.4 - as usual. So the same things I previously said still apply.

 

[hachre]

If I have a time machine backup on a USB drive (from an older MBA) can I use this with migration assistant on the new MBA? Sorry for the dumb question. If possible, I thought this might be a better option than a wifi transfer.

You need to use the migration assistant. You can not use Time Machine to restore... (Unless you wait until 10.6.5 is final)

 

[grandeamericano]

using superduper

hmmm... i was planning to just use a disk image from my 15" macbook pro i'm migrating from. it's running 10.6.4. will this work? a good idea?

 

[hachre]

hmmm... i was planning to just use a disk image from my 15" macbook pro i'm migrating from. it's running 10.6.4. will this work? a good idea?

No this is the same as restoring from Time Machine. It won't work because it downgrades the OS on the Air to a version that doesn't know the hardware yet.

 

[grandeamericano]

No this is the same as restoring from Time Machine. It won't work because it downgrades the OS on the Air to a version that doesn't know the hardware yet.

that sucks.
hm. how about duping the disk and then reinstalling 10.6.5 from the usb stick.

 

[hachre]

that sucks.
hm. how about duping the disk and then reinstalling 10.6.5 from the usb stick.

Good idea! That would probably work, yes... It might even work to just dupe it - I'm just saying it's a risk. It might not boot... But if you overwrite it afterwards with the stick that should fix everything..

And btw:
I just learned btw that it doesn't ship with Mac OS 10.6.5 but it ships with a higher than final build of 10.6.4 - as usual. So the same things I previously said still apply. Let's call it 10.6.4+

 

[valereee]

new macbook air, restoring from time machine =now=?

I have a macbook air ordered and was assured by folks at apple that I'd have no problems restoring from my time machine to the new air...maybe it's just that something's changed since this thread was started?

 

[hachre]

I have a macbook air ordered and was assured by folks at apple that I'd have no problems restoring from my time machine to the new air...maybe it's just that something's changed since this thread was started?

Yes, as long as your old Mac has 10.6.5 installed and backed up to the Time Machine you won't have problems...