HT204350: Move your content to a new Mac

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emaccity
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Q: can i use migration assistant to move content from mac 10.6.8 to new mac 10.11.1

Can I use Migration Assistant to transfer content from my old Mac running OS 10.6.8 to new Mac running OS 10.11.1?  I'm hesitant to try to update the old Mac to El Capitan 10.11.1 before using Migration Assistant due to concerns I've heard with the photos being lost or messed up due to the change from iPhoto to Photos. Plus I'm concerned about having enough memory to update. My old Mac has 2.4GHz Intel Core Duo with 4 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, 319.73GB Hard Drive with 15.43GB available. Thank you.

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.1)

Posted on Jan 20, 2016 8:17 AM

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emaccity

Q: can i use migration assistant to move content from mac 10.6.8 to new mac 10.11.1

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  • by Limnos,Helpful

    Limnos Limnos Jan 20, 2016 9:00 AM in response to emaccity
    Level 9 (53,685 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 20, 2016 9:00 AM in response to emaccity

    Looking at your computer specs I would say your RAM is officially okay but low.  I believe 10.11 requires 4GB minimum but would be better with 6+. Your free hard drive space is getting low for any modern computer usage.  I wouldn't let it get any lower than that even if you stick with 10.6, and you may need more to actually perform an upgrade.

     

    Move your content to a new Mac - https://support.apple.com/HT204350 - Migration Assistant and Setup Assistant  <-- says works with 10.6.8

     

    Current OSX general upgrade information, including system requirements - http://www.apple.com/osx/how-to-upgrade/

  • by emaccity,

    emaccity emaccity Jan 20, 2016 9:07 AM in response to Limnos
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 20, 2016 9:07 AM in response to Limnos

    Thank you! Yes, I noticed on the apple support links that it stated MA would work with 10.6.8 but also seemed contradictory in stating that both Macs should be updated to most current operating system (which upgrade I was nervous to do on my old Mac).  Your comment about my free HD space getting low for any "modern computer usage", prompted me to consider whether I really want all the stuff off my old computer (I really just want all photos and videos and just some documents).  I have decided that it would be better to just go through and manually copy files - it may take longer but that way I'll avoid adding junk that I may not really want on my new Mac.  Thank you again for your help.