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Which cable do I need?

I want to transfer the music from my old iMac (bought in 2008) to my MacBook Pro (2013 model). What cable do I need to connect the two? I'm getting very confused. I previously tried to transfer the files via wifi and an external hard drive but both of these methods kept the two music libraries separate rather than merged them into one file. Many thanks for any help.

MacBook

Posted on Dec 28, 2019 7:54 AM

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Posted on Dec 28, 2019 7:59 AM

You can't just merge them like that. You could easily wipe the newer library, and if you do merge the contents properly in the Finder you'll mess up iTunes' indexing.


What you need to do is this:


In iTunes on the old Mac, go into the Songs list, select all of them, and copy them to a folder. Transfer this folder to an external drive.


Then in iTunes on the new Mac, open the Songs list and drag all the songs from the old Mac in. This will get them indexed properly: if there are a lot it may take some time.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 28, 2019 7:59 AM in response to helmoss

You can't just merge them like that. You could easily wipe the newer library, and if you do merge the contents properly in the Finder you'll mess up iTunes' indexing.


What you need to do is this:


In iTunes on the old Mac, go into the Songs list, select all of them, and copy them to a folder. Transfer this folder to an external drive.


Then in iTunes on the new Mac, open the Songs list and drag all the songs from the old Mac in. This will get them indexed properly: if there are a lot it may take some time.

Which cable do I need?

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