Migrating an old iMac to a new Apple ID

Question

Level 1

20 points

Migrating an old iMac to a new Apple ID

How do I

implement a new Apple ID on an old iMac with an old Apple ID and 4 old user accounts
migrate 3 of the old users (none being administrators) to the new Apple ID on the old iMac
while leaving the old Apple ID on a macbook and other devices

I may need some education on how an Apple ID is related to a device and to users on the device and to the iCloud. I believe I'm looking at this incorrectly.

The saga is this:

Mainly my dad used this iMac. He shared an Apple ID with my mom. He got Alzhiemer's and I was given the iMac. I set it up for my wife to use which she has done for 6 months or so. Last Saturday I went to do something in her account and got an update notice. I clicked update, and was asked for the Apple ID and password. I gave them and a pass code was sent to my Mom's Macbook. I called to get it from her. She said her computer was giving her error messages. She's 87 and has an essential tremor. After several resends, I got the passcode and put it in and updated the iMac. Her MacBook had problems and they have been blamed on me. Could anything I did affect her MacBook's OS or other software?

Posted on Aug 11, 2020 8:26 PM

Reply

Answer 1

ryane77

Community Specialist

Aug 13, 2020 1:20 PM in response to 4-Layer-cake

Hey 4-Layer-cake!

It sounds like you have some concerns about how the Apple ID, iCloud accounts and trusted devices work in this situation. We've got some helpful information to assist you here.

First, based on your post, the older iMac has your parent's Apple ID associated to it in the App Store, when you went to update the Mac it required their Apple ID and verification code. This likely happened because the Apple ID account associated with that iMac wasn't removed before it was given to your wife. Learn how to remove that device from their account and set it up for your wife here: What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac

It seems that your parents have an Apple ID that is using two-factor authentication, since it required you to send that verification code to update the iMac on your mother's MacBook (also signed in to that Apple ID). This explains more about Two-Factor authentication for Apple ID

Requesting the verification code shouldn't have impacted your mother's MacBook, since it would have only sent the code, given it was on a good Wi-Fi network. Without knowing those errors on her MacBook, we wouldn't be able to provide any more support. If you'd like to share those errors with us, we'd be happy to continue to help out. Also, your parents can use the following to check which devices show up as associated with their Apple ID using: View and manage your Apple ID trusted devices on Mac

iCloud is a bit different, since it handles syncing content between devices and securing the device to the account itself. For example, iCloud would help to sync content like, Contacts, Messages in the Cloud, Reminders, app data, etc. It could also associate the device to your account in the Find My app. Where you could track it, should it get lost or stolen. In this case, they would need to remove the iMac from their iCloud account using that first link we shared on "What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac" before you could erase the iMac and set it up under your wife's Apple ID.

Pro Tip: Family Sharing might really help you all out! Learn more about Family Sharing here: Family Sharing. Share your favorite things with your favorite people.

Hoping this helps out!

Reply

Answer 2

4-Layer-cake Author

Level 1

20 points

Aug 14, 2020 2:01 PM in response to 4-Layer-cake

I added my new Apple ID to iCloud on my user. It asked me if I wanted to enable Find-My-Device, I said yes. It informed me that this service would be disassociated with my mom's Apple ID. I demoted her user to standard and then deleted it, not saving any of her files. I then changed the name of the computer.

Reply

Answer 3

karina184

Community Specialist

Aug 16, 2020 1:30 PM in response to 4-Layer-cake

Hey 4-Layer-cake!

It sounds like you've found a solution to these remaining questions you had about the Apple ID and the associated devices, since you were able to dissociate the device from your mother's Apple ID. Allow us to provide some more clarity on this.

Your mother originally associated her Apple ID with the computer, which allowed her to download or access previously purchased content under that account. When you sell or give away a device, it's important to disassociate the device with the account to prevent the new owner from accessing this information. Earlier shared was information about Family Sharing, which can share purchases between family members. The 'Ask to Buy' feature can also be enabled for other family members on the account. That's why it was previous suggested as a solution to most of your concerns.

Now that you've created administrators on the iMac, it should allow you to use it normally. However, it might be best to restore it to factory settings in order for your wife to have all of the drive space available to her.

Hope this helps!

Reply

Answer 4

4-Layer-cake Author

Level 1

20 points

Aug 13, 2020 6:05 PM in response to ryane77

What a nice reply. Thank you.

In the article, What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac,

I can do items 2, 3, and 4, signing out of accounts. I do not want to erase the memory. I want to preserve 4 users and remove one (my Mom) and associate the iMac with my new Apple ID. Is this possible?

I was able to access Users & Groups and make my user and administrator. I can modify 2 users but cannot access/modify one other Admin user (my mom) and one standard user - why?

Many thanks.

Reply

Answer 5

4-Layer-cake Author

Level 1

20 points

Aug 13, 2020 8:45 PM in response to 4-Layer-cake

So, I figured out that to manage a user, the user must be signed out. My mom's user and the other user are now signed out. What would happen if I removed my mom's account now? She is an Admin and this iMac was associated with her Apple ID. Her user has permission to reset a password using Apple ID; it's the only one that can do this.

Reply

Answer 6

4-Layer-cake Author

Level 1

20 points

Aug 13, 2020 9:04 PM in response to 4-Layer-cake

It appears that each user can sign into their own iTunes,iCloud, imessage accounts.

Any apps or services installed under my mom's Apple ID will be inaccessible under my Apple ID. I will have to reinstall them. This may not be true for the App Store.

So, how do I associate the device (iMac) to a new Apple ID? Does this only affect the "find my device" section?

Reply

Answer 7

4-Layer-cake Author

Level 1

20 points

Aug 21, 2020 10:22 AM in response to karina184

So, your reply was a good try at being helpful. We need to tweak the nomenclature a little. After my iMac device was disassociated from my Mom's Apple ID, I was notified that I had updates. I clicked update and I put in my new Apple ID and password. Then it told me to fill in a 6-digit code that had been sent to my Mom's MacBook. Why? Any Apps (aka "content" as in your reply) purchased under her Apple ID, remain under her ID. So, unless I use the family sharing scheme, I need to uninstall the Apps and then repurchase them under my Apple ID. https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/135930/app-store-asking-for-other-apple-id-when-updating-apps.

It is interesting that I was able to confirm from the referenced StackExchange thread that OS's do not require an Apple ID to update. Also, I did run the aforementioned update via a confirmation code sent to my Mom's MacBook and it had no affect on my Mom's MacBook. I feel upset about having been accused of causing a problem with my Mom's MacBook not only because I love my Mom and would not want to cause her any discomfort but also because it just hurts to be falsely accused. Thanks for your support.

Reply