How to do a selective transfer of data from an old iMac to a new iMac?
How to do a selective transfer of data from an old iMac to a new iMac?
iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.13
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You can connect the two by Target Disk Mode and copy the files you want to copy over. However please note this will be expensive due to the cables you need to get.
https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/transfer-files-mac-computers-target-disk-mode-mchlp1443/mac
That being said, I don't recommend that approach. I recommend the following:
When you buy a new Mac the easiest, quickest and most reliable method is to simply connect the old Mac's Time
Machine External Hard Disk to the new Mac using a USB cable before you turn on the new Mac. When you start the new Mac for the first time it will startup Setup Assistant (SA), SA will get to a point where it asks if you are migrating from another computer, select Yes and follow the on-screen prompts and it's done! It is THAT simple.
If you have already done SA on the new computer then simply connect the Time Machine External Hard Disk using a USB cable and launch Migration Assistant (MA) which is located in Applications - Utilities - MA. Then follow the on-screen prompts.
The ONLY difference between MA and SA is MA will create a new user account that you need to log into.
Both SA and MA migrate applications (not 32 bit apps) , data files, settings, it does not migrate Mac OS itself. Some professional apps such as Adobe and Microsoft apps may require re-installing their apps as they will not allow them to be migrated. As long as you kept the security keys for installing their apps, it is not a big deal.