When using Migration Assistant, do I need to transfer all my files at the same time or can I transfer different files over a period of time?
iMac 21.5″, macOS 11.2
Migration is all or nothing. The fastest, eastest and best way to Migrate, is to plug your old Mac's Time Machine backup drive into the new Mac and Migrate from it during the initial setup. Do not try and Migrate over your local network, because it is slow and prone to failure.
If you have already setup your new Mac, then Migration will leave your new Mac with both a new and old user Account.
Migration is all or nothing. The fastest, eastest and best way to Migrate, is to plug your old Mac's Time Machine backup drive into the new Mac and Migrate from it during the initial setup. Do not try and Migrate over your local network, because it is slow and prone to failure.
If you have already setup your new Mac, then Migration will leave your new Mac with both a new and old user Account.
While an outside backup services seam like a good plan, you should also keep a local backup (Time Machine, CarbonCopyCloner, SuperDuper) on an external drive for this reason.
That way you can safely Migrate during the initial setup of a new Mac and then carry on without having to bit and piece things from the backup service.
At this point your options are,
If you don't want to use Time Machine, at least create a drag + drop type backup of your files onto an external hard drive. I would not rely on a network. For this scenario, you could then actually copy over a folder at a time. This applies to files you're created that are in your User folder.
Get an OWC or other external drive that has USB-C 3.1 then you can plug it directly into either Mac without needing any adapters.
It would be extremely wise to create a Time Machine backup and use MA to migrate.
Thank you for your help. I don't have a Time Machine backup drive but use an outside service to backup my iMac. So I guess it means using the backup service files to migrate to the new iMac or using Apple's Migration Assistant to migrate over my network from my existing iMac to my new iMac. But the question still is, do I need to migrate all my files at one time or can I selectively migrate, for example my document files now, but not my photo files and migrate them at a later date?
You don't need an exceptionally fast or expensive external hard drive.
You do however want to get one that is reliable and easy to connect to both Mac's.
Have a look > https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/external-storage#drive-configuration:single-bay
However before I can suggest the best one above, I need to know exactly what year model 21.5" iMac you have?
I currently don't have an external hard drive but most people suggested that with Time Machine to be the best option. Any suggestions on which brand/size external drive I should consider for my iMac?
What most experience users on these forums recommend is the OWC Mercury Elite Pro due to it's high quality, reasonable price, great service from the vendor and its longevity.
2017 with 8 GB memory and an Intel i5 2.3 GHz processor
Great, thanks.
When using Migration Assistant, do I need to transfer all my files at the same time or can I transfer different files over a period of time?
