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User profile for user: rkarakis
rkarakis Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

Migration

What files should I transfer when migrating to a new iMac (Big Sur) from an older iMac (High Sierra)?

iMac 21.5″, macOS 11.3

Posted on May 9, 2021 11:02 AM

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User profile for user: den.thed
den.thed
User level: Level 10
82,540 points

Posted on May 9, 2021 12:50 PM

If you would have migrated from your TM backup during the setup, then your user docs, music, other media and preferences would have been properly transferred into the newer apps.


From this point you have three options.

  1. Start over. Erase and reinstall macOS on the new Mac, then properly migrate from your Time Machine backup.
  2. Migrate as is, which will give you a new and an old account, where you can painfully merge the old into the new.
  3. Leave things as they are and then slowly move data from the old Mac to the new Mac using an external drive or over your local network.
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User profile for user: den.thed
den.thed
User level: Level 10
82,540 points

May 9, 2021 12:50 PM in response to rkarakis

If you would have migrated from your TM backup during the setup, then your user docs, music, other media and preferences would have been properly transferred into the newer apps.


From this point you have three options.

  1. Start over. Erase and reinstall macOS on the new Mac, then properly migrate from your Time Machine backup.
  2. Migrate as is, which will give you a new and an old account, where you can painfully merge the old into the new.
  3. Leave things as they are and then slowly move data from the old Mac to the new Mac using an external drive or over your local network.
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User profile for user: rkarakis
rkarakis Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

May 9, 2021 12:25 PM in response to den.thed

I’ve already gone thru the initial setup and my concern now is that the Time Machine backup is from the old Mac running High Sierra while the new iMac is running Big Sur. Pages, Numbers (and other built-in apps, probably) are also running newer versions. How to otherwise clone the old Mac while keeping the new iOS and apps?

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Migration

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