Best way to switch MacBooks with someone?

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Level 1

22 points

Best way to switch MacBooks with someone?

My son and I want to switch our current MacBooks (2020 MacBook Air and a 2019 MacBook Pro) with one another; I want his Touch Bar, he wants my higher RAM, etc.

What is the most efficient and fail-proof way to do this? I know how to transfer from one Mac to another, but one of us is going to have to wipe our MacBook and restore it from something else, right? We each have a 4 TB USB external drive and backed up all files and apps to them. But in order to store a Time Capsule backup for quick MacBook restore, Time Machine requires that the external drive be erased first. I don't really want to do that.

Any tips?

MacBook Air (2020 or later)

Posted on Aug 14, 2021 10:40 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Encryptor5000

Level 5

7,568 points

Aug 14, 2021 11:31 AM in response to tj_610

Hi tj_610,

If you have sufficient space on both external drives, you can use Disk Utility to add another partition to each external drive. The new partition for each external drive must be larger than the amount of used space on the corresponding Mac.

Complete the below steps for both drives:

Connect the external drive to your Mac.
Open Disk Utility, located in Applications -> Utilities.
Click the View button, then select Show All Devices.
Select the top level of your external drive, then click Partition.
A pie chart should now appear, representing the external disk. Click (+) to add a new partition.
Select the desired size for the new partition. Give it a unique name, and select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as the format. Then click Apply.
A verification prompt should appear. Ensure that nothing is getting erased, then click Partition to confirm.
Wait for the partitioning process to complete. Do not disconnect the external disk until the process is complete.
In Time Machine preferences (inside System Preferences), instruct Time Machine to back up to the new partition.

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Answer 2

tj_610 Author

Level 1

22 points

Aug 14, 2021 10:58 AM in response to muguy

Thank you, but I already know those procedures, and it doesn’t answer my actual question. I know I can wipe one MacBook ( let’s call it MB1) using those steps, and then transfer the other one (MB2) to the wiped one (MB1). But then after I wipe MB2, am I stuck just manually importing my apps and files saved from MB1 on my external drive, or is there another way?

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Answer 3

muguy

Level 10

82,405 points

Aug 14, 2021 11:10 AM in response to tj_610

You either restore from Time Machine or you manually move your files. If you have other apps installed that cannot be easily downloaded again, Time Machine may be the best option. Otherwise, just move your stuff.

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