migration assistance

Please follow the steps in Setup Assistant and Migration Assistant. This is the fastest, easiest and most reliable method. It only requires that you have a Time Machine backup of the older Mac. If you do not have one please make one! If you do not know how please follow Apple's instructions in Back up your Mac with Time Machine and if you need and external HD to use, many experienced users on these forums prefer the OWC Mercury Elite Pro due to their high reliability, reasonable cost and great service from the vendor.

NOTE: iCloud is NOT repeat NOT a backup. It is intended as a method to store your documents across your Apple devices. It does not backup Mac OS, Applications or settings. Time Machine does all of this.

You can use Migration Assistant and follow it’s instructions, or you can use iCloud, and once iCloud is setup properly, your Documents and Desktop folders will automatically synchronise between any Mac or iPad on the same Apple ID. Or you can use an external drive, and copy the files to it, before pasting them onto the new machine.

I would typically just use iCloud for such a purpose, it is probably the simplest as long as you have a decent internet connection.