Migration Assistant. Monterey to Big Sur?

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Level 1

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Migration Assistant. Monterey to Big Sur?

I just purchased a new M1 MacBook Pro 13, which will arrive soon. I want to use Migration Assistant to start it from a time machine backup to replace my current 2018 IntelMBP.

My only concern is that I think the new MBP might ship with an earlier MacOS than I'm running on my 2018 MBP and if that matters.

Should I start the new Mac from the backup and then update? Or Start it, update and then migrate?

Thanks in advance for your input. I couldn't find any answers for this in my web searches, which may just be because it's a non-issue, but still wanted to ask.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.3

Posted on May 16, 2022 12:11 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Old Toad

Level 10

208,295 points

May 16, 2022 12:52 PM in response to WEDavis

If you purchased the new iMac from Apple in the last few days it will have the very latest system on it, either 12.3.1 or 12.4.

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Answer 2

PRP_53

Level 10

86,119 points

May 16, 2022 1:03 PM in response to WEDavis

Agree with @Old Toad regarding recent purchase will have Monterey installed. As for the exact version of Monterey, as 12.4 was only released today Monday May 16, 2022 - your machine will be close to up to date but may required the 12.4 applied shortly after receipt.

Two cent regard migrating. if consider Migrating from Old to New M1 Application Silicon

f the new computer is going to be the Apple Silicon M1 Equipped Computer - would suggest Only Migrating the User Account and nothing more.

Some have had success and other have been left with a mess when Migrating everything.

1 - Apple Silicon with either Big Sur macOS 11 or Monterey macOS 12 Only Support everything 64 bit and there is no workaround.

2 - Issues that may exist on the older computer will be migrated to the New Computer. This would badly pollute the new Original and Pristine installation of the new OS.

3 - Applications, extensions and Software Drivers may or may not even work on the new computer.

4 - IMHO - it would be best to only install new application etc Directly from the Developer or the Apple Apps Store.

5 - Due Diligence on New Applications and make sure they are Monterey / Big Sur compatible and factor in the ARMs CPU of the Apple Silicon Computer

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Answer 3

WEDavis Author

Level 1

4 points

May 17, 2022 8:33 AM in response to PRP_53

Thanks for the help. In looking through my apps in System information, I only have 1 app on my Mac that isn't "universal" and it is 64bit. I think I'll give Migration Assistant a go. Def less work that manually moving everything, which I'll do if it doesn't work right.

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Answer 4

May 17, 2022 9:34 AM in response to WEDavis

Migration assistant does not migrate the OS, just files and programs and system info, passwords, etc. If you have a lot of files, like 800GB, transfer takes long and the progress window gives a hint how long. If you decide to go from computer to computer, and if a big transfer, recommend using ethernet over Apple's recommended WI-FI. In my case for unknown reasons wi-fi dropped after an hour and it was hours before realizing the transfer was hung.

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Answer 5

WEDavis Author

Level 1

4 points

May 17, 2022 6:46 PM in response to WEDavis

Just so it exists if someone else has the same questions I did. When I started migration assistant, it knew that my old Mac had a newer version of MacOS (13.3.1) than the new one and asked me to update the new Mac before I migrated anything. Once the new Mac updated itself (to 13.4), it recognized that I had a Thunderbolt cable connecting the two machines and it copied the 500gig in less time than it took to do the update.

Everything seems to have copied over no problem and other than some annoying permission pop-ups, things are fine. When I ran my first intel app, it asked me to download Rosetta 2 and the app runs fine. I"ll post here if anything worth mentioning pops up.

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Migration Assistant. Monterey to Big Sur?

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