Possible Issues with Migration Assistant on macOS Monterey

Over the past few years, I have purchased three new MacBook Pros. The first was a 16" MBP (Intel). The second was a 13" MBP M1. The third was my current 16" MBP M1 Pro. Each of the three had 16 GB Ram and a 1 TB SSD.

Each appeared to run properly in the VERY beginning. But that's hard to judge, as I immediately migrated the data from my 2015 MBP/16GB/1TB. From that point on, I had nothing but issues. I wasted my hours of my time (and that of the technical support staff) trying to remedy, or even determine the issues. I finally gave up on the first two and returned them under Apple's excellent return policy in time to receive a full refund. By the time I ordered the third MBP (6" MBP M1 Pro), I was determined to figure out the cause and work through it.

The initial problem (on all three) was that Safari immediately crashed. (Many other issues as well, but this was the most obvious.) As a developer, I use Safari's "Developer Menu" routines extensively, so that was an absolute game-stopper! Although I returned the first two MBPs, I suffered with the issues for 3-1/2 months before getting it resolved. Although no one at Apple Support provided any solutions, following one of the many OS updates that seemed to fix it... at least the Safari issue. I still have too many issues on that MBP to list them.

In retrospect, it occurred to me that the one key similarity between the three MBPs was that on each one I loaded my apps and personal data via Migration Assistant. So I started to wonder if that might not be the reason for my extensive problems!

Both of my previous MBPs (2011 & 2015 MBP 15", both fully loaded) are running under High Sierra. Before you ask... they are on High Sierra because they both work flawlessly! (If it ain't broke, don't fix it.)

I would still be using one or the other, except that the sound board went out on the 2011 MBP, and the keyboard on the 2015 MBP lost connectivity of a half dozen keyboard keys. I have a replacement keyboard, but have been reluctant to install it, after the PITA of replacing the battery (which needs replacing again). The last thing I need is to accidentally trash the one remaining GOOD system I have.

My first Apple product was the Apple IIe and I've been using Apple computers exclusively since the early 80s. I have no intention of going back to Windows, but I surely can't continue on this route!

For many years, I purchased one new MBP and one new Apple desktop each year. I have always used Migration Assistant (since it was first available) and I always had excellent results. But the layout of the current OS is very different from previous versions (certainly from High Sierra). I hate the thought of manually loading all of my apps and data manually, but I may need to do this in one last attempt before reformatting the drive and selling it! Is anyone aware of similar issues, pursuant to the use of Migration Assistant from an older MacBook? If so, kindly direct me to some relevant topics.

ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE APPRECIATED!

svDrifter