Restoring brand new Macbook Pro 14" from Time Machine backup of much older MacBook Pro and Mac OS

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Restoring brand new Macbook Pro 14" from Time Machine backup of much older MacBook Pro and Mac OS

Hi, everyone.

I'm hoping to get some advice.

I have a brand new 14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro and I'd like to restore from an older Time Machine backup. The catch is that the Time Machine backup is from a 2017 MacBook Pro running Mac OS X Mojave (10.14.6).

Will the new 14" MacBook Pro, upon initial booting up, be able to use the older Time Machine backup as is? If not, is there any particular sequence of steps I should do to ensure that the migration restoration onto the new machine is a smooth one?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance, everyone!

Posted on Feb 12, 2023 1:17 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

babowa

Level 9

78,171 points

Feb 12, 2023 3:27 PM in response to goalieinplantbio

You start the setup process on your new one and will be asked if you want to transfer from a TM backup - say yes and follow on screen instructions (plug in your TM external drive). Pretty straight forward. The setup assistant will pop up to ask you; you should use it because it'll be easier than using the migration assistant later.

Set up your MacBook Pro - Apple Support

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Answer 2

babowa

Level 9

78,171 points

Feb 12, 2023 1:36 PM in response to goalieinplantbio

Unfortunately, Macs have never been able to boot from an OS version older than what they came with. So, unless your new one never came with that older version of Mojave, there is no way you'd be able to get to boot into it.

You can use an older backup to transfer settings, apps, etc - but not the OS. So, you cannot "restore" it - only transfer contents. Leave the new OS as is > connect the external drive with the TM backup > choose what to transfer.

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Answer 3

Feb 12, 2023 1:42 PM in response to babowa

Thank you for the response! It's much appreciated.

So when I get the new 14" MacBook Pro, I don't necessarily want to "restore" from the older Time Machine backup but can instead choose to only migrate my settings + apps. Is it safe to assume that upon booting up of the newer machine, I'll be provided the option to do this? And that it's pretty explicit on how to do this when initially booting up the new machine?

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Answer 4

Feb 12, 2023 3:49 PM in response to babowa

Thank you, this is exactly what I needed to know!

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Restoring brand new Macbook Pro 14" from Time Machine backup of much older MacBook Pro and Mac OS

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