gwesq wrote:
I have lots of extraneous stuff on my old Air that I won't want to transfer. Is there a way to designate what I want to transfer when using the backup? If I skip things, I want to be sure I'm not losing anything essential. But I don't want all the clutter I have now.
You could use a program like Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! to back up the contents of your old MacBook Air to an external hard drive (or two, for safety) – then later, manually restore files from that backup, if you liked.
Currently, I am using an external monitor at home, plugged in to one of the ports on the Air using the adapter shown in the photo. How will I connect a monitor to the New Air, since I don't believe it has the same port?
Your Early 2014 MacBook Air has a Thunderbolt port, with a Mini DisplayPort that doubles as a Mini DisplayPort. I'm guessing that your adapter goes from Mini DisplayPort to whatever your monitor needs (DP, mDP, HDMI, or even DVI).
A new MacBook Air will have two multi-purpose USB4 ports. These have USB-C connectors and can carry USB, DisplayPort, and Thunderbolt signals.
My guess is that what you want is
- A USB-C to Mini DisplayPort socket adapter (into which to plug your existing cables), or
- A USB-C to (DisplayPort, Mini DispayPort, HDMI, single-link) adapter cable to replace your existing cables. (USB-C for the computer end, whatever your monitor needs for the other.)
You can find both on Amazon. My preference would be for a 3 or 6-foot adapter cable that goes directly from your Mac to your monitor. Those cables aren't very expensive.
Also, I became frustrated with the jumpiness of the apple bluetooth mouse, so I have a mouse connected via USB. But no USB ports on the Air, so how do I do this?
Further, I have a Time Machine backup on an external drive, and I will use this backup to transfer. BUT - the drive connects via USB, so how will I connect to the new Air?
Both of the USB4 ports on the new Air are USB ports. But they have USB-C (not USB-A) connectors. (USB4 requires these connectors, which can potentially carry more things, and higher-speed things, than the USB-A ones.)
If you look on Amazon (and elsewhere), you'll find all sorts of ways to attach USB-A devices to USB-C ports … including
- Short adapter cables (like the Apple one and the AmazonBasics one)
- Inline plug adapters ("three for $10")
- Inexpensive USB-A hubs that have four or more ports and have a USB-C cable for plugging into the computer
- USB-C and Thunderbolt hubs and docks with varying prices and capabilities.
Because the M2 MacBook Airs only have two USB4 (TB) ports and a MagSafe 2 charging port, you may find that you want to get some sort of desktop or portable dock to add more ports and a card reader.
Still further, I do photography, and I now upload photos from an SD card via the card slot in my computer. But it seems the new Air does not have a card slot(?), so how do I get my pics onto the new Air?
External card reader. You can get standalone ones – I have one that's about the same size as a USB thumb drive – or get one as part of a dock or hub. (Some all-in-one printers also have them built in.)
Wondering IF, in fact, I should switch to a MacBook Pro? I do NO gaming, and use it mainly for web, mail & photography (Lightroom). I travel with it about 2 - 3 times a year.
The 14"/16" MacBook Pros don't have any USB-A ports, although there are various other reasons to look at them.
