Hello,
I'm trying to move from a 2017 Intel iMac to an M2 Studio.
I used Migration Assistant, but noticed that it had upgraded me to Sonoma on the Studio. I was on Ventura on the iMac as some of my third party plugins didn't work with Sonoma.
Is there any way of returning to Ventura, or a way of keeping the OS with Migration Assistant?
Thanks in advance,
Ben
Migration Assistant runs in a full version of MacOS, already installed on each computer. They do not have to be the same version or for the same processor-type.
MacOS itself is NOT Migrated when using Migration Assistant.
MacOS is NOT Updated to a later version using Migration Assistant. The version of MacOS running on the new machine when completed will be EXACTLY the same version as when you started, and no Restart is included in the process of Migration.
Note there are no checkboxes for MacOS itself.
No, migration moves your data into the new macOS version on the new Mac.
Plus you can not run an early macOS version than what originally came on the Mac.
you might be able to drop your Mac Studio back to its original "shipped-in-the-box" version of MacOS, which EveryMac says is MacOS 13.4 Ventura. to do that, you would have to erase the drive so that no trace of macOS 10.14 exists anywhere, then restore the "original" MacOS.
BUT: there is some chance that it might call 10.14 Sonoma the original, and only offer 10.14 Sonaoma.
What to do before you sell, give away, trade in, or recycle your Mac - Apple Support
Nope.
Smoke00 wrote:
Thanks everyone. A quick follow-up question: is Migration Assistant okay to use to go from Intel to M2 or should I have done a clean install of everything?
You're welcome.
Yes, I have migrated from several Intel Mac's to new Silicon Mac's without any issues.
Plus I have helped setup a dozens silicon Mac's in the last year and none required a fresh install.
den.thed has it right.
<< none required a fresh install. >.
That said, Best Practice is that 'when there is any question that MacOS integrity might be compromised', a 'fresh install From Primary sources' is what is called for.
By design, a Re-install of same or later version of Mac OS is intended to not disturb user files in any way. Only System Directories are bulk-erased. However, since it involves re-writing over 350,000 files, if your disk had issues when you started, it might develop even more issues before that process completed.
A backup before Re-install or Update is the Prudent way to proceed.
Thanks everyone. A quick follow-up question: is Migration Assistant okay to use to go from Intel to M2 or should I have done a clean install of everything?
How To Keep OS with Migration Assistant
