The Apple Support Community will permanently close on November 20, 2026. Starting today, the site will no longer accept new posts and is available in a read-only state.
You can continue to find trusted guidance and support on the official Apple Support site.
We want to thank the community members who have contributed their time and expertise to help others with their Apple products.
The Apple Support Community will permanently close on November 20, 2026. Starting today, the site will no longer accept new posts and is available in a read-only state.
You can continue to find trusted guidance and support on the official Apple Support site.
We want to thank the community members who have contributed their time and expertise to help others with their Apple products.
I have an older MacBook Air from 2018 with OS Catalina. I am planning to buy a new MacBook Air with OS Sonoma.Can I use Time Machine which has all my backups?
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.13
Yes, you can. There are several ways you can set up a new Mac: Transfer to a new Mac with Migration Assistant - Apple Support.
No, the 2 Mac do not need to be on the same version of macOS. You will have no issues transferring from a Mac using macOS Catalina to a Mac using macOS Sonoma.
By the way, your MacBook Air 2018 is already compatible with macOS Sonoma.
Thank you.I looked at the link you sent and it looks like I need the same OS on both machines to use Migration Assistant. My older laptop has Catalina and I can't upgrade anymore (no more space.) Is that going to be a problem?
Can I use Time Machine to restore from an older MacBook Air to a new MacBook Air ?
