Transferring photos and songs from iMac 2012 to new iMac 2024 Sequoia

In addition to using an external hard drive, as léonie suggested, you could try using Target Mode to connect the two Macs together directly.

Transfer files between two Mac computers using target disk mode - Apple Support

Basically you connect the computers with a USB cable and set one to Target Mode so the other can read its internal drive. I tried it the other day and it was kinda fun to explore one computer's drive from the other.

Target Mode is different for Silicon Macs than for older intel Macs, and I haven't tried connecting two different kinds. It seems more likely that the new iMac could read the 2012 Mac's drive format rather than vice-versa, so I'd think that you'd want to switch the old one to target mode.

I think I have an older Mac around that I can try out. Let us know if you try this and how it goes…

Your Mac with El Capitan already supports the Photos.app.

• If the Photos are in a Photos Library (look in your Pictures folder for an item "Photos Library.photoslibrary" and copy this complete Library to your new Mac.
• If the photos are still in an iPhoto Library you have to open this library first in Photos to create a Photos Library from it. Drag the iPhoto Library onto the Photos icon in your Applications folder. Photos should then create a new Photos Library from your iPhoto Library. If you do not do this while still running El Capitan, you will lose the albums, folders, events from your iPhoto Library. Then transfer the new Photos Library.photoslibrary to your ne Mac.

For the Music, see here: Move your iTunes library to a new computer - Apple Community

The problem is, that you have waited a very long time to make the switch to the current system versions. It would have been less complicated, if you have made the move before macOS 10.15 Catalina came out. macOS 10.15 Catalina has replaced iTunes by Music.iPhoto does no longer run on Catalina Macs, and you many older media formats are no longer supported. Your new Mac may not be able to play some of the songs or videos from your old libraries. You may need to convert them to a more compatible format, and that will be easier to do on your old Mac that still supports the codecs. So keep your new Mac until you are sure that you can open all photos, videos, and audio files on your new Mac. This deprecation of the older legal formats has been so long ago, that Apple already has removed the support documents: How to Weed out Legacy Media in Photos fo… - Apple Community

Hi,

léonie probably knows more about Photos than I do, but as far as iTunes/Music is concerned Sequoia won't convert an iTunes library made in anything earlier than the Mojave version of iTunes. I have a late 2012 Mac mini running both Music and the Mojave iTunes which I've been using to convert libraries for people by way of an exchange of emails. The Monterey version of Music tends to choke when converting .itl files so I've mainly been doing those, but Music will complain about older .itl files as well. You can find my email address in my profile here. If you send me your .itl file, or a link to it in iCloud Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc. I will post you back a working .musiclibrary package and advice on how to get your Music library working on your new system.

tt2

Which system version is installed on the old Mac? Are your photos in a Photos Library or have you still been using iPhoto or Aperture? Is your music in an iTunes Library?

Basically you need to transfer the libraries.for example by copying them to an exert drive and then copying them from the external drive to your new Mac.It will depend on the kind of libraries how to migrate them to Phots and Music.

Sorry for the typos: I meant to write:

"Your new Mac may not be able to play some of the songs or videos from your old libraries. You may need to convert them to a more compatible format, and that will be easier to do on your old Mac that still supports the codecs. So keep your old Mac until you are sure that you can open all photos, videos, and audio files on your new Mac. This deprecation of the older legacy formats has been so long ago, that Apple already has removed the support documents: How to Weed out Legacy Media in Photos fo… - Apple Community"

Thanks a lot for joining this discussion, tt2. I was afraid, that migrating the music library would be even more difficult than migrating the old iPhoto Libraries, given the many changes between the system versions.