Best way to migrate from old Macbook pro to new one?

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Best way to migrate from old Macbook pro to new one?

So I got a 2015 Macbook Pro yesterday, realised I hadn't backed up my old one with Time Machine so did that for the first time. Because it took pretty much an entire day (and I'm impatient), I went through setup on my new laptop and played around with it a bit.

Then today I used Migration Assistant to transfer my stuff over from the Airport Time Capsule to my new macbook but it's been going for 4 hours already and it's about an 8th of the way through. (It's estimating 8 hours but I changes every few minutes).

It there a faster way to do this? I don't have any thunderbolt cables & don't really want to spend £30 on one. I have an external hard drive so would it be quicker to backup my old macbook to that and then transfer it to my new one? and, this might be a stupid question, but is there a way to connect the Time Capsule to my new macbook and migrate that way? as in through a cable or something?

ALSO, if i stop the migration on my new macbook will it mess it up? There's really nothing on it, so is there a way to restore it to factory settings?

If this helps the old macbook is using Yosemite 10.10.2 and the new one is probably using the newest version.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on May 6, 2015 6:12 AM

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Answer 1

dwb

Level 7

32,920 points

May 6, 2015 7:03 AM in response to rachel_03

Using WiFi to restore or migrate is one of the biggest reasons why I recommend against the TimeCapsule. However you can connect your computer to it physically. Check out this Web sitefor an explanation. All you’ll need is a standard Ethernet cable. The alternative is as you’ve already suggested: back up the old computer to an external drive and then use it to set up the new one.

Ending your migration in midstream isn’t going to harm the computer but you’ll wind up with an incomplete installation which isn’t good. If you choose this route I recommend that you restart the computer in Recovery Mode (command R) and then erase the hard drive. Download the OS and let it install and then go through the process of setting up the new computer again. When you get to the Setup option answer yes and your data and applications (if you so choose) will be migrated to the new computer.

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Answer 2

May 6, 2015 7:07 AM in response to rachel_03

I would restore OS X on the new computer. Normally that would be done from the recovery disk. However, that leaves whatever you were doing when you "became impatient."

I would probably restore the new computer to factory settings (knowledge base articles will guide you). Then I would wait until the old one is completely backed up to Time Machine than then activate the new one from there.

Preaching a bit, but you caused yourself some unnecessary problems. Preaching #2.....letting Time Machine automatically back up your computer is a good idea. Not backing up is a bad idea 😉

Barry

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Answer 3

rachel_03 Author

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May 6, 2015 7:29 AM in response to dwb

Thank you! I'm gonna try connecting the Time Capsule to the laptop 🙂

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Answer 4

rachel_03 Author

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May 6, 2015 7:32 AM in response to rachel_03

Wait never mind, I've just realised I don't have an ethernet port on my laptop... Or an adaptor :/

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Answer 5

rachel_03 Author

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May 6, 2015 7:38 AM in response to Barry Hemphill

I didn't realise how awkward I would make things by going through startup :/ And I'll definitely keep the automatic backups going in the future! i'll restore the new one now thanks 🙂

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Answer 6

Csound1

Level 9

59,973 points

May 6, 2015 7:41 AM in response to rachel_03

Return the Mac to as new (no user accounts) then use Setup Assistant instead of Migration Assistant, it's a lot simpler. More haste = Less speed.

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Answer 7

dwb

Level 7

32,920 points

May 6, 2015 7:48 AM in response to rachel_03

Sorry about that - one of the first things I bought when I got my 2011 MBA was a USB Ethernet adaptor so I don’t think about the lack of Ethernet on the new MBPr and Airs. So, the choice is down to backing up to the external hard drive and restoring with it. As I suggested & Csound1 has said, it is much better to wipe and install the OS first and then migrate during the setup part of the OS installation.

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