Setting up a new or repurposed Mac may involve updating its firmware – EFI, SMC, and T2 chip if necessary. You can’t do that using imaging, but must run an Apple system installer or updater.
T2
A table showing the main choices when using System Migration, and more detail on how the process works.
Wondering what happened to the iMac 2018 and the replacement for the 5 year-old Mac Pro? We should see them in 2019, inevitably with T2 chips.
With Apple’s SSD prices so high, you may for the first time have less internal storage in your new Mac than your old one. Tips to help you cope.
Three workthroughs considering options and issues in migrating to a new Mac, with info on late migration, macOS upgrading, and Thunderbolt adaptors.
Can you trust Disk Utility to securely erase hard drives and SSDs? How to prepare your Mac’s internal storage before selling it, so you don’t give your bank details away with it. And much more.
Don’t just throw it in a box and send it off: what happens if its internal storage is replaced or wiped? What about protecting sensitive files? Does a T2 chip make this difficult?
More work to be done before your migration is fully complete: check your workflows, key security settings, disk health, licensing, backups.
What if you can’t or don’t want to use Migration Assistant to move your files from your old to a new Mac? Here it can get more complicated. Tips and solutions to help.
The simplest and best way, when it works. But have you considered migrating from a Time Machine backup instead, and what if it doesn’t work when setting up?
