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Migration Assistant - How best to connect the drives

I am changing to a new computer. Going from Sierra to Majave. The Source is still on Sierra (can't easily upgrade) and the Larger (new computer. ) is Mojave. What is the best way to migrate the data. ? II can connect my old computer to my new one as a Target disk or by WiFi, or take the old boot drive and connect it as an external drive to the new computer, which is booted from its Mojave HD. Is one of these better than the others? Thank you

Mac mini, macOS 10.13

Posted on Jan 23, 2021 2:12 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 23, 2021 3:50 PM

I think the simplest way, and it has always worked well for me, it to use an external Time Machine (or clone backup) disk. It's as simple as connecting an external drive and you will also have a good external backup just in case something goes awry. You can even inherit that backup drive and continue to use it on the new Mac.


If you prefer connecting the two Macs, I would use ethernet (which supports fast speeds, is very reliable, but may require an adaptor or adaptors).


I would stay away from the wireless transfer because it will be less reliable and likely significantly slower. You can use target mode but I prefer the external backup drive method over target mode or any direct connection between the two computers because should something crash or there be a power failure while migrating to the new computer (which is the longest stage).


https://support.apple.com/guide/macbook-pro/transfer-your-data-apda75cd668e/2019/mac/10.14.5


https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204350


https://support.apple.com/guide/macbook-pro/transfer-your-data-apda75cd668e/2019/mac/10.14.5

3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 23, 2021 3:50 PM in response to elliottL

I think the simplest way, and it has always worked well for me, it to use an external Time Machine (or clone backup) disk. It's as simple as connecting an external drive and you will also have a good external backup just in case something goes awry. You can even inherit that backup drive and continue to use it on the new Mac.


If you prefer connecting the two Macs, I would use ethernet (which supports fast speeds, is very reliable, but may require an adaptor or adaptors).


I would stay away from the wireless transfer because it will be less reliable and likely significantly slower. You can use target mode but I prefer the external backup drive method over target mode or any direct connection between the two computers because should something crash or there be a power failure while migrating to the new computer (which is the longest stage).


https://support.apple.com/guide/macbook-pro/transfer-your-data-apda75cd668e/2019/mac/10.14.5


https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204350


https://support.apple.com/guide/macbook-pro/transfer-your-data-apda75cd668e/2019/mac/10.14.5

Migration Assistant - How best to connect the drives

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