How to upgrade from iMac to Mac mini M4?

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Level 1

8 points

How to upgrade from iMac to Mac mini M4?

I read a great reply to this question which advised the best/easiest way to migrate all data from a late 2014 iMac to my new Mac Mini M4.

The advice says: plug in the dedicated external drive where Time Machine backups from iMac are stored into the Mac Mini M4 before booting it up and then follow the on-screen instructions. Choose the external drive during Setup Assistant and it will easy.

This will be the first time I've migrated from a Mac to another Mac, so I class myself as a real nooby, hence the question below.

My question relates to the different Mac OS's. My iMac is running Big Sur version 11.7.10 which is the latest the iMac would update to. The Mac Mini will ship with Mac OS 15 Sequoia, but I'm not sure what version.

I think it's likely the Mac Mini will want to update the latest version of Sequoia when I boot it up. Will this "interruption" to the SA process adversely affect Setup Assistant?

iMac 27″

Posted on Feb 13, 2025 05:19 AM

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Answer 1

samtenor

Level 4

2,074 points

Feb 13, 2025 06:01 AM in response to Daylight56

When the target destination's MacOS is "newer" - you won't be asked to upgrade the MacOS version.

In your case, you just migrate with external TimeMachine Drive first. You can later upgrade the MacOS at your leisure time.

You might have to re-download some of the Applications (or re-activate) per the Apps discretion.

I recently migrate to a larger capacity MacBook Air, the target drive's MacOS is 15. My source MBA is running 15.3. During the migration process (using TimeMachine), I was asked to upgrade to 15.3 -- all in 1-shot deal. Despite the extra "upgrade time" -- the process was seamless.

You just follow the steps - should be self-explanatory.

Best

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