New M4 Mac Mini needs more memory and botched migration from iMac

Time Machine does not care about memory. Do you perhaps mean storage? Those are 2 very different things.

If so, you are supposed select the amount storage you need when you buy it. It's one of the options you choose. You can get as much as you need. You should also be aware of how much you got.

If bought from Apple or an authorized reseller, you have 14 days to return it for a full refund, and get one with more storage if you need.

In any case, Time Machine won't restore to an external drive. You can set up the Mac Mini without restoring a backup and then transfer files and data from the old one to the new one manually if you want.

Yes, you can get an external drive to hold more files and data if you wish, but it won't add storage that Time Machine can use for the migration.

Robin Reed1 wrote:

Thank you, but I was using Migration Assistant to move files from the old computer to the new. I was hoping that adding, yes, storage (My old iMac stil has a magnetic hard drive, I hadn't heard it called storage before) would allow Migration Assistant to finish the job.

Migration Assistant will not migrate things to an external drive. (Well, technically speaking, if the external drive is your boot drive, migration assistant will transfer things to it ... but that is not the case here.)

What is the capacity of the SSD in your new mini? 256GB? 512GB?

If you want to keep your new mini, first erase & reinstall macOS. Then run Migration Assistant again but only transfer your Apps and User Account, not "Other Files and Folders" or "System & Network." If migration still fails, then there is too much data in your User folder for the capacity of the SSD in your new mini.

Even so, I still suggest returning the mini and getting one with sufficient storage for now & for growth. In the long run you will be happier.

Robin Reed1 wrote:

I bought a new Mini yesterday to replace my Intel iMac. I was trying to save money so I got the cheapest one. Did not realize how little memory it has. So migration kept stopping and the Mini told me there was no more room.

Now the Mini is only partially loaded. I have been looking at external SSDs. If I get one should I erase the Mini and start over? And if start Migration again will it put everything on the new SSD? Anything else I should know?

You have 14 days from the date of purchase to take it back for a full refund no questions asked.

Since the new Mini M4s come with a minimum of 16 GB of memory that should be sufficient. However, I would not get any Mac with less than 1 TB of internal storage.

So take it back within the 14 days and get one with 1 TB storage, take it home and run the setup and migrate the data from your old Mac or, better yet, from the Time Machine backup you have for your old Mac. Do not try migrating via WiFi as it is very slow and submits to errors due to possible dropouts.

You should erase the mini & reinstall macOS. Then return it and purchase another one that has sufficient RAM & storage. If you bought the mini direct from Apple you can return it up to 14 days after purchase.

Just adding an external SSD is not going to solve the migration problem.

What you need to do is return the Mac mini you purchased and buy one with enough Storage (note this is not memory) so you can migrate successfully!!!! First check to see how much is stored on the old iMac (if you don't know how here is a YouTube video that explains how to check, this one is for a MacBook but the process is identical for an iMac) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmOBx4eWqjY

Then you will know how much. you have on the old iMac. Make sure you order the Mac mini that has at least the same amount or more as your old iMac!!!!!!!!!!

Honestly (and please believe me I'm not trying to be harsh, mean or critical) before buying a new computer please do your homework ahead of time rather than just thinking of the costs involved.

Finally, in order to migrate correctly please click Setup Assistant and Migration Assistant

Do NOT return your mini for one with a larger SSD.

A mere 256GB extra will cost you £200!!!!!!

For that price you can buy a 2TB SSD ( 8 times bigger) and still have a hefty sum left over.

Do NOT use migration assistant as it will probably transfer a load of garbage in the process.

Simply manually copy across everything you need . . . it doesn't have to be done immediately . . . you can take your time over a few days.

One thing you can try is to connect the two Macs via Target Disk Mode with the iMac in the TDM. That way the iMac will appear as an external drive on your Mini facilitating easy copying of files to your Mini and to an external drive.

For budget reasons I use this type:

I have my Photos and Music libraries on an EHD. I have a couple of the 1 TB connected to my Mini.

If the Author doesn't have more storage than the Mac he's trying to migrate his data from it won't work.

Which is precisely why he should not be using Migration Assistant. I cannot understand why anyone would want to use MA?

Manually copying the home folder to an external drive will take ten seconds to set up and an hour or so (depending on the speed of the old Mac drive) for the computer to do the actual copying.

After that anything that needs to be on the internal drive can be quickly moved.