Migrating between old MacBook Pro to new MacBook Pro

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Level 1

4 points

Migrating between old MacBook Pro to new MacBook Pro

Hi !

I want to transfer all my Data and Apps from my old MacBook Pro 2019 (with OS Catalina 10.15.7) to a new MacBook Pro with M4 Max chip and OS 26 Tahoe .

I plan to use Migration Assistant from my old MacBook 2019 TimeMachine Full backup on external SSD.

BUT: I would like to KEEP OS Catalina on my old MacBook 2019 since I have special software that would work on OS 26.

Is this possible ???

(Migration Assistant seems to require that I first update my old MacBook 2019 to Tahoe first, which I cannot afford to do.)

Many thanks for your help.

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Oct 21, 2025 7:49 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Camelot

Level 9

58,203 points

Oct 21, 2025 11:14 AM in response to denysmus

I don't understand the issue.

> I plan to use Migration Assistant from my old MacBook 2019 TimeMachine Full backup on external SSD.

If you're using Migration Assistant to restore from a Time Machine backup, then it doesn't make any difference what the old machine is running before, during, or after the migration, since it simply isn't part of the equation.

Get the new MacBook Pro, set it up, use Migration Assistant to restore your data. Done.

There is no need to touch, upgrade, or do anything with the old MacBook Pro, other than maybe have something to use while Migration Assistant is doing its thing...?

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