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Mail and Photo Transfer to new iMac

I have a late 2013 iMac running El Capitan 10.11.6. I am purchasing a new iMac, however, in order to get a trade-in rebate, I have to bring in the old machine at the same time that I will be purchasing the new one, so the old machine won't be available to transfer the files using a cable.


I need to make sure I can move the mail and photos to the new machine. If I back up this data to iCloud, will it be available to download on the new machine? I'm concerned because the iOS versions aren't compatible and I have lost data before due to incompatibility. (I don't have a lot of experience with iMacs.)


Any tips to avoid losing data would be greatly appreciated!

Posted on Nov 19, 2021 9:59 AM

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Posted on Nov 19, 2021 10:02 AM

Your email is attached to the email account that you use. So, when you set up your new Mac, your email will go to the server you set up and download your messages. If you have mail "on my computer," you'll want to move those messages for safe keeping.


If you use iCloud photos and have your photos synced to the cloud, you new Mac will download your photos when you turn on iCloud. If you don't, you'll want to make a backup of your photo library. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204264


You may wish to make a Time Machine backup of your device to capture your data and documents. You can then migrate that data to your new Mac. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201250

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2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 19, 2021 10:02 AM in response to reggie1942

Your email is attached to the email account that you use. So, when you set up your new Mac, your email will go to the server you set up and download your messages. If you have mail "on my computer," you'll want to move those messages for safe keeping.


If you use iCloud photos and have your photos synced to the cloud, you new Mac will download your photos when you turn on iCloud. If you don't, you'll want to make a backup of your photo library. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204264


You may wish to make a Time Machine backup of your device to capture your data and documents. You can then migrate that data to your new Mac. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201250

Mail and Photo Transfer to new iMac

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