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Migration from Intel Mac to M2 Mac

Apple's basic instruction for Migration Assistant is to include whatever you want, but here in Community and in a few places online, it says to only migrate the user account(s) or NOT to migrate applications. Does anyone know enough to speak with knowledge rather than opinion?


MacBook Air Apple Silicon

Posted on Nov 25, 2022 6:14 AM

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Posted on Nov 25, 2022 7:16 AM

If the new computer is going to be the Apple Silicon M1 / M2 Equipped Computer - would suggest Only Migrating the User Account and nothing more.


Yes, I am one of those the user maybe referring to - that is fine and no offence taken.


Some have had success and others have been left with a mess when Migrating everything.


1 - Apple Silicon with Big Sur macOS 11 / Monterey macOS 12 or Ventura macOS 13 Only Support everything 64 bit and there is no workaround.


2 - Issues that may exist on the older computer will be migrated to the New Computer. This would badly pollute the new Original and Pristine installation of the new OS.


3 -  Applications, extensions and Software Drivers may or may not even work on the new computer.


4 - IMHO - it would be best to only install new application etc Directly from the Developer or the Apple Apps Store.


5 - Due Diligence on New Applications and make sure they are Ventura / Monterey / Big Sur compatible and factor in the ARMs CPU of the Apple Silicon Computer  

13 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 25, 2022 7:16 AM in response to das33

If the new computer is going to be the Apple Silicon M1 / M2 Equipped Computer - would suggest Only Migrating the User Account and nothing more.


Yes, I am one of those the user maybe referring to - that is fine and no offence taken.


Some have had success and others have been left with a mess when Migrating everything.


1 - Apple Silicon with Big Sur macOS 11 / Monterey macOS 12 or Ventura macOS 13 Only Support everything 64 bit and there is no workaround.


2 - Issues that may exist on the older computer will be migrated to the New Computer. This would badly pollute the new Original and Pristine installation of the new OS.


3 -  Applications, extensions and Software Drivers may or may not even work on the new computer.


4 - IMHO - it would be best to only install new application etc Directly from the Developer or the Apple Apps Store.


5 - Due Diligence on New Applications and make sure they are Ventura / Monterey / Big Sur compatible and factor in the ARMs CPU of the Apple Silicon Computer  

Nov 25, 2022 7:06 AM in response to das33

You may have outdated third-party applications that have installed drivers on your Intel Mac that would break on Ventura (M2). Some of those applications may tie their license to that Intel Mac's drive. You may also have older versions Pages, Numbers, or Keynote applications that are not compatible with Ventura. In any case, migrate your user data and settings, not Applications.


After the migration is done, and for third-party applications, revisit those vendors for the versions that they do support on Ventura and particularly on Apple Silicon if available, and reinstall them.


Have you already confirmed that your printer/scanner vendor(s) have current drivers that support Ventura and Apple Silicon Macs? Supported in Apple's AirPrint without need for vendor drivers?

Nov 27, 2022 10:23 AM in response to PRP_53

Thanks, each and every one of you!


There were some complications that I noticed very quickly, so I've decided to migrate again. This time I'm only going to allow my user account to move to the M2 machine.


  1. Should I do a factory reset, or will it suffice to let Migration Assistant replace the user account?
  2. After I move my user account, can I use Migration Assistant to migrate a 2nd person's user account?

Nov 25, 2022 8:41 AM in response to tbirdvet

I had to make the first clean install in ten years when I set up my new MacBook Air M2, out of necessity. The new Mac has been delivered to me while I was in hospital (I just had received a new knee joint implant) and there was not much space around my bed to handle external drives as well as new computer as the nurses have been cluttering up the available space with medical devices. So I set the MBA up by simply downloading my user data from iCloud and the available apps from the AppStore. This sufficed for a very basic use - but did not suffice for music apps like GarageBand or Logic Pro, where I had to restore hundreds of GB of Application Support files manually - mostly Loops and the instrument library. Some of my most important photo editing extensions were no longer available from the AppStore, and I had to reinstall the MacPorts and LaTeX, Racket, also the complete application support for Luminar Neo and Luminar AI. When I returned home a few weeks later, I reinstalled the MBA with the Setup Assistent, by using the complete Time Machine backup of my Intel MBP from 2019, including all apps, as setting up the apps has been the most tedious task, too many apps are not self contained and not easy to install.

I encountered no problems so far with incompatible audio interfaces or device drivers, fingers crossed.


Nov 26, 2022 3:54 AM in response to das33

Before your thoughtful replies I had transferred everything (including all apps) from a Time Machine Backup of my early 2015 Intel MBP, to my new M2 MBA. Many transferred apps work fine, but a few can't be trashed (deleted via AppCleaner) and replaced by developers' update downloads. They say they're "protected" but are not listed as protected and therefore can't be unprotected.


I'm considering starting all over and transferring just user data, but I'm leery of time needed and costs of Silicon-based apps; were they expensive?

Migration from Intel Mac to M2 Mac

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