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Migration complicated because of smaller new computer drive

I am migrating from a backup of a dead iMac to a smaller storage M1 Mac mini. There is only enough space to migrate network and applications. I really, really need to migrate my documents and other folders! Is there a way to select more than one target, say the new mini for applications and network, and a separate drive for the rest?

iMac 27″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Feb 4, 2021 12:23 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 5, 2021 8:08 AM

No. Migration migrates to the same storage as macOS is installed.


Move your content to a new Mac - Apple Support


Depending on how much storage was configured with that iMac...


Return your Mac and purchase one with more internal storage (returns with refund are usually possible within 14 days of purchase), or connect and configure and boot from external storage, or figure out what you don’t need and delete it.


Mac mini can be configured with up to two terabytes of internal storage at purchase. No internal storage upgrades are available after purchase. Substantially more external storage is possible to acquire and configure. One Mac mini I occasionally deal with has 64 terabytes configured, when last I checked.


3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 5, 2021 8:08 AM in response to DennyG

No. Migration migrates to the same storage as macOS is installed.


Move your content to a new Mac - Apple Support


Depending on how much storage was configured with that iMac...


Return your Mac and purchase one with more internal storage (returns with refund are usually possible within 14 days of purchase), or connect and configure and boot from external storage, or figure out what you don’t need and delete it.


Mac mini can be configured with up to two terabytes of internal storage at purchase. No internal storage upgrades are available after purchase. Substantially more external storage is possible to acquire and configure. One Mac mini I occasionally deal with has 64 terabytes configured, when last I checked.


Feb 5, 2021 8:22 AM in response to DennyG

There have been some success stories, dealing with installing and starting up the M1 from a larger external SSD.

https://eclecticlight.co/2020/12/22/booting-an-m1-mac-from-an-external-disk-it-is-possible/

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252158270


Basically you would need to setup an external SSD as the startup disk for the M1 and then migrate the old dead iMac's backup to it. Then after that, you could go back to starting up from the M1's drive and access your migrated data on the external SSD.


Another option, is to pull the HDD out of the old iMac and put it into a USB External Drive Enclosure. Then access and/or manually copy what you want from the old iMac drive to the new M1.

Migration complicated because of smaller new computer drive

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