Moving to a new Mac

I would recommend using Time Machine to do the transfer. That is what it is designed to do. It will give you the option to do certain transfers or not. For example, you can transfer your apps or choose to reinstall them. In either case, some of them will have to be reregistered. Time Machine is fast if properly used. That means by using a direct wired USB connection between the two machines. Do not use Wi-Fi. It is too slow and may cause corruption of your data. You can either transfer from your old hard drive or from a Time Machine back up. The main thing is pay attention and follow the instructions. It works very well.

iCloud does data, not applications. Your best method is to do a Time Machine backup and take that to the new machine. Migration Assistant can be very slow.