Setting up a new Mac in 2023?

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I just purchased a new Macbook Air M2 13’ with and upgrade to 10-core GPU.

I have now a 2020 MacBook Air 13’ M1 basic specs. Its a slight upgrade for more money, but there it is.

I have sold the one I have already and have to hand it over on Friday. But I won’t receive the new Mac before 10 days, so I have to rely on a Time Machine backup for setting up the new Mac.

Does one then use the Transfer Assistent in System Settings to do the final Time Machine Backup? or is it enough with just an ordinary Time Machine Backup?

I, of course, have a Time Machine backup and most things are stored in iCloud for me. So in 2023, setting up a new Mac, which I haven’t done for a long time with a Time Machine backup, should be pretty hassle-free right? It even configures System Settings, right? With a Time Machine backup and iCloud I should be safe? And it’s pretty much like doing an iCloud install on a new phone, right?

Skærmbillede 2023-10-23 kl. 20.49.29
Skærmbillede 2023-10-23 kl. 20.49.291586×1180 55.5 KB

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An ordinary TimeMachine backup will work just fine. Almost everything should come back exactly as it is, though you may have to sign in to various services. If you’re able, I would make a cloned backup as well. Carbon Copy Cloner has a 30 day free mode (though it’s worth every bit of the purchase price).

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Right, I did use to use SuperDuper! religiously, I might do again just for this one task. I just so rarely rely on Time Machine as I al,ost always set up my Mac from scratch, but I just did a clean install a few months ago and it’s always a weekend lost in a way

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Both the clone and the TimeMachine backup should work for the installation, so if one doesn’t work then you have the other :slight_smile:

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Rigth! But a clone backup won’t work with Apple Transfer Assistant or whatever it’s called when setting up a new Mac right?

I consider the clone more of a backup where one can go in afterwards and pick out data that didn’t make it

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A clone should work with the Transfer Assistant (or whatever it’s called) during setup… My clones have always worked for me. I tend to use them instead of TimeMachine backups when doing a transfer.

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It’s called “Migration Assistant”.

I used it successfully a couple of weeks ago to restore after disk (SSD) diagnostics (by Apple), then a re-format and re-install of everything. From a TimeMachine backup (on USB) that was taken the day before visiting the Apple Store. Worked fine. There was some follow-up work on re-setting permissions requested by apps and a few other things, but no big deal.

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Why do you use a clone instead of Time Machine? What do you get with the one and not the other?

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My TimeMachine backups are on a server and generally slower to access than my clones, which are on local (external) SSDs.