ULTIMATE MAC SETUP GUIDE

Bought a new Mac? Well, here’s how you set about moving across all of your old data from your old Mac or PC — it’ll be (mostly) painless. Promise!

- CARRIE MARSHALL

WELCOMING A NEW family member is always a joy, and there’s nothing quite like the rush of excitement you get from unboxing a new Mac.

But like all newborns, your pristine new Apple machine needs some help with the basics: while every Mac comes fully loaded with Apple apps, it doesn’t come with your stuff or your settings. Don’t worry, though. As we will discover here, whether this is your very first Apple computer or the latest in a long line of Macs, it’s really easy to get everything just–so.

Although our focus is on data, moving to a new Mac might raise some hardware issues. For example, if you’ve just moved from an iMac to the new MacBook Pro, you will have lost a lot of ports. Where the iMac had four USB and two Thunderbolt ports, the M1 MacBook Pro only has two Thunderbolt/ USB–C — and the charger needs one of them. If you require more ports than Apple provides, you’ll need a hub or docking station.

If you have external accessories, check that they’re compatible before you switch. Most hardware will be fine, but we’ve found that musical equipment in particular often suffers from compatibility issues until its software is updated.

In this feature, we’ll look at how to clone your Mac, create comprehensive backups, opt for the right method of migrating if you’re moving from Mac or PC, and examine any issues that might arise.

Clone your Mac

Make a copy of everything on your Mac before you start — here’s how