iMac 27'dead (rip) moving to later 27' iMac but with much smaller SSD

[Danelle]

Hi Guys,

I had an older (2009) but good iMac 27' running 10.13.6 (Apple blocked 10.14 or above) and it was backed up via carbon copy cloner to a bootable volume. Unfortunately, the motherboard developed a fatal fault (boot drive still ok) but I can no longer start up this machine, (hangs) even from an external drive. I have established it's definitely a MB fault, probably graphics card, line grid around cursor etc, so I'm retiring this machine.

I have access to a later 2017 iMac 27 with a 500gig SSD, but my older machine had a 2TB drive and around 1.5 gigs full. I realise I can't migrate 2TB to 500gigs, but can I selectively get my apps and especially my iPhoto backup onto the new machine? Or will I have to connect a 2TB external drive to the newer mac and make it the boot drive and migrate to that?

Ideally I would like to use the SSD for the OS/apps and put my iPhoto library and files on an external fast TB drive.

What's the best moves I can make hete?

Many thanks

D.

 

[ferrarr]

In this instance I would bring things over manually.

Install the apps you want. Re-download as needed.
Copy music, images and other data as needed, if available space permits.

 

[MacInWin]

And even if you have to keep data files on an external drive, you can still boot from the internal just fine. It will be faster running that way.

 

[Danelle]

In this instance I would bring things over manually.

Install the apps you want. Re-download as needed.
Copy music, images and other data as needed, if available space permits.

Hi guys,


Thanks for the replies.

Apparently I can still use apple migration assistant to bring across a selection of files/apps from the CCC back up. I guess I'll go that way as I can keep accounts/registrations intact.

I'm now seriously thinking of biting the bullet and getting the newly released iMac 27, probably the 3.8Ghz 8-core i7 Radeon pro 5500 XT 8gb GDDR6.

I realise silicon iMacs are around the corner but I need something now and apart from perhaps slightly larger screens and case redesigne, will they really be that much faster? They certainly won't be cheaper!

I'm also thinking of selecting the 1TB internal SSD upgrade + Gigabit Ethernet.

I'm a bit confused about the 2x TB ports on the back. They appear also be USB-C, so does this mean you can choose to connect USB-C SSD drives or TB?

I had a quick look at TB external drives and not many around and very expensive!
Can anybody tell me what's the big advantage of having TB 3 on the back of the iMac except of course for adding an additional display?

If those tiny USB-C drives can be added, maybe I would be better off to stick with the standard 500g internal drive and put the extra money into a faster graphics card in build to order option.

I'm only using this machine for photography so lightroom/PS and surfing.

Actually, I have to admit it's not a simple thing to figure out the best combination of specs. So much has altered since my 2009 Imac 27 i7!. I have a lot of FW800 drives and I guess I can still access these via 2 adaptors for a while anyway.

I want fast external drives to back up and store photos/video. Apple charges too much for internal SSD bigger than 1TB. I suppose I can add better external SSD especially as time passes and prices fall. External TB drives seem expensive but I notice OWC sell TB3 enclosures so that's another option.

I wonder why there aren't lots of reasonably priced TB-3 drives on the market?

Many thanks for the help
D.

 

[harryb2448]

Limited sales keeps them expensive.