iMminennnt arrival of iMac - a couple of questions

[Rip Vega]

My 27" iMac is due to arrive and I have a couple of questions I'd appreciate some help with.

I have a 2009 MBP and would like to 'clone' that to the iMac, so that upon switching on the iMac I can see and use everything just as it is on my MBP.

What will be the best way to accomplish this, whilst leaving the MBP setup in tact? I appreciate that there my be some app licensing issues and I can take care of those later.

Secondly, the 27" iMac has a Display Port In socket for connection to another display port enabled device, such as my MBP.

What cable do I need to make this connection and how is the display switching accomplished? Is it software or hardware selectable?

Many thanks.

 

[cwa107]

My 27" iMac is due to arrive and I have a couple of questions I'd appreciate some help with.

I have a 2009 MBP and would like to 'clone' that to the iMac, so that upon switching on the iMac I can see and use everything just as it is on my MBP.

What will be the best way to accomplish this, whilst leaving the MBP setup in tact? I appreciate that there my be some app licensing issues and I can take care of those later.

You can attach a network cable between the Ethernet ports on the MacBook Pro and iMac. When you boot the iMac for the first time, it will ask if you'd like to transfer data from another Mac, choose that option and you should be able to transfer (while still leaving the data intact) from the MacBook Pro.

Secondly, the 27" iMac has a Display Port In socket for connection to another display port enabled device, such as my MBP.

What cable do I need to make this connection and how is the display switching accomplished? Is it software or hardware selectable?

Many thanks.

Unfortunately, that I can't speak to. My guess would be that you'd use a mini-DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable and that the iMac would autoswitch to work as a monitor when a valid signal is detected, but I have no personal experience with this.

 

[cwa107]

More detail here:

Mac OS X 10.5, 10.6: How to use Migration Assistant to transfer files from another Mac

 

[PsYkOoOoO]

As for your first question, I'd recommend using Time Machine to back up your Macbook Pro. Plug that external hard drive into your new iMac, and the initial setup will take you through the necessary steps to transfer the data from there into your new iMac.

That is what I did recently with my new iMac. What I did was that I backed up the information on my old iMac onto an external hard drive. I plugged that into the new iMac upon start up, and I was prompted if I want to transfer information from the Time Machine back up. I chose that, and pretty much everything was transferred over.

 

[Rip Vega]

That was a quick response!

The migration option, as you suggest will only migrate data though, won't it?

I recently upgraded the HD on my MBP and copied the existing HD to the new one using SuperDuper. When I installed the new HD everything was the same - data, apps and configuration, but with the new capacity.

I'd like to achieve the same with the MBP to iMac transfer, but without taking the iMac apart to remove the hard drive. Can this be done?

 

[cwa107]

That was a quick response!

The migration option, as you suggest will only migrate data though, won't it?

It will migrate whatever you want - you can pick and choose. If you'd like, yes it can migrate your apps/data/settings/user account/network settings, you name it.

I recently upgraded the HD on my MBP and copied the existing HD to the new one using SuperDuper. When I installed the new HD everything was the same - data, apps and configuration, but with the new capacity.

I'd like to achieve the same with the MBP to iMac transfer, but without taking the iMac apart to remove the hard drive. Can this be done?

Absolutely. The Migration Assistant (which you get the option to run at first boot) does just that.

 

[chappers]

Conecting the MPB to the iMac you'll need a belkin cable

here's a link to someone who's done it

Video: 27-Inch iMac in Action as External Monitor | Cult of Mac

 

[cwa107]

It looks like that may be a bit dated. Monoprice.com now stocks (much cheaper) cables that do the same thing:

HDMI Cable, Home Theater Accessories, HDMI Products, Cables, Adapters, Video/Audio Switch, Networking, USB, Firewire, Printer Toner, and more!

 

[Rip Vega]

Brilliant!

Thanks for all the great responses.

I appreciate it.