Using Time Machine to setup two computers?

Hello. I have an imac, soon to be replaced by a studio mac. I also have a mackbook pro.

Could I use the same time machine backup to setup my laptop in addition to my new studio mac? I'd like to strip my laptop of everything and just start over from a clean copy of my time machine.

Neither machine will know about the other, so fundamentally, yes. You may have problems with software licenses on two machines.

If you connect both to the same network, there will be a naming clash, so you would need/want to change the name of one machine (or both).

Edit: I'm assuming you want to install the user data from the backup, not the system.

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Nick on the Baltic

Nick on the Baltic said:

Neither machine will know about the other, so fundamentally, yes. You may have problems with software licenses on two machines.

If you connect both to the same network, there will be a naming clash, so you would need/want to change the name of one machine (or both).

Edit: I'm assuming you want to install the user data from the backup, not the system.

Click to expand...

I agree; I think I recall doing this in the past. You do have to do some renaming and cleaning up, but it wasn't horrible. Check stuff that syncs before you go online, like say Dropbox, OneDrive, that sort of thing. And I'd only let one machine inherit the TM backup going forward. And so on.

robgendreau said:

Nick on the Baltic said:

Neither machine will know about the other, so fundamentally, yes. You may have problems with software licenses on two machines.

If you connect both to the same network, there will be a naming clash, so you would need/want to change the name of one machine (or both).

Edit: I'm assuming you want to install the user data from the backup, not the system.

Click to expand...

I agree; I think I recall doing this in the past. You do have to do some renaming and cleaning up, but it wasn't horrible. Check stuff that syncs before you go online, like say Dropbox, OneDrive, that sort of thing. And I'd only let one machine inherit the TM backup going forward. And so on.

Click to expand...

Online data backups such as Backblaze will have issues if the new Mac has the same name as the old Mac, so changing the new Mac's name is a good idea. I have had problems with Backblaze twice after migrating data.

Thanks everyone for the input. I am not going to use the same TM backup on two computers. IF things go sideways it could be a major pain. I use 1Password, dropbox, google drive and other things that are 'shared' and the potential for issues is just too much for my blood.

owenleve said:

Hello. I have an imac, soon to be replaced by a studio mac. I also have a mackbook pro.

Could I use the same time machine backup to setup my laptop in addition to my new studio mac? I'd like to strip my laptop of everything and just start over from a clean copy of my time machine.

Click to expand...

I recently sold my iMac Pro and replaced it with a new Mac Studio. I retained a Time Machine copy of the iMac Pro but did not use it. I kept my MacBook Pro.

Using Time Machine or Migration Assistant to copy information from the old Mac to the new one inevitably transfers the accumulated software debris which is built up over the years. I decided to do a clean install of data onto the Mac Studio.

Prior to selling the iMac Pro, I used Apple iCloud Drive to ensure that all my appropriate Apple files from the iMac Pro (Apple Apps such as Mail, Safari, Notes, Books, Music etc) were downloaded from iCloud onto the MacBook Pro.

When the Mac Studio arrived, I used iCloud Drive to populate Mail, Safari, Notes, Books, Music etc) with personal Apple data. I then downloaded new copies of the free software that I routinely use such as Canon camera software and Canon printer drivers, followed by new copies of licensed software such as Photo Mechanic and Capture One.

It was easier than I thought it was going to be.

www.hanahoephotography.com