Transfer from one Macbook to another.

[Hillbom]

I recently purchased a new Macbook Pro, and it's on the way right now. I'm currently on a 11 inch Macbook Air and has been for the past 3 years. You can imagine the amount of plug-ins I've gathered and the Ableton racks I've created over these years. I'm hyped to start producing on my new computer though I am worried about how I am going to make the transfer.

I want my Macbook to be totally new with only the standard programs installed etc. but what I do want is all my plug-ins etc. (samples is just a folder I have on a USB so no worries there).

What I wonder is if there's any way of just copying certain folders into my new macbook? Like could I copy the Library/Audio/Plug-ins folder (and maybe some other folder) or does the installing spread out files all over the computer? If not what would be the best solution in your opinion?

Would be happy if you could help me.

EDIT: just for fun It'd be interesting to hear your thoughts on the new Macbook Pro and if I made a good choice buying the 2015 15'' version

[mgw38]

I am currently producing on a MacBook Pro 13 inch Touchbar version and could not be happier. When I migrated to that one I moved my entire setup (somewhere around 1500 plugins). Unfortunately, you can't simply copy them over because many of them will complain for license related issues, and some will break completely because they get confused by the new hardware. Time Machine migration does not work well either, unfortunately. I ended up doing a completely new setup, installed all plugins one by one. It takes a bit of time but it is doable. Was actually easier than I thought it would be. I needed about a weekend to get everything back to full operation again.

[Ciberithm]

If you have a stable running system, I recommend using the migration utility to copy over everything and then uninstall / delete the programs and/or data you don't want. I choose to reinstall everything when I upgrade to a 2016 13 inch model, but I had moved / deleted a lot of files on my old Macbook and it was ready for a clean install. I used migration assistant when I upgrade to the 2016 15 inch model, and it all moved over just fine.

As to the new 2016 models, If you are willing to use a docking station / multi-port adapter, then the new models are great. I love the keyboard and trackpad. They are easily worth the price of admission.