Migrating From M1 Mac mini to M4 Mac mini - A Flawless Migration

Got my M4 Mac mini yesterday and completed the migration off the old M1 Mac mini. The process took me about 2.5 hours, where about 1.25 hours for data migration only using the Apple Migration Assistant1. Upon first login, I got only a handful of security-related popups, much less than I was expecting. Many apps like Microsoft OneDrive, Synology Drive client, worked perfectly with minimum reconfiguration, which was a pleasant surprise. A few app licenses to reconfigure and hop I’m ready to go!

This is the first time that I’m using a two-monitor setup at home (Apple Studio Display + LG UltraFine 4K). It’s quite a setup upgrade. Today will be my first full work day with this setup, I’ll report back later for more impressions.

  1. I used a Thunderbolt 4 cable between the two machines. Actually transfer speed were between 100 MB/s & 600 MB/S, while being rated at more than 900 MB/s. ↩︎

Paying to Be a Beta Tester? Really?

Paying to be a beta tester: is this a new trend? Glass Series was available to patron subscribers only while being in beta testing. RealMac Software offers Elements in beta as a subscription but at a reduced price. Active beta testers are actually paying of their time to use a software still being debugged and refined. Isn’t that enough? I understand that building software is hard and requires resources… but paying to be a beta tester seems to cross a line here.

In preparation to receive the new M4 Mac mini which supports at least two screens1, I decided to rework my desk setup and bring back the LG UltraFine 4K display on my desk. Once the migration from the old Mac mini is complete, I’ll be using a two-display setup. My Synology NAS was moved to a separate table to make some room for the LG display. My Elgao StreamDeck+ was relocated too, this time on the desk shelf.

  1. Three displays, actually. ↩︎

As I’m getting ready to receive my new M4 Mac mini1, I’m starting to think that my decision to go with a 1TB model was not really future-proof and probably downright a mistake.

  1. Remove unused apps, delete useless data (using Daisy Disk). ↩︎

At Fort Lauderdale Airport: I was really impressed by the scanner they use at the security gates. The operator uses a big screen similar to a big iPad and uses touch gestures to tilt and rotate luggage in 3D, uses a slider to see slices of the bag’s internal content. Really cool.