Moving from Lightroom 6 to Lightroom Classic subscription on a new MacBookPro

[NYCat]

I have been working on a mid 2009 MacBookPro running on El Capitan and, as you might imagine, it is slow, slow, slow and I worry that it will give up one day. It is time to get a new machine and I am rather excited about the new ones but very nervous about the change. I am not a computer whiz but somehow usually blunder through. I'd like to go over my plans with you and hope for some feedback, please. I plan to get the 16" MacBookPro with M1 Pro chip. It has 16 core GPU, 32GB memory and 2TB of storage. I am hoping this is more than I will ever need. I see that I will need adapters to use in the Thunderbolt ports and am wondering about individual ones or a dock? Any thoughts? I don't have a place to leave everything set up so the laptop, hard drives, etc. go back inside my desk when I am not using them. Mostly I will be attaching my external hard drive with images so am thinking just having an adapter attached to it will work best. I do, though, also make a copy of that drive and do a back-up clone so maybe should also have a dock. I know nothing about them so could use advice on what to get.

 

Now for the move from old to new. Since I am not great with computers I am thinking I should use the Migration Assistant for the move but not use it for the applications. I don't have many other than what comes with the machine and I think I can manage to download them from their websites.

 

Than comes getting from Lightroom 6 to the subscription. I think I will be asked if I want to use my catalog from Lightroom 6. I have the catalog stored on my hard drive and the back-ups go to the external hard drive that contains my images. I am hoping I can use my latest back-up as the catalog I point to. This is how I think it can work but please let me know if it makes sense. I would attach the external drive to the new machine. Perhaps? at this point I would unzip my most recent backup of the catalog. Then I would buy the subscription and ask to use the catalog on the external drive. I will want to keep my catalog on the hard drive of the computer though so wonder if I would have to move it.??

 

Just typing all this makes me nervous. Computers can be scary to those of us who are very far from being digital natives. Any thoughts you have will be much appreciated.

 

Paulette

[Allan Bell]

Wow! I don't envy you with that job/those jobs. That is one heck of a jump from what you have now to what you are aiming for. I can't really help you myself with that lot but might have snippets of information when the time comes. I had something similar some time ago in 2013 when I changed from Windows to iMac machine and have forgotten most of what I learned over time. If I were you now I would take the easiest route by taking the move OSAAT.  (One Step At A Time). then think about the next one when you have completed the first step.

 

I am sure MDM (Mick) will be along shortly.

 

Allan

 

[NYCat]

Thank you, Allan. Sympathy and moral support is always useful. My one step for today was to put my questions on the Forum. Over the next few days I will be going over my old laptop and getting rid of whatever I can. B&H scared me half to death by saying I could get next day delivery. Not yet!! But it will be useful to plan delivery for a day when I am here. As Edo says, poco a poco. In Swahili they say pole, pole.

 

Paulette

[spacecadet]

Surely if you still have your LR6 installer you can just reinstall.

[MDM]

Firstly do not use Migration Assistant. It is a complete PITA. It is really very easy to set up a new Mac and going from El Capitan to Monterrey is a huge jump so you are bound to have all sorts of garbage mess things up with the MA. As you say you can download any apps you already have. Only 64-bit apps will work on Monterrey so older ones might not work anyway. Given that you don't have many apps anyway, it is far better to start clean.

 

Secondly,  do get a dock. You can also get a USB-USB-C (Thunderbolt adapter) adapter but a dock is very useful. I have the CalDigit TS3 Plus which allows me to connect several drives as well as an external monitor and it even has ethernet which can be very useful.

 

Thirdly, if you try to run old USB drives on such a powerful machine, you will almost certainly slow it down, possibly very significantly. It depends on what you already have but if you are running such an old Mac then you might still have USB2 drives which are incredibly slow. Even USB3 will slow this machine down. I would suggest investing in at least one external Thunderbolt (or USB-C) 2TB SSD drive. I have a few of these G-Tech external SSDs. I would go for at least one of these or similar (Sandisk also as they are actually he same make as G-Tech) and 1TB of internal storage as the price Apple is charging for the second TB internal is crazy. These SSDs are tiny and sit easily beside the MacBook Pro. They are about as fast as the internal storage. Alternatively you get a larger desktop Thunderbolt drive. 

 

Fourthly, you can keep the catalog on the internal or external drive (preferably an SSD drive). This is not an issue with these modern drives. 

Edited January 14, 2022 by MDM

[MDM]

8 minutes ago, spacecadet said:

Surely if you still have your LR6 installer you can just reinstall.

 

Lightoom 6 won't work on these new Macs. As far as I know, it is the installers which are not 64-bit compatible as the app itself is 64-bit so the app might run but you can't install it.  However, even if one could hack the install, it will not be native to these new silicon Macs. There is no point in getting such a powerful machine and running old software which does not take advantage of the new technology. 

Edited January 14, 2022 by MDM

[NYCat]

12 minutes ago, spacecadet said:

Surely if you still have your LR6 installer you can just reinstall.

 

I realized a long time ago that the Lightroom 6 can't go on these new machines, but thank you for your input. Although I hate the idea of being stuck in a subscription I get very envious when I read about what the newest Lightroom can do.

 

Paulette

[MDM]

28 minutes ago, NYCat said:

Thank you, Allan. Sympathy and moral support is always useful. My one step for today was to put my questions on the Forum. Over the next few days I will be going over my old laptop and getting rid of whatever I can. B&H scared me half to death by saying I could get next day delivery. Not yet!! But it will be useful to plan delivery for a day when I am here. As Edo says, poco a poco. In Swahili they say pole, pole.

 

Paulette

 

Do lose the fear. As long as you have your data backed up, which you do, this is not difficult. 

[NYCat]

Thank you MDM. I was figuring I would want a 2TB SSD drive to keep my bootable clone but it sounds like I have to think about getting one for my images too and for the backup of my images. If I don't use Migration Assistant what about documents, contacts, the images I have in Photo, etc etc. I am no doubt showing my ignorance but it seems like I have collected quite a lot on my old machine.

 

Paulette

[MDM]

1 minute ago, NYCat said:

Thank you MDM. I was figuring I would want a 2TB SSD drive to keep my bootable clone but it sounds like I have to think about getting one for my images too and for the backup of my images. If I don't use Migration Assistant what about documents, contacts, the images I have in Photo, etc etc. I am no doubt showing my ignorance but it seems like I have collected quite a lot on my old machine.

 

Paulette

 

Without reading up the latest and very complicated explanations I think it is safe to say that bootable clones no longer work unfortunately since at least Big Sur (I think you use Carbon Copy Cloner). I think you can still restore from a Time Machine backup but I don't bother. If I really had problems I would just reinstall which is easy once you have ever clean installed.

 

You can simply copy your documents onto an external drive but the easiest way is to use iCloud for things like contacts, photos (iPhoto is gone - it is the Photos app now but I assume it will work the same way in iCloud. If not, just export the photos and copy them from there. Again none of this is difficult if you know what you are doing or are willing to learn. 

 

I use iCloud for contacts, diary and photos (from my iPhone) but otherwise just copy other documents from my computer. Email depends on what system you use but not difficult. I keep images and videos as well as Lightroom catalogs on external drives anyway. I have been using this type of system (small internal drive, lots of external storage) now for years since the advent of Thunderbolt.

[NYCat]

I use SuperDuper and they say they can do a bootable clone on the new machines. I haven't used Time Machine. Since I don't have a place to leave things set up it never seemed practical for me. I've just periodically updated my clone. Thank you for all this. I certainly think it won't be impossible for me to start with a clean install and then proceed from there. Very grateful to have you on the Forum.

 

Paulette

[M.Chapman]

+1 for MDM's advice. Although I like migration assistant for small steps in MacOS, in this instance it's far better to go for a clean setup.

 

A few things to watch out for.

1) Do you have your passwords for internet accounts stored on your current MacBook? If you use the keychain, do you have the iCloud keychain turned on? If you do then the passwords will transfer when you login to your iCloud account on the new MacBook. If not, then turn on iCloud for Keychain now.

2) Same applies to Contacts, Calendar and Notes info. If you use the Mac Contacts, Calendar or Notes apps and haven't turned on iCloud for them, do it now.

3) If all your email account uses IMAP protocol and you haven't deliberately created local folders, then all your email should synch up automatically

 

The good news is that you will still have your old machine. So you can setup the new machine without fear of loosing anything.

 

MDM is right. Bootable Clones are more problematic now. The OS and your data will be split between 2 drives. You can still clone your data, but the OS is "sealed" by Apple so isn't as straightforward to restore from a clone. Booting from an external drive is also not as easy. But it is easy to reinstall the OS from Apple using the built in recovery options.

 

Mark

 

 

Edited January 14, 2022 by M.Chapman

[NYCat]

I looked at my iCloud and I seem to have everything turned on except Photos. I've only used that app for odds and ends of personal things. Images I wanted to just easily put somewhere. I think I need to look at it and maybe move images into Lightroom or leave them and delete ones I really don't want to keep. Then I could sync to the cloud. Thank you. All this is very useful.

 

Paulette

[Ed Rooney]

MDM is the man with this stuff. 

 

I've been working on a basic 1M MacBook Air for the past year. It's been fabulous. You seem to be going for what will be a supercomputer. Also, I don't know why anyone would NOT get Adobe CC. It's very affordable and you're always up to date. The only advice I would offer is that you know why you need to get those extras before you get them. 

 

Edo

[Rebecca Ore]

The annual Photography subscription is slightly cheaper than month to month.  I did the math on paid updates to having the subscription and the differences wasn't enough to matter, maybe a savings on the subscription. 

[MDM]

3 hours ago, M.Chapman said:

+1 for MDM's advice. Although I like migration assistant for small steps in MacOS, in this instance it's far better to go for a clean setup.

 

A few things to watch out for.

1) Do you have your passwords for internet accounts stored on your current MacBook? If you use the keychain, do you have the iCloud keychain turned on? If you do then the passwords will transfer when you login to your iCloud account on the new MacBook. If not, then turn on iCloud for Keychain now.

2) Same applies to Contacts, Calendar and Notes info. If you use the Mac Contacts, Calendar or Notes apps and haven't turned on iCloud for them, do it now.

3) If all your email account uses IMAP protocol and you haven't deliberately created local folders, then all your email should synch up automatically

 

The good news is that you will still have your old machine. So you can setup the new machine without fear of loosing anything.

 

 

Mark

 

 

 

I agree with most of this but I would not bother with the iCloud keychain (did it even exist in El Capitan anyway?) as she will have access to her passwords with the old computer in any case. I just type in the passwords and user names as required. There is a new passwords app in System Prefs in Monterrey which does the same thing as Safari passwords but is a bit neater and easier to find. The fact that she will have the old computer will make everything a lot easier as you say.

 

I think the only real difficulties arise in using peripherals such as printers. I had a problem recently after a Monterrey update with my Epson printer and it took a while to sort but all is ok now. For someone with, no peripherals and few apps, it should be very smooth.

 

[MDM]

1 hour ago, Ed Rooney said:

MDM is the man with this stuff. 

 

I've been working on a basic 1M MacBook Air for the past year. It's been fabulous. You seem to be going for what will be a supercomputer. Also, I don't know why anyone would NOT get Adobe CC. It's very affordable and you're always up to date. The only advice I would offer is that you know why you need to get those extras before you get them. 

 

Edo

 

Thanks Edo. Nice to get a compliment. 😀

 

These latest MacBook Pros are extremely powerful but the first generation ones are excellent as well. I think the most noticable difference is in working with high end video, not so much at all with Lightroom or Photoshop stills, so you are probably fine as you are right now (in case you are thinking of upgrading). I think the 32GB of RAM than Paulette is considering is a good idea for future proofing although these new Macs handle memory in a completely different way to other computers. The new XDR screens have the ability to display high dynamic range (HDR) video which is a complete game changer but is irrelevant more or less for stills photography. 

[MDM]

3 hours ago, NYCat said:

I looked at my iCloud and I seem to have everything turned on except Photos. I've only used that app for odds and ends of personal things. Images I wanted to just easily put somewhere. I think I need to look at it and maybe move images into Lightroom or leave them and delete ones I really don't want to keep. Then I could sync to the cloud. Thank you. All this is very useful.

 

Paulette

 

You only get 5GB storage free with iCloud so if you have a lot of photos then you would be better to export them to a folder from Photos (export unmodified original) and just copy them to an external drive. You would get a warning if you try to sync with iCloud and you have more than 5GB and an offer from Apple to buy more storage.

 

You probably know this already but, just in case, you don't actually move images into Lightroom so even if you were to import them they would not copy with a catalog. 

[NYCat]

2 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

MDM is the man with this stuff. 

 

I've been working on a basic 1M MacBook Air for the past year. It's been fabulous. You seem to be going for what will be a supercomputer. Also, I don't know why anyone would NOT get Adobe CC. It's very affordable and you're always up to date. The only advice I would offer is that you know why you need to get those extras before you get them. 

 

Edo

 

Very good advice, Edo. Perhaps I want to copy my images to a new drive first or perhaps I want to use the old hard drives for a while...Hmmmm. They are pretty new. Much to think about. I must find out what SuperDuper can or cannot do with the new Macs. They are very good about explaining things to me in language I can understand. Sometimes a dog claims to be typing the answer. You have to love that. The program is sooo so easy. They should all be like that.

 

Paulette

[NYCat]

1 hour ago, MDM said:

 

I agree with most of this but I would not bother with the iCloud keychain (did it even exist in El Capitan anyway?) as she will have access to her passwords with the old computer in any case. I just type in the passwords and user names as required. There is a new passwords app in System Prefs in Monterrey which does the same thing as Safari passwords but is a bit neater and easier to find. The fact that she will have the old computer will make everything a lot easier as you say.

 

I think the only real difficulties arise in using peripherals such as printers. I had a problem recently after a Monterrey update with my Epson printer and it took a while to sort but all is ok now. For someone with, no peripherals and few apps, it should be very smooth.

 

 

I guess it is fortunate that my printer quit on me six months ago. I will need another one. I've been getting away without one by asking a friend to print anything I really need on paper. Interestingly, a lot of times tickets need to be on the phone anyway. I don't print my own photos as you do. I send them to Mpix.

 

Paulette

 

Paulette

[NYCat]

2 hours ago, Rebecca Ore said:

The annual Photography subscription is slightly cheaper than month to month.  I did the math on paid updates to having the subscription and the differences wasn't enough to matter, maybe a savings on the subscription. 

 

Thank you. I've decided the subscription is inevitable at this point.

 

Paulette

[MDM]

2 hours ago, NYCat said:

 

Perhaps I want to copy my images to a new drive first or perhaps I want to use the old hard drives for a while...Hmmmm. They are pretty new. Much to think about.

 

What drives have you got?

[NYCat]

Western Digital Elements with USB 3.0...4TBs I have various others floating around from my trips but these are the two I am using now for my photos and backups and I use SuperDuper to keep an up-to-date copy.

 

Paulette

[MDM]

8 hours ago, NYCat said:

Western Digital Elements with USB 3.0...4TBs I have various others floating around from my trips but these are the two I am using now for my photos and backups and I use SuperDuper to keep an up-to-date copy.

 

Paulette

 

You will be able to use these drives with a hub or adapter but it is likely that you won't be taking full advantage of the potential speed of the computer. One option would be to move files you are working on to the internal drive (or another external SSD if you go that way) and then move them back to the USB storage drives when you are archiving them. This is very easy to do in Lightroom.

 

I used to swear by Western Digital drives  (desktop and portable) but I have had a number of them fail or go really slow over the last few years. I still use them for additional backup but my main drives are G-Technology which is actually the same company as WD - just the higher end product. SanDisk are also made by the same company. It is quite confusing as some of the portably SSD drives which were marketed as G-Technology are now being sold as SanDisk.

 

I would still recommend buying an external SSD if you can afford it. Another major advantage of the portable SSD drives besides speed is that they are tiny and extremely light so are great for travelling or for a very quick backup which can be carried around in a pocket, pouch or small handbag,

[Allan Bell]

9 minutes ago, MDM said:

 

You will be able to use these drives with a hub or adapter but it is likely that you won't be taking full advantage of the potential speed of the computer. One option would be to move files you are working on to the internal drive (or another external SSD if you go that way) and then move them back to the USB storage drives when you are archiving them. This is very easy to do in Lightroom.

 

I used to swear by Western Digital drives  (desktop and portable) but I have had a number of them fail or go really slow over the last few years. I still use them for additional backup but my main drives are G-Technology which is actually the same company as WD - just the higher end product. SanDisk are also made by the same company. It is quite confusing as some of the portably SSD drives which were marketed as G-Technology are now being sold as SanDisk.

 

I would still recommend buying an external SSD if you can afford it. Another major advantage of the portable SSD drives besides speed is that they are tiny and extremely light so are great for travelling or for a very quick backup which can be carried around in a pocket, pouch or small handbag,

 

Hi Mick, Not Wishing to divert the thread from Paulette but am interested in what you said about storage drives in your last post. I am using two WD Duo hard disc drives for storage and backup which I purchased when I bought the late 2013 27" iMac I am still using now. There is nothing wrong and I am not having problems with the machine so I intend continuing to use it. The intermittent problem I do have is with one or both of the WD storage drives is that after closing the computer down they keep power on and I have to force the computer to close and even then the drives continue to spin. Usually when I power down the computer the drives power down too.

 

I have been investigating alternatives as I cannot find a supplier who carries the WD duo drives for replacement of the faulty ones.  As you say the G-tech are the same company and I could investigate those but I am interested also in your thoughts on SSD's.  I have concerns that the existing WD Duo's I am running may fail completely in the near future so need to replace sooner than later.

 

Just to clarify the two existing Duo drives are daisy chained with the computer so I am always working from duo 1. When Carbon Copy Cloner kicks in it is set to backup from Duo 1 to Duo 2. They are both 4 Tb drives but I would be looking at larger capacity drives to future-proof.

 

I am asking this here as others might be interested but if you wish you could email me direct.

 

Thank you for being a really helpful friend to all on the forums.

 

Allan