Moving Logic Pro to a New Mac

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Moving Logic Pro to a New Mac? – Here’s What You Need to Know.

Transferring Logic Pro to your new Mac can be a challenge, depending on the complexity of your setup. Here’s some advice for anyone starting the process:

Apple’s Migration Assistant

Apple provides a very helpful tool called Migration Assistant to enable users to move the contents of an old Mac to a new one.

If you have a very simple music setup on your Mac and you are using Logic Pro without any extra third-party Audio Unit plug-ins, then Migration Assistant is all you need.

Instructions on using Migration Assistant can be found on Apple’s website here.

Third Party Apps and Plug-Ins

If you have a more complex music system running on your Mac, then Migration Assistant can actually cause problems. Old versions of your apps and plug-ins are transferred to your new Mac, but may be incompatible with the updated software and hardware. I would recommend using Migration Assistant to move your User profile, but untick Applications and Other Files and Folders.

Incompatible third-party apps and plug-ins are the biggest cause of crashes and system errors in Logic Pro. Making sure you install the version of your plug-in compatible with your versions of OS X and Logic Pro is very important. Apple’s Migration Assistant can move your plug-ins to your new Mac but does not update them. It can also miss crucial files which your plug-ins need on your system to be able to run properly.

The only safe way to move your plug-ins to your new Mac is to download the correct up-to-date versions from manufacturer’s websites and reinstall them manually. You’ll need your usernames and passwords that you used when you first bought and installed them. You can recover lost passwords and usernames if necessary.

Drivers

If you are serious about making music with Logic Pro, then you are probably using an audio interface. The drivers for your interface will need to be manually downloaded and re-installed to make sure they are compatible with your new version of OS-X. The same applies for your MIDI controllers and other hardware drivers.

Library Content

If you are using large sample libraries in your music system, it makes sense to move these on physical portable disks rather than re-download big files. You’ll need to make sure the preferences of your plug-ins are set to recognise the new locations of your library files.

Preference Files

A problem that sometimes occurs is that Logic Pro’s preference files need to be reset when moving to a new Mac. This seems to be a recent issue occurring when using Migration Assistant to move from an Intel to a silicon Mac. Apple provides a guide on how to do this, which can be found here: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/119881

Incompatibilities

As Apple makes changes to its Mac hardware and OS-X software, then third-party software developers need to make changes to their software to keep it compatible. Sometimes older software can get out of date with new Macs. Sometimes there are workarounds you can put in place to keep software working, but these vary on a case-by-case basis.

Help is Available

If you need professional help and would like to book an Audio Support technician to help you with any aspect of this process, please get in touch using our enquiry form or use the button below to send a message on WhatsApp. A remote support booking costs $40 per half-hour.

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