How Do I Copy Photos From Mac To MacBook Pro?

Comments: 3 Responses to “How Do I Copy Photos From Mac To MacBook Pro?”

Gary Rosenzweig

7 years ago

The way I do it is to use iCloud Photo Library. This puts all of my photos in the cloud. And I can see them on all of my Macs, my iPhone, my iPad and even my Apple TV. Better still, I don't need to do anything to keep this up. I take a picture with my iPhone and it appears on all my devices. I load some photos from an SD card onto my Mac and they appear on all my devices. I get a new Mac, sign in with my iCloud account, and all my photos appear there too.
The only downside is that if you have a lot of photos, you may need to pay for an iCloud data plan that is more than the free amount.
If you don't want to use iCloud Photo Library, then your options are limited. You can transfer the entire Photos library from the Pictures folder of one Mac to the Pictures folder of the other Mac, then launch Photos on that second Mac and point it to that library.
The problem with that is they are separate libraries. Load new pictures onto one Mac and they will only be there, not the second Mac. Just like files, if you are not using iCloud or another cloud solution.
But if this is a one-time transfer, like you are deciding to keep your Photos library on your MacBook from now on instead of an older iMac, then it could be what you need.

Jann Marchant

7 years ago

Thank you for your very clear update. Much appreciated. My last query is: What adaptor do I use to link MacBook Pro to iMac (2011 model with 1 Thunderbolt port)? Is a Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt cable suitable?
Kind regards, Jann

Gary Rosenzweig

7 years ago

If both Macs have Thunderbolt (not a port that is only for mini DisplayPort) then you can boot one into Target Disk Mode and access it as an external drive on the other if they are connected via a Thunderbolt cable. But instead of buying another cable, just use good old network file sharing to do this.