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+--- Thread: External boot drive suggestions (/showthread.php?tid=295127)
Re: External boot drive suggestions - Robert M - 03-20-2025
Bern,
I wouldn't. While a multi-drive configuration is definitely workable, I've found its cumbersome for backups and such. Thats why I prefer a single drive solution. You might want to use this as an opportunity to simplify the configuration. One and done.
How much space is used for storage of data on the external? If you want to consolidate everything to a single drive - OS, apps, data, scratch space, free space etc - the space required for the OS, apps, data and some free space needs to be taken into consideration.
Since a 128GB drive is already an issue and I bet even a 256GB model would become tight especially if you consider scratch space and free space (for proper operation), if you go with a multi-drive configuration, I'd still get a 512GB SSD for the boot drive. 512GB drive for the OS, apps, free space and scratch space. Second drive for data and such.
Or the single drive solution with a SSD that has enough capacity for everything and a bit of future growth.
Robert
Re: External boot drive suggestions - special - 03-20-2025
it kind of sucks that you can no longer upgrade the internal SSD, or it's very, very difficult.
Re: External boot drive suggestions - ka jowct - 03-20-2025
First thing I did with my M1 Macs was to set up bootable external drives. This article goes through the options:
Set up Silicon Mac external boot drive
Mine came with Ventura installed. I made flash installers for Monterey and installed from those. I use Sabrent TB enclosures as well as OWC's.
Both M1s needed a TB hub, because they can't power multiple TB drives.
I can't believe Apple has the cojones to sell a system with a 128GB internal drive, especially since it can't be upgraded. The minimum I would ever get is 512GB.
Re: External boot drive suggestions - Robert M - 03-20-2025
Ka jowct,
Great article! The instructions are solid. When I created and switched my office's M4 Pro to an external boot drive, I adjusted a couple of security settings but otherwise followed a similar process.
Robert
Re: External boot drive suggestions - Black - 03-20-2025
special wrote:It sucks that Apple would have thought it appropriate to sell a desktop machine with only 128GB internal storage at any time in the past 15 years.
it kind of sucks that you can no longer upgrade the internal SSD, or it's very, very difficult.
Re: External boot drive suggestions - ka jowct - 03-21-2025
Black wrote:
[quote=special]
it kind of sucks that you can no longer upgrade the internal SSD, or it's very, very difficult.
It sucks that Apple would have thought it appropriate to sell a desktop machine with only 128GB internal storage at any time in the past 15 years.
Amen to that. It didn't matter as much when storage could be upgraded, although it was still annoying. Once Apple made machines that were impossible to upgrade, or a major PITA to upgrade, it went from annoying to offensive.
Re: External boot drive suggestions - Robert M - 03-21-2025
Special,
Agreed. It sucks that you can't upgrade the internal drive and/or the RAM. Very annoying. That's why I spent the extra bucks to make sure the Mini M4 Pro I just bought for my office has 24GB of RAM and a 1TB internal SSD. We keep machines in operation for a very long time and the bucks spent on the Mini now ensures it'll do what we need it to do now and for many years in the future.
If the Mini had user upgradeable RAM and storage, I'd've opted for less RAM and storage and upgraded both myself. Unfortunately, Apple has removed this option so now we have to take an educated guess when ordering new machines, just like I did with my office's mini. Grrrr! Although I'm using the Mini with an external boot drive, I opted to order it with a 1TB internal drive as a precaution.
Apple has already made it so some OS features no longer work when a machine is booted off an external drive. Apple Intelligence immediately comes to mind. Since Apple has done that, at some point, Apple might remove the ability to use an external boot drive for its machines, too.
If that day comes, I don't want to have to deal with a crippled machine due to too little internal storage I know I can switch to a multi-drive configuration but that's a nuisance for backups and such in my experience. Much easier to just switch to the internal drive and make a "one and done" setup and go back to work. The 1TB drive ensures that's possible. I couldn't do that with a less spacious internal drive.
Robert
Re: External boot drive suggestions - TLB - 03-21-2025
Late to the thread but:
MacWorld
Re: External boot drive suggestions - BernDog - 03-22-2025
Thanks, everyone. Turns out it’s more of a garbage issue. Two, actually. Fixed the problem of some crappy Epson scan utility writing nonstop temp files (60GB worth). I’ll be posting a follow up question about the other one later this evening when I have a few minutes to get my thoughts in order.