07-27-2021, 01:33 PM
pRICE,
Definitely switch him to an external boot drive. Easiest thing to do is buy a USB-C drive and connect it to one of the USB 3.0 ports. Might need a USB-C to USB 3.0 cable or adapter. Doesn't matter. Don't try to connect the drive to the Thunderbolt 2 ports of the machine. Won't work.
Once the external connected, clone the boot drive to it with Carbon Copy Cloner. Reboot, holding option to allow you to choose the external as the boot drive. Once it's booting off the external and working nicely, choose the external as the boot drive in Startup Disk. Done. Once you do that, it will always try to boot off the external first and should be seamless to your friend.
There will be a tangible improvement even if using an external SSD connected via USB 3.0. But, given the choice, don't go with a 2.5" based external with a USB 3.0 connection. Go for a faster model with a USB 3.1 Gen 2 connection. Offers a bit of future proofing. If he moves to a desktop with a Thunderbolt 3 or 4 port, you can move the external to it and still enjoy a speedy boot drive.
Robert
Definitely switch him to an external boot drive. Easiest thing to do is buy a USB-C drive and connect it to one of the USB 3.0 ports. Might need a USB-C to USB 3.0 cable or adapter. Doesn't matter. Don't try to connect the drive to the Thunderbolt 2 ports of the machine. Won't work.
Once the external connected, clone the boot drive to it with Carbon Copy Cloner. Reboot, holding option to allow you to choose the external as the boot drive. Once it's booting off the external and working nicely, choose the external as the boot drive in Startup Disk. Done. Once you do that, it will always try to boot off the external first and should be seamless to your friend.
There will be a tangible improvement even if using an external SSD connected via USB 3.0. But, given the choice, don't go with a 2.5" based external with a USB 3.0 connection. Go for a faster model with a USB 3.1 Gen 2 connection. Offers a bit of future proofing. If he moves to a desktop with a Thunderbolt 3 or 4 port, you can move the external to it and still enjoy a speedy boot drive.
Robert