Boot Mojave from External Drive on Low-End MacBook Pro 13" 2020

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Boot Mojave from External Drive on Low-End MacBook Pro 13" 2020

My employer has asked me to select a new work computer. I have been using a 2017 MacBook Pro 15" with Mojave. I also have Mojave installed on a hard drive I rescued from a 2011 Mac mini that died several years ago; it carries over software going back as far as my 2006 MacBook, some of it 32-bit and no longer maintained. I see that the two low-end configurations of the 2020 MacBook Pro 13" use the same processors as the 2019 models they replaced, which initially came with Mojave. Is it likely, or possible, that I would be able to boot these 2020 models using Mojave on my external drive? I can accept Catalina on the internal SSD for work, but I do not want to break the legacy software on my personal system. Thanks in advance for your feedback.

MacBook Pro

Posted on May 20, 2020 12:45 PM

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Answer 1

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Kappy

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May 20, 2020 1:09 PM in response to Fahrwahr

The new models come with Catalina installed. They cannot be used with an OS version that precedes the one installed at the factory. It's not just processor related. The 2020 MBP will not be able to run Mojave. In fact it comes with it's own special build of Catalina.

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Answer 2

Fahrwahr Author

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May 20, 2020 2:39 PM in response to Kappy

From a historical perspective, I was able to boot my 2011 Mac mini (which shipped with 10.7 Lion from its release) using an installation of 10.6.8 Snow Leopard (I had to install it using another computer and Target Disk Mode, as my installation CD was for 10.6.3 and did not contain support for the Mac mini). For as many years as Apple continued to provide security updates, I stayed with Snow Leopard on a Mac that officially supported nothing before Lion, and I did not have any problems until the graphics died (one of the victims of bad AMD graphics in computers that year), by which time I was already on a newer OS.

I suppose my dilemma is whether or not requesting that my employer order one of the MacBook Pro models with an 8th-generation processor, instead of one with a 10th-generation processor, would be worth the possibility that I could maintain the ability to boot Mojave. (I plan to dock it at work or at home most of the time, so being reduced to two Thunderbolt ports does not faze me.) Perhaps someone will try it and post the results somewhere before I have to decide.

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

361,879 points

May 20, 2020 7:56 PM in response to Fahrwahr

In the past, when Apple released new hardware, it would be equipped with the most recent version of OS X. But the previous version of OS X would still work because there were no internal hardware differences. But that was only occasionally. The same would be the case today depending upon whether new hardware required new software builds or versions. But Apple has been persistent in forcing their market to newer hardware by being sure it isn't backward compatible with an older OS version. It would not be in Apple's best interest to release the 2020 MBP and have it work with Mojave when their current models are shipped with Catalina. So I wouldn't count on being able to use Mojave in this newest addition.

Given what you have already posted, I would suggest that your company needs to look into bringing their data operations into the modern world. It's time to bring the 2006 data to 2020 in order to maintain data compatibility with new software and hardware.

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Answer 4

Fahrwahr Author

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Jun 17, 2020 12:02 PM in response to Kappy

The issue for me is more with legacy software in my personal system (on the external drive); some of my peripherals were manufactured by companies no longer in the consumer space, so the software that came with them is unlikely to receive updates. For work, I should have no problem adapting to new versions of macOS.

Having extensively read forum posts containing experience with the 2020 MacBook Pro 13", I decided to request one with an 8th-generation processor, as the technology appears to be more tested and stable. Once the requisition goes through and I receive it, I will update this thread based on attempting to boot Mojave on it (relaxing the security restrictions that would prevent an external boot).

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Answer 5

Fahrwahr Author

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55 points

Jul 17, 2020 3:51 PM in response to Fahrwahr

I am still waiting for approval for my computer request. So far I have not read any discussions that mention attempts (successful or failed) to boot a 2020 MacBook Pro with an 8th-generation processor using Mojave, but my use case (booting from an external drive) may be rare. I will try to keep this thread alive until I have a chance to try it for myself.

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Boot Mojave from External Drive on Low-End MacBook Pro 13" 2020

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