Boot Mac OS on external drive

As long as you have a USB 3.0 or better it will be fast enough.

When your external is plugged into the MacBook click the Apple Icon in the top left of your screen and a menu will show up, click "About This Mac". This will bring up a splash window with a circular pic of the Catalina Desktop and 6 tabs, Overview, Displays, Storage, Memory, Support, Service.

Under "Overview" You will see all your MacBook's specs and 2 buttons "System Report" and "System Update", click System Report.

This should open a new window with 3 dropdown sections, Hardware, Network, Software. Under Hardware the last option should be USB, click that to bring up your USB Device Tree. This will show a list of connected devices, including your built-in camera and bluetooth controller. There will be description of your external HD, can you provide us with the details of that? We can proceed from there.

I don't believe you need to have your Apps on the external drive, I recommend storing the extra content on the external and keeping the Apps on your internal drive.

Logic Pro X needs around 6 GB fro the minimal install, which is the App and what it needs to run basically.

The 72 GB for the full Sound Library installation is all the packaged synths, instruments, loops, and effects which could be stored externally for import when needed.

I'm pretty sure it's a similar situation with Final Cut.

I'll look out for your reply on the USB details.

How to select a different startup disk - Apple Support

How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

https://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/mac-software/macos-external-drive-3659666/

https://osxdaily.com/2013/06/22/boot-mac-external-drive/

more

https://www.google.com/search?q=Boot+Mac+OS+on+external+drive&oq=Boot+Mac+OS+on+external+drive&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Yes you can, but budget is going to mean slow & not recommended for Logic Pro x and Final Cut Pro x....

Your MacBook Pro 13-inch 2019 has Thunderbolt3/USB-C ports so chose the size & speed...

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/ME6CM5T02/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shoppingengine&utm_campaign=googlebase&gclsrc=ds

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/ENVPROC2N20/

Forget Sierra, Server, & client.

Once you get the drive format it if need be, then use Carbon Copy Cloner to copy Apps & all over to the external drive, then restart & hold alt key to choose Startup Disk...

http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html

You'll be able to use everything you use now.

Hi, welcome to the Apple Users Community.

I've heard things like High Sierra and stuff but I don't really know what this means and will this still be the same system on my external disk?

This is an older OS that will not affect your MacBook. You have a 2019 with Catalina installed and it will not roll back to an older OS.

I already have an external disk, but when I plug it in to my MacBook I can only watch the files on my Mac but that's it. I can't transfer any files which is so stupid.

You have a significant amount of storage on your MacBook, by the specs you gave above, it should be a 2TB HD internally.

To properly check your storage is all working correctly go to Applications>Utilities>Disk Utilities and run First Aid on the drives.

Let us know how you get on.

The faster the better, but more expensive...

SSD is faster & more expensive than HDD, the fastest is Up to 2800MB/s performance...

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/owc-envoy-pro-ex-thunderbolt-3

But as Pete says USB3 or USB-C should be fast enough, sounds like you need at least 2 TB.

So I have a few questions:

How can I use my external drive as bootdisk?

Yes. I'm booted off of my external ssd right now.

What do I need to use for that? Low budget please.

You do not have enough storage space on your mac. You should get an external ssd. Give owc a call. I know what I bought, but it can be probomatic to buy external storage. I brought an external drive enclosure and it was very slow. Never figured out why. My other external drive was a lot faster. I bought another of the same faster external drive. Was faster. A spinning drive will be cheaper but slower.

And if u use an external drive as a bootdisk, can I still work with all the apps that are on my MacBook or is it just the files of my external drive that I can use?

Most apps will run from any drive. I recall Microsoft office requires you to be installed in the startup drive. ( and office installation on external drive may require a call to M$. )

And what is it about the different MacBook client and server operating system? I've heard things like High Sierra and stuff but I don't really know what this means and will this still be the same system on my external disk?

This is a different thing. Ignore it. You are not using it. Client & server requires two computers. You have one.

I already have an external disk, but when I plug it in to my MacBook I can only watch the files on my Mac but that's it. I can't transfer any files which is so stupid. What can I do about that? Do I really need to pay for another disk? If so, which one do I need to use?

This is a different issue. And we need to analyze it separately. I suggest you create a new discussion on this only.

And last, do I have to pay attention before using an external drive as a boot disk? Or could there be problems?

Like I said, I'm doing this now. It's a computer. There is always the possibility of a problem.

The apps you list: Final Cut Pro and LogicPro are Pro apps. They require Pro hardware. They are not budget apps. You will be setting yourself up for headaches not to spend the money on hardware. I'd suggest an external ssd. I suggest giving OWC/MacSales a call. https://eshop.macsales.com/ You can save a little money by buying the external drive separately from the drive. You save money by buying a spinning harddrive. I believe that CCC has a free trial period. You can use disk utility to back up and restore to a new drive. Ask another question on how.

Don't forget backup.

R

What is the difference between SSD and external drive?

ssd is solid state drive. It is the technology used to manufacture the device.

You have internal drive which is inside your computer and external drives which are attached to your computer by a cable.

for the best performance, you need an external SSD drive as your startup drive.

And for the backup: do I need another disk to copy all my video's?

Yes. You should run time machine. A large external rotational disk.

I watched a YouTube video from someone that is editing video's too and she recommended these two disks

WD My Passport for Mac Type C 2TB

I'd go with a larger drive:

WD My Passport for Mac Type C 4TB

https://tinyurl.com/y6tmoca9

LaCie Rugged Mini USB-C 4TB

fyi: If you have the latest Mac operating system (you see the disk size as 400 or so meg), go to the LaCie website and download the latest software and/or firmware. Unmount and remount, disk format (do this before using it because you erase everything) with the Mac Journaled / GUID type.

Your paying extra for the rugged version. Could buy a separate bumper.

What is best changes over time.

Are these good disks you think? I would go for the LaCie one bc it can be used on Mac and Windows without being formatted again + it's faster.

They must have formatted it with exFat.

Do you need to share the drive between Mac & Windows?

To use timemachine you will need it formatted the partition for a mac. To share data you will have another partition formatted exFat or Fat.

R

Here is how to clone a disk using disk utility. The confusion is that disk utility uses the word "restore" to clone a partition.

http://www.stellarclonedrive.com/disk-utility-to-clone-mac-drive.php

R