External Drive on Mac mini M1 using the USB 3 port

You'll be able to use an external drive, but you won't be able to boot from it.

I have heard from several other users that only NVMe M.2 2280 SSD's are bootable.

I have purchased one but the enclosure won't be here till Wednesday. I'll report back on whether it actually worked or not.

If it doesn't work then I'll be sending my M1 back for a refund, as I need to have a bootable drive.

God only knows if Apple will fix this issue.

scs3325 wrote:

Check this out

https://eclecticlight.co/2020/12/22/booting-an-m1-mac-from-an-external-disk-it-is-possible/

I made a M1 external boot drive yesterday with an Inland Premium NVMe M.2 2280 SSD. It works great. I have since helped others make their own M1 boot drive. Theirs works great too. So far, however, I have only been able to make one using Thunderbolt 3 (not USB-C, USB 3, or any other connector). I am looking into working on a way to get USB-C and/or USB 3 to work.

Yes, this is an issue with the M1 Mac mini.

Are you on 11.1?