Hi all, I purchased a new Macbook air 2020 with M1 processor.
The computer does not recognise USB bootable drives. I start it wiht a continuous press on the power button and cycle through startup options, but do not see any of the bootable USB that usually work on my imac. to be sure I tested a linux install USB, a Window as well as High Sierra and Mojave. Not of these is visible on the M1 MB. Had anyone managed to boot the M1 from anu USB stick?
For one, no operating system built for Intel will run on
an M1 machine. The two CPU architectures are totally different
and have completely different code.
Two, no macOS operating system earlier than the one that was shipped
with a machine will boot. This has always been true, Intel or M1.
Just based on these two facts, none of those OSes you have can possibly
work.
At this point in time, the only thing that can externally boot on
any M1 Mac is Big Sur that has been installed via Recovery on an M1
Mac to the external drive.
As of now, no other OS has been built with M1 code for running on an M1 Mac,
internally or externally.
Booting an M1 Mac from an external disk: it is possible
https://eclecticlight.co/2020/12/22/booting-an-m1-mac-from-an-external-disk-it-is-possible
Merry Christmas to everyone!
You won't be able to boot High Sierra or Mojave on an M1 machine. It only supports for Mac OS X, Big Sur when it comes to Mac OS X.
As for Windows, you'll need to use a VMWare, Virtualbox, or Crossover designated for Arm Mac chips. It will not work on Intel CPU based virtualization tools. Apple's Boot Camp no longer works with these Macs.
The point in the link mentioned is the USB Drive must have Big Sur installer on the drive. Even at that, the Secure Enclave built into the M1 MBA, by default will not allow booting from an External drive / USB / SSD / or any other device.
m1 boot from usb
