Does anyone know what type of 2TB External SSD I can purchase for my 2020 iMac 27" 5K Retina Intel i7 and how I go about linking my photos to the 2TB External SSD (instead of the original 500GB Internal SSD) so that the photos backup to the 2TB Apple iCloud Account? I can then use the Internal SSD for everything else.
Many thanks,
Kevi
Ireland
You can verify the Photos have been uploaded by logging in to iCloud.com website and checking the Photos App there, or by scrolling all the way to the bottom of the Library section in the Photos app and checking the "On This Mac Only" parenthesized section there. If it's more than 0 some photos may not have uploaded yet. It will also say "Upload Complete" below that or the progress of the upload if it has not finished.
Link-> Check the status of your library in Photos for macOS - Apple Support
If you followed the steps above and pointed the Photos App to the new location of the Photos Library.photoslibrary file on the external drive, then you can delete the photos library file in your Pictures folder on the internal drive safely.
The drive I would recommend for this type of work is the OWC 2.0TB Envoy Pro FX Thunderbolt 3 + USB-C... at MacSales.com. It is not cheap however it is the fastest and likely the most reliable drive you will find.
BTW, Phil0124's reply is spot on.
Please click OWC Resellers and you should be able to find a more local vendor.
Thanks again.
I have bought an External Drive to give this a go. I have followed your brilliant instructions and all is seemingly well. When I 'moved' the Photos Library from the Internal iMac SSD to the new 2TB External SSD, I think it 'copied' the entire library over. I then synced the new 2TB External SSD with my iCloud Account. 2 more questions, if you don't mind.
1 - How do I know if the External SSD has completely synced with my iCloud Account - Can I determine if it has completely uploaded?
2 - When that is done, the photos will be on my new External 2TB SSD and then backed up on my iCloud Account - Would it then be safe to remove the photos from my Internal iMac SSD so as to save space and ultimately upgrade to macOS Monterey?
Many many thanks in advance - Kevi
Ireland
Absolutely brilliant. I understand it all a lot better now. My photo library that I copied to the new External 2TB SSD is 'updating' to the iCloud as we chat. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your advice - Kevi
Ireland
Thank you so much for your advice, I will give this a try - Kevi
Thank you kindly for your advice. Do you know if I can purchase these External Drives in Ireland / United Kingdom? - Kevi
Thanks again - Have a great Day - Kevi
You're most welcome. Glad it all worked out.
UPGRADING SSD ON IMAC 2020 WITH EXTERNAL 2TB SSD + PHOTO BACKUP
