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I have an external SSD with the current version of Monterey, which I can use to boot my 2019 Intel MBP. The system was installed from the Intel Mac. I was wondering if anyone knows if I can use this same external SSD to boot into an M1 MBP, assuming I've reduced the security settings in Recovery.
Thanks very much for any guidance.
The answer is no. I have Monterey installed on an NVME disk on my 2013 MacPro. I connected it to my 2020 M1 MacBook Air.
It was recognized as a startup disk, and when I selected it to be the startup disk it asked for credentials for users on the NVME disk,. I entered those and then got message that the the NVME installation was not compatible and that I had to reinstall macOS via Recovery. I declined that and unselect the VME disk as startup, ejected the NVME disk and reconnected. it to my MacPro and the MacPro still works fine.
The answer is no. I have Monterey installed on an NVME disk on my 2013 MacPro. I connected it to my 2020 M1 MacBook Air.
It was recognized as a startup disk, and when I selected it to be the startup disk it asked for credentials for users on the NVME disk,. I entered those and then got message that the the NVME installation was not compatible and that I had to reinstall macOS via Recovery. I declined that and unselect the VME disk as startup, ejected the NVME disk and reconnected. it to my MacPro and the MacPro still works fine.
You can check if a single version of the macOS supports both Intel and Apple Silicon. If that doesn't work, you can try to install the "M1" version of Monterey on a second volume of the same external SSD.
- Pie Lover
Essentially, the drive must have some "security" information written to it for it to boot on an M1 Mac.
Instead of allowing all external boot, you have to configure each drive on an M1 Mac. I'm not sure if it has to be that specific M1 or any M1. I'm thinking it will be specific to that Mac.
I fear Apple is trying to phase it out as a capability.
I think they are trying to make it more secure which almost necessarily does limit capability.
You don't need a Firmware password anymore. You can completely lock down an Apple Silicon-based Mac without it. The drive and the Mac have to "know" each other before you can boot with it.
Doubt it. You’ll need to reinstall macOS on that SSD from your M1 Mac, since it uses an ARM 64, not x86-64 architecture. That’s what I reckon anyways.
Thank you both. I was hoping someone had already tried it.
Thank you very much lllaass for confirming this. I’ll have to rebuild it for the M1.
Thank you Barney. It’s really hard to find information on external booting. I fear Apple is trying to phase it out as a capability.
Here is some additional info:
https://eclecticlight.co/2021/11/11/creating-a-bootable-external-disk-with-an-m1-pro-in-monterey/
Thank you for this.
Booting into Monterey on external SSD
