Mac Mini M4 base model -
1-
Can I upgrade NVMe disk after purchase,... e.g. after a year 256GB NVMe replace with 512GB NVMe... ? In other words, in Mac Mini M4 base model is NVMe disk replaceable?
2-
HDMI in Mac Mini M4 base model can place 8K video? Or only in USB-C 4 of this can play 8K?
Mac mini (M4)
1) The SSD of the Mac mini is not upgradable after purchase. Order the storage that you might need in the foreseeable future. Of course, you can always add external storage along the way.
2) The M4 base mini can support 8K resolution at 60Hz via Thunderbolt or HDMI, but limited to two displays in that configuration.
Mac mini - Technical Specifications - Apple
The whole process is simple.
You format the drive to APFS using Disk Utility . . . that takes less than a minute, then download and install Sequoia on it.
Finally open System Settings/General/Startup Disk and choose your new disk.
As you can see from the screenshot I have 3 possible disks. The one just visible to the right is the old USB 3.0.
In case choose an external NVMe to boot, and shutdown… when power on this external disk was accidentally disconnected, not connected, will the Mac computer in this case, boot from the internal SSD by default…?
In case I have cloned the internal SSD system drive to an external SSD system drive, … can have both as two boot options,… or boot system drives shouldn’t be with same drive signature as like is the case with Windows boot drives?
You could but there is no need. If you set the external SSD as the boot drive and then forget to connect it the computer will restart from the internal drive by default. Remember Mac OS is not MS Windows, they are different in the their designs and history. Mac OS tends to be a bit more sophisticated, Windows will do mostly what you want but getting there is much trickier for the unsophisticated.
I wouldn't worry about "maximum" speeds as their effect is largely theoretical.
For the past year I have been booting off a USB 3.0 SSD with a maximum speed of 360 GB/s and yet in comparison performance tests with the internal SSD there was never more than a 4% speed hit which is negligible.
The speed of most computer operations is determined almost entirely by the CPU/GPU, the SSD having almost no effect.
I know about the TB5 ports. However, based on latest testing of the OWC TB5 drive vs TB3-4 it was very disappointing. It appears most of the speed is from a large cache and once filled the speed drops down to almost the TB3-4 level so transferring large files is not that fats. That being said if all you do is small file work then yes the TB5 drive may be of some benefit but probably not much to the naked eye.
If you really are booting from the external drive attached by usb/tb, how are you preventing the "disk not ejected" problems when the mac goes into sleep mode? This would happen whether booted off the drive or not.
The only way I can see would be to have an externally powered enclosure.
I have been booting from a USB 3.0 SSD for over a year and from a Thunderbolt NVMe for the past. month.
I have never had the disk ejected at any time for any reason.
Nor have I ever heard of a boot disk disconnecting accidentally from anyone else.
When booting if the Mac cannot find the selected drive it will search for another drive. In your case the internal.
Which thunderbolt 4 or 5 enclosure is preferred for imac? I have 2 WD NVME sticks I never got around using in my gaming PC.
Most suggest not using sleep as it causes issues. Just have display turn off.
Mac Mini M4 upgrade NVMe disk after purchase, Can I
