How to start up your M1 Mac from an external drive<article>
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<p>Apple’s relatively new M1 Macs that rely on Apple silicon have a number of usability differences from previous Intel-based Macs. One difference that’s tripped some readers up is how to start up or boot the M1 Mac from an external drive. Intel Macs generally make this easy.</p><p>You might want to use a bootable external drive to have a higher-capacity SSD than is offered or affordable via Apple’s pricing. Or you want one for backup in case something goes very pear shaped with your M1 Mac.</p><p>Testing indicates that the following are required to start up from an external volume:</p><ul>
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<p>A Thunderbolt 3 drive. That’s not just one that uses the USB-C connector, but is a native USB 3.1 or 3.2 drive. Nor can you use a Type A adapter for a USB 3.0 or later drive. Success appears to require a
native Thunderbolt 3 drive.</p><p class="jumpTag"><a href="/article/3608433/how-to-start-up-your-m1-mac-from-an-external-drive.html#jump">To read this article in full, please click here[/url]</p></section></article>
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How to start up your M1 Mac from an external drive
