Because you bought the 128GB model and want more disk space?

nexus7556 · on Jan 4, 2021

I'm not sure we're talking about the same things. This article is about booting an operating system from an external disk. How is that going to save anything on the internal hard drive unless you remove the OS from the internal drive and are constantly tethered to that external USB boot disk?

tinus_hn · on Dec 23, 2020

You could put the things that take up space on the separate disk instead of trying to use an external system disk. You can actually put a home directory on an external disk, for instance.

supernova87a · on Dec 23, 2020

Wouldn't the speed losses negate the attractiveness of the M1's performance? I guess if you feel the Apple pricing of the larger hard drive is extortionate, then ok, sure.

Wowfunhappy · on Dec 23, 2020

With USB4? I don't think it would necessarily have to be slower.

ValentineC · on Dec 23, 2020

I did a disk speed test comparing the M1 MacBook Pro's internal SSD to a WD SN750 inside a Realtek RTL9210 USB-C case.

The internal SSD gets ~2,800-3,000 MB/s read/write.

The USB-C case gets ~800-900 MB/s read/write.

If I'm not wrong, the M1 Mac's "USB4" supports 10Gb/s max, so external drives will always be slower.