Best backup solution if the macbook gets stolen or damaged?

[swealpha]

Hello!

What is the best and easy backup solution if the mac gets stolen or the internal hdd dies?
I want to be able to be up and running again in short time exactly like it was before, all settings, addons, everything.

It seems like Apple has started to make it alot harder to use a external bootable disk if the internal one dies.

In the old days with my mid 2014 MBP i used:
Time machine for backups and
CC5 to have a full clone (1:1) bootable disk if my macbook got stolen or damaged.

My system today is a Macbook Air M3.
Thank you!

 

[za9ra22]

I was never much a fan of TimeMachine, but when I knew I was going to get an M3 MBA, I did a TimeMachine backup of my M1, and a full restore onto the M3, which was done, with the resulting system up and running in about 20-25 minutes total.

It doesn't help in terms of booting the machine if there's no viable internal to boot from, but I haven't actually needed to boot a Mac externally for about 10 years, so with the reliability of SSDs, I don't really regard that as a problem. Previously, I'd always used SuperDuper! to clone the internal, but that hasn't seemed worthwhile for years when TimeMachine offers a solution the Mac can readily work with.

In circumstances where a system is stolen and/or replaced, booting externally doesn't seem a particularly useful solution.

 

[Larvas]

I have a Samsung T5 connected to my monitor as a time machine backup, so whenever I'm at home and the laptop is connected to the monitor it backs itself up.

Additionally all my software has cloud saves (excel, photoshop, word, scrivener), all my most important folders are synced with my iCloud account. The only thing that I don't have set as an iCloud backup is my downloads folder that has misc stuff.

On top of that, my old Intel Mac has a complete mirror of the system (same icloud account, same firefox account, same office account etc) so even if my new mac would die, I would still have the old one with the same data.

 

[gilby101]

If the MBP gets stolen or damaged: Buy new Mac and recover from your TM disk.

If MBP and TM disk get stolen or damaged: Buy new Mac and recover from your offsite backup.

Offsite backup might be
a) a second TM disk stored offsite (e.g. at a friends or your workplace), or
b) backup software and cloud service (e.g. Arq).

If any delays in restoration are truly unacceptable, get a second Mac and keep it synchronised.

Take a risk management strategy to this - think out the scenarios, their likelihood, what they might cost you or your business (in money or frustration) and what you are prepared to pay (in effort as well as money) to mitigate. Some risks you might accept - e.g. no point in mitigating a risk and consequences that are lower than you being run over crossing the road.

I am not voting as you have not specified the risks fully. For example, if you mainly use your Mac for web browsing and email plus iCloud for files then I might recommend no backup and just buy a new Mac.