Can I move my external boot drive from iMac to MBPro & use as is?

[Turnpike]

I've been using an external SSD plugged into my old clunky 2011 27" and the smaller size iMacs and booting from them as the main drives. I know there are better ways to do it, but as long as I don't open too many tabs at once it seems to work just fine and MILES better than the old spinning HD it came with.

My question is this; if I should have to go away for work last minute, and need to take that info with me, can I unplug the external SSD and plug it into my MBPro and boot from it while on the road and basically have my desktop computer with me? Is it that easy? Would anyone know for sure without me unplugging and testing the whole procedure?

Thanks in advance!

PS: For what it is worth, I got a $15 Sabrent USB 3.0 to SSD /2.5 Inch Sata External Shockproof Aluminum Hard Drive Enclosure and put a cheap 128GB $40 SSD into it and just used the USB connection and booted from it with directions on Google, and OMG my old computer that was too slow to work is FANTASTIC! I highly recommend this cheap short cut if you have a slow regular drive iMac.

 

[casperes1996]

Yen. That works just fine. When I test beta operating systems, I put them on an External SSD, and use it on both my iMac, and my MacBook Pro. This doesn’t work for windows, but does for any other OS

 

[Turnpike]

Yen. That works just fine. When I test beta operating systems, I put them on an External SSD, and use it on both my iMac, and my MacBook Pro. This doesn’t work for windows, but does for any other OS

Thanks, Casper! So in theory, I could put a 2TB SSD in that enclosure, and take all my iTunes movies and everything with me, right? Maybe even put my Crypto wallets on that external SSD? It's just like a computer, I'm just using the graphics card and hardware of whatever computer I have it plugged into?

 

[casperes1996]

Thanks, Casper! So in theory, I could put a 2TB SSD in that enclosure, and take all my iTunes movies and everything with me, right? Maybe even put my Crypto wallets on that external SSD? It's just like a computer, I'm just using the graphics card and hardware of whatever computer I have it plugged into?

Yes. I mean, aside from the "It's just like a computer". It's the storage of the computer. If I were to take a single piece of hardware and name it "the computer", it'd be the CPU. Without the CPU, the hard drive wouldn't be able to do very much at all. It is theoretically possible to use a CPU without a hard drive though. You just can't store any of the data. Least not locally.

But yes. You can fully use it that way
[doublepost=1527512320][/doublepost]In addition, you can also boot your iMac with the internal SSD from your MacBook, or boot your MacBook with the internal drive from an iMac, using a Thunderbolt cable. When booting the machine which hard drive you want to use, just hold the T key. Then when booting the machine that you want to use the processing power from to run the other computer's hard drive, you just enter the boot menu holding Option, and you should see the other computer's hard drive

 

[Turnpike]

Yes. I mean, aside from the "It's just like a computer". It's the storage of the computer. If I were to take a single piece of hardware and name it "the computer", it'd be the CPU. Without the CPU, the hard drive wouldn't be able to do very much at all. It is theoretically possible to use a CPU without a hard drive though. You just can't store any of the data. Least not locally.

But yes. You can fully use it that way
[doublepost=1527512320][/doublepost]In addition, you can also boot your iMac with the internal SSD from your MacBook, or boot your MacBook with the internal drive from an iMac, using a Thunderbolt cable. When booting the machine which hard drive you want to use, just hold the T key. Then when booting the machine that you want to use the processing power from to run the other computer's hard drive, you just enter the boot menu holding Option, and you should see the other computer's hard drive

Wow, I didn't know that. SUPER helpful, thank you! This is like the 4th time you helped me with an issue over the years, I remember you because you're in DK.

 

[Fishrrman]

"if I should have to go away for work last minute, and need to take that info with me, can I unplug the external SSD and plug it into my MBPro and boot from it while on the road and basically have my desktop computer with me?"

What OS is on the external drive?
What year is the MacBook Pro?
What version of the OS is it using?

You have to use a version of the OS that is capable of booting and running the MBPro.

IF you can plug the external drive into the MBPro and boot it, it will work.
I suggest you try that RIGHT NOW, and get back to us with the results.

 

[casperes1996]

Wow, I didn't know that. SUPER helpful, thank you! This is like the 4th time you helped me with an issue over the years, I remember you because you're in DK.

I really appreciate that you notice it! I sometimes taker longer breaks from MacRumors, but when I come, I come a lot and try to help wherever I can, so it's really nice to know that it's appreciated and helpful. Always say if you need anything else. I'm happy to assist