Do I understand this correctly? (External SSD use)

[Turnpike]

I'm planning to get an iMac Pro for my office, and it will be loaded and used for some bigger projects by someone else on occasion when they are occasionally working at the office.

Since it will sit unused most of the time, if I boot it to an external, portable SSD and have all my own personal software and storage and projects setup on that external SSD, I should be able to unplug that portable USB, take it home with me, plug it into my 2017 27" regular iMac 5K and catch up with some work, right?

I realize I bottleneck the speed and loose a lot of the advantage of an iMac Pro while doing this, but if having my work be portable (98% of it is just on a word processor program, 2% is some 3D modeling software) and I enjoy using the larger 5K screen of an iMac over speed and power, this should in theory work, right?

And if i have a second external hard drive, and use it as a Time Machine, I can take that with me as well, and have all my work backed up, regardless which computer I I'm using, if I plug both external SSD's in at each place?

I'm just looking for someone to confirm I have it right before I splurge on a tiny new (but expensive) pair of Samsung T5 portable SSD's. A 2TB for my desktop and storage, and a 1TB to use as a time machine.

Does my thinking sound correct to those in the know....?

 

[djlythium]

Why don’t you just use a cloud service (e.g., iCloud, DropBox, Google Drive, Box, etc.)? All of these can integrate into your OSs, and sync all files and docs between your computers. That way, you don’t need to deal with the external SSD.

 

[DeltaMac]

Unless I am missing something --- both the iMac Pro, and your 2017 iMac 5K have the same 5k display.
The GPU in the Pro is more powerful, but the resolution, and actual screen size are the same on both.

Why would you get any kind of backup storage only half the capacity of your active drive?
(IMHO, the backup drive does NOT need to be an SSD)

 

[Turnpike]

Thanks for the input! I'd get the backup drive as an SSD just because it would match (except the color) as the other hard drive.

As for dealing with the ssd's, I don't mind- I have been going back and forth carrying an Macbook Pro, and just having the SSD's instead is easier, not to mention I get to enjoy the 5K displays. Plus, I like having my entire iTunes library and "computer" (desktop, etc) with me and not actually being on the work computer.

If the slowed speeds and the hassle of carrying the SSD's with me aren't an issue for me, this pretty much is like just taking my "computer" (though it's just a ssd drive) with me from place to place, right?

 

[barmann]

There's an iMac forum next door, might want to ask there .