Late 2012 iMac - pimp me up! (with an SSD)

[JonL12345]

It is Amazon Prime day today, and so I want to buy my SDD, getting a good deal in the process. I was going to go for the Samsung T5 1TB. However, for very nearly the same price, they have a Samsung T7 available.

These are the specs: Samsung T7 Portable SSD - 1 TB - USB 3.2 Gen.2 External SSD Indigo Blue (MU-PC1T0H/WW)

What I am unsure about is if that would still be compatible with my late 2012 iMac. The T5 says USB 3.1. But the T7 says USB 3.2 Gen.2. Could I still use it or is it incompatable?

I know that I cannot benefit from the extra speed of the T7 with my older iMac. But in the future, I can repurpose it and then I can.

 

[r6mile]

It is Amazon Prime day today, and so I want to buy my SDD, getting a good deal in the process. I was going to go for the Samsung T5 1TB. However, for very nearly the same price, they have a Samsung T7 available.

These are the specs: Samsung T7 Portable SSD - 1 TB - USB 3.2 Gen.2 External SSD Indigo Blue (MU-PC1T0H/WW)

What I am unsure about is if that would still be compatible with my late 2012 iMac. The T5 says USB 3.1. But the T7 says USB 3.2 Gen.2. Could I still use it or is it incompatable?

I know that I cannot benefit from the extra speed of the T7 with my older iMac. But in the future, I can repurpose it and then I can.

USB is always backwards compatible. So if the Samsung T7 is the same price, get that.

 

[JonL12345]

That's good to know, thanks.

 

[JonL12345]

I've got my T7 plugged into my Mac and now need to use carbon copy cleaner to transfer everything across. There are a few concerns I have before I start and I hope someone can help!

1. What disk format do I use? I am currently using HFS+, but the new Apple file system is APFS. So, should I be switching file systems when I clone my drive?

2. I am using Parallels on my drive, so that must be in a partition. Is that compatible with APFS? Will CCC copy that partition across too when I run it?

3. When formatting my T7, do I use Mac OS Extended (Journalled) and GUID Partition Map, or does it depend on if I use HFS+ or APFS?

 

[JonL12345]

Ignore the above post. I see it was covered in an earlier post. Got my cloning in process now.

 

[JonL12345]

Update: I cloned my drive using CCC from an APFS format to APFS on the T7 external SSD. My OS is Mojave.

The boot-up times were the same as before switched to the external drive. I figure this might be due to having an internal Fusion drive. So, I tested switching the OS to HFS+. Boot-up times went from 60s to 40s. So, I am keeping it in HFS+ format.

There is one error I am getting though. I have both Personal and Business OneDrive setup on my Mac. When I boot-up, I get this error:

I figure that somehow OneDrive is not recognising the files because they are in a different format, but I might be wrong.

Or, since I now have two drives on my Mac (the SSD external boot drive and the internal drive), both are clones. So could OneDrive still be linked to the internal drives OneDrive folder, which is now in a different file format to the current OS? i.e. the internal drive has an APFS format while the external boot-up drive has HPs+?

Anyone know why this is happening and a solution?