OK so you might have to work with me a little bit here because I’m not positive I will be using the terminology that people are expecting, but I will try to explain my question. Normally, I do a pretty large quantity of cloning hard drives onto solid-state drives for my customers for speed boost. Today I went to run a clone using super Duper and I found that apparently super Duper does not yet support Big Sur. Because of that I ventured over to using carbon copy cloner for the first time. No big deal on two of the computers I was working on, but on the third, the APFS drive is split into the data partition and the normal system partition. I did a little research but I couldn’t really find instructions that made me confident about the entire process. What I gathered was, I should use carbon copy to clone the data partition, and then manually install Big Sur on the newly created drive. That sounds a little weird to me so I wanted to make sure of the process. I’ve already finished copying the data partition, So the question is what to do next. I have a flash drive with Big Sur installation on it ready to go. Anyone who’s done this before, help would be appreciated. Thanks!
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Using ccc to clone an apfs system with data partition
- Thread starter cameronjpu
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Fix Carbon Copy Cloner Issues with Big Sur
Solutions for Carbon Copy Cloner compatibility issues with Big Sur.
softwaretested.com
Here is some info that will help you, but you have already sort of come to the correct conclusion. For now it is best to fresh install the OS to the new drive, then you can use the CCC clone of the data volume as the source to import during system setup on the new drive.
Ugh that's too bad if true - I've already done the data partition and would rather not have to do it again. Do you think that's possible? I don't see that sort of thing on the link you posted.
OK so for the next person searching and reading this - I did the ccc clone on the data partition, then after it was done, ran the Big Sur installer (both drives plugged into a separate working Big Sur computer, if that matters) with the newly cloned data drive as the target. After the install finished, it was just as if I had cloned the entire drive. Bingo bango. No idea why it worked, but it did. 
You can read all about what @Weaselboy referred to by going to the CCC website. Developer Mike Bombich explains it all in his blog.
And yes, it works just as you reported above.
And yes, it works just as you reported above.
One thing I forgot to mention is that you will need to do the same thing each time Big Sur is updated. In other words, you will need to run the latest Big Sur installer in order to keep the clone valid. It means more work but right now that's the only way.
As I read through all the above posts I realized this must be a time when ignorance is bliss.
When I updated to Big Sur 11.1, I installing over Catalina then I let CCC update to version 5.1.24. I had previously created a fresh clone of my MBP's SSD with Catalina on a separate external and made sure it would boot and work. I had also gone into Recovery and changed my security settings to allow for external OS booting.
I took a new fresh drive, formatted it for APFS and created a clone of my MBP running Big Sur. I got an error message the first time that said it may not boot. I cloned again and no error message. I checked to see if it would boot from the external drive and it did perfectly.
The only change I have seen is I can not select a startup disk in System Preferences. I have to hold down the Option Key now which is not a big deal.
I have no idea why it works but it does - unless I am missing something from the discussions. I do have an Intel 2020 13" MBP if that matters. The picture is from my last cloning done today.
When I updated to Big Sur 11.1, I installing over Catalina then I let CCC update to version 5.1.24. I had previously created a fresh clone of my MBP's SSD with Catalina on a separate external and made sure it would boot and work. I had also gone into Recovery and changed my security settings to allow for external OS booting.
I took a new fresh drive, formatted it for APFS and created a clone of my MBP running Big Sur. I got an error message the first time that said it may not boot. I cloned again and no error message. I checked to see if it would boot from the external drive and it did perfectly.
The only change I have seen is I can not select a startup disk in System Preferences. I have to hold down the Option Key now which is not a big deal.
I have no idea why it works but it does - unless I am missing something from the discussions. I do have an Intel 2020 13" MBP if that matters. The picture is from my last cloning done today.
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It booted okay because you already had Big Sur 11.1 installed. What happens when Big Sur is updated to 11.2? Mike Bombich has made it fairly clear that you will have to do what I outlined in my previous post in order for the clone to boot properly to the new version of macOS Big Sur.
Not sure I follow... does this mean I can’t do updates on this system? I don’t care about the clone, I just want a working system on the new ssd.
Of course you can continue to do updates. What we are referring to is making a bootable clone of Big Sur using CCC. Without going into details here, just access the CCC web site and read the blog about this by the developer.
bombich.com
Bombich Software Blog - Bombich Software
Well when 11.2 comes out I guess I will find out. Of course I will make a clone of 11.1 first. I will let you know what happens!
OK sorry for misunderstanding - not to be myopic, but it sounds like that is an issue not related to my original post, so its inclusion here confused me.Of course you can continue to do updates. What we are referring to is making a bootable clone of Big Sur using CCC. Without going into details here, just access the CCC web site and read the blog about this by the developer.
Bombich Software Blog - Bombich Software