Which SSD drive should I choose for my MacBook Air M1?

[lenuxfrance]

Hello ,
I'm looking for a 2TB or 4TB SSD for my MacBook Air M1.

I want to put MacOS on it to have a second system for my work and keep my personal macOS safe in my Mac.

Do you have any suggestions for a good-value SSD hard drive?

Thank you in advance for your help

 

[danb1979]

I use x2 Crucial P3 4TB SSDs connected to my M1 Mac Mini & M1 MBA - both faultless and do all that I need. I've also got a Crucial X9 portable 4TB external SSD for when I'm across to Dublin with work for my M1 MBA

I've also got a Crucial P3 500GB SSD connected to both for their TimeMachines

My M2 Mac Mini Pro has the same Crucial P3 SSD

Not had any issues with any of them/would highly recommend them

 

[lenuxfrance]

I use x2 Crucial P3 4TB SSDs connected to my M1 Mac Mini & M1 MBA - both faultless and do all that I need. I've also got a Crucial X9 portable 4TB external SSD for when I'm across to Dublin with work for my M1 MBA

I've also got a Crucial P3 500GB SSD connected to both for their TimeMachines

My M2 Mac Mini Pro has the same Crucial P3 SSD

Not had any issues with any of them/would highly recommend them

Hello and thank you for your answer
My use: installing a Mac OS on an SSD for work (office, internet).
Will the Mac OS on the internal SSD be for personal use?
I want to do this with an SSD?

 

[chabig]

I want to put MacOS on it to have a second system for my work and keep my personal macOS safe in my Mac.

I think it would be better to do this by creating a work account on the computer. Use the work alongside your personal account to keep things separate. It also beats having to reboot every time you want to switch.

 

[danb1979]

I think it would be better to do this by creating a work account on the computer. Use the work alongside your personal account to keep things separate. It also beats having to reboot every time you want to switch.

@lenuxfrance

This!

When I ran my own business and used my M1 Mac Mini; I had a'business' sign in and a 'personal' sign in - kept everything separate then and much easier to manage

Stored the sensitive info in the G-Drive cloud for my business and everything for me, I stored in my iCloud and personal SSDs etc

 

[BeatCrazy]

Hello ,
I'm looking for a 2TB or 4TB SSD for my MacBook Air M1.

I want to put MacOS on it to have a second system for my work and keep my personal macOS safe in my Mac.

Do you have any suggestions for a good-value SSD hard drive?

Thank you in advance for your help

If your work image is tied to MDM, boot from external SSD may not work properly.

 

[Bigwaff]

You can't boot from an external drive, on an Apple Silicon Mac.

No true.

Install macOS on an external storage device and use it as a startup disk - Apple Support

If you have an external storage device, you can set it up as a Mac startup disk.

support.apple.com

 

[BeatCrazy]

No true.

Install macOS on an external storage device and use it as a startup disk - Apple Support

If you have an external storage device, you can set it up as a Mac startup disk.

support.apple.com

Indeed I initially misstated, as you can change the boot policy... regardless, I'm not sure if what the OP is trying to accomplished is best served by dual booting. There's the MDM issue I updated above, along with these considerations: https://eclecticlight.co/2021/05/12/booting-an-m1-mac-external-disks-and-local-boot-policy/

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Where did this Mac come from?
Did you buy it with your own money?
Or... is it a "work computer", that was given to you by your employer?

As mentioned in replies above, if it came from your employer, it may have pre-installed company software/firmware on it (MDM?) which may prevent you from installing and running a copy of the OS on an external drive.

If the computer is actually YOURS, there probably isn't anything that can stop you from booting/running from an external drive "for work".

I would suggest using a USB3.1 gen2 drive for external booting.
You could also use thunderbolt, which is faster, but these drives are more expensive and many of them get HOT while running.

For an external USB3.1 gen2 SSD, you might consider either a Crucial X-9 or a Samsung t7 "shield" (or perhaps the new t9, if it's out yet?).

Remember to boot to recovery and go to the startup security pane and remove the "security" that prevents booting from an external drive.

Be aware that m-series Macs seem to be designed to run best when booted "internally", and that there may be glitches here or there when booting/running from an external drive. This doesn't mean you can't do it...

 

[lenuxfrance]

OP:

Where did this Mac come from?
Did you buy it with your own money?
Or... is it a "work computer", that was given to you by your employer?

As mentioned in replies above, if it came from your employer, it may have pre-installed company software/firmware on it (MDM?) which may prevent you from installing and running a copy of the OS on an external drive.

If the computer is actually YOURS, there probably isn't anything that can stop you from booting/running from an external drive "for work".

I would suggest using a USB3.1 gen2 drive for external booting.
You could also use thunderbolt, which is faster, but these drives are more expensive and many of them get HOT while running.

For an external USB3.1 gen2 SSD, you might consider either ar a Samsung t7 "shield" (or perhaps the new t9, if it's out yet?).

Remember to boot to recovery and go to the startup security pane and remove the "security" that prevents booting from an external drive.

Be aware that m-series Macs seem to be designed to run best when booted "internally", and that there may be glitches here or there when booting/running from an external drive. This doesn't mean you can't do it...

Hello ,
MacBook bought new in an Apple store, I wanted to buy Crucial X-9
In 2TO addition
Can I synchronize my account on both the internal and external hard drives?

 

[Fishrrman]

"Can I synchronize my account on both the internal and external hard drives?"

I can't answer.
But my thoughts are... "if you want two SEPARATE accounts... why "syncrhonize" them...?"