Can you use Apple Intelligence when booting macOS Tahoe beta 2 via external drive by default?

[Joe Rossignol]

What I wrote in the thread title is allegedly possible now, without Terminal/manual steps.

If anyone could check for me, that would be great.

Thank you!

 

[haralds]

AI is still disabled on mine.

 

[ivnj]

according to google

macOS Tahoe (version 26) introduces several new features related to external AI usage and physical connections:

• Booting from External Drives: With macOS Tahoe, the prior restriction requiring a hack to use Apple Intelligence when booting from an external SSD has been removed. Users can now seamlessly run the full macOS experience, including AI features, from an external volume.

and

Yes, with the release of
macOS Tahoe, Apple Intelligence features are now officially allowed and functional when booting your Mac from an external drive.
Previously, in macOS Sequoia, a technical workaround or "hack" was needed to enable Apple Intelligence while running the OS from an external volume, but this is no longer the case in macOS Tahoe.
This change is beneficial for users who:

• Want to test the new OS on a separate volume before committing to a full installation on their internal drive, as described in guides on MacSales.com.
• Run specific AI or machine learning (ML) workloads and want the flexibility of an external boot drive.

You can manage these features in the System Settings app by navigating to Apple Intelligence & Siri.

and this reddit

https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOSBeta/comments/1lix0fy/b2_apple_intelligence_now_allowed_when_booting

But mine is still disabled.

 

[ivnj]

I got it working. I figured it out.

You install a copy of Tahoe on the external like normal. No need for Sequoia. Just a fresh Tahoe like normal. Then you boot to the external like normal and make sure it's all working. Goto Apple and System Preferences and under Apple Intelligence its not letting you toggle it on like normally form the internal. I found the solution in another site for downloading some modified files but did not want to download from other sources. So I used my own.

Tahoe was already on my internal SSD upgraded from Sequoia. So while still booted from the external I then restarted to the internal drive. I then held down Command + Shift + Period. I saw all the hidden files. I was in the main boot internal drive not the external. Then I goto "private" and then "var" and then "db" and then "eligibilityd". I copied whole folder to the desktop. Then I opened my external drive where I installed Tahoe. Vent back to the same folder location. I replaced the files in the "eligibilityd" folder on my external with the ones I copied to my desktop from the internal SSD. I the selected all the files and pressed Command + I together at the same time on my keyboard to open the get info for all the files. The under General under Modified the lat line there it says "Stationary Pad" and "Locked". I checked Locked on all the files. The I pressed Command + Shift + Period again so I don't see all the hidden files. Then I rebooted the Mini (I have an M4 with 256 + 16 Base model) into the external. And that is it. Then I went to Apple and System Preferences. And then Apple Intelligence. It no longer said not available when booting from my external. It said would you like to turn on Apple Intelligence. I did so by moving the slider and clicking a few things it said to do so afterwards. And now Apple Intelligence works on my External 1TB NVME.

I got these 2 things and now I am not limited by the internal 256gb SSD. I have 1tb available now minus the OS install files and few files and programs. But way better than before.

Walmart

and

Microcenter

and

Amazon

Amazon currently says 31.99 so Microcenter Matched that today. They just needed to verify it says sold and shipped by Amazon which it did so 35 something with tax. So not bad. So a little over 100 for a bottle 1tb NVME not bad.