External SSD for OSX

[andreyush]

Hello. It is possible to buy an external SSD (USB-C to usb3.0 A) for iMac and to install and boot osx on it ?

What are the differences of performance between the internal and external SSD?

 

[maflynn]

I run my iMac off an external SSD, and its plenty fast. I've been very happy with the performance.

 

[Taz Mangus]

Hello. It is possible to buy an external SSD (USB-C to usb3.0 A) for iMac and to install and boot osx on it ?

What are the differences of performance between the internal and external SSD?

You can use an external SSD drive to boot OS X from. Depending on the model year of the iMac the speed difference between internal and external SSD can be pretty dramatic. The late 2015 iMac SSD speed is about 1500MB/s for the internal vs. ~500 MB/s for an external SSD in a USB 3 enclosure. Something to consider when using SSD in a USB3 enclosure, TRIM will not work.