M4 mini with external boot drive?

[toke lahti]

I've been waiting for the release of M5 mini and then upgrade from my mini2018.

But now I'm reconsidering.
Because I want run macOS from external drive, so I can buy the cheapest version.
At least Apps and homedir should be in external. Or at least most of them.

Does anybody run their mini like that?

I've just probably toasted my second external ssd with mini2018.
I suspect the lack of TRIM over usb-c.

I'm moving to use TB-NVME now, but I don't know if TRIM will work even with that?
Does it? Can it?

I finally took the bite and tried sudo trimforce enable.
It immediately corrupted the internal ssd.
Now I'm trying to re-install "emergency user" installation to that internal ssd.
I use 24/7 that external installation, I would have needed internal installation just to check that external ssd's health.
Since Apple does not offer way to read SMART data and you can't use SATSMART when booting from external.

If the macOS life from external boot will be as miserable with M4/5 mini than it is with mini2018, I think I will pass.
Key issues:

1. TRIM
2. SMART
3. Those with ThunderBolt drive

and those issues with:
A) mini M4
B) mini 2018

 

[Fishrrman]

Years ago -- during the days of platter-based and fusion drives -- I was an advocate of booting/running from an external SSD.

In fact, I ran my 2012 Mini that way, from the day I took it out of the box until I retired it.

But... no more.
It no longer makes sense.

These days, with the internal SSD "integrated" with the CPU and RAM "all together", you simply can't get the performance from an external drive that you can get from the internal one.

If you're waiting for the m5 Mini, get one that's adequately-equipped from the start.
That means plenty of RAM (32gb at least) and a good sized internal SSD (1tb or more).
Then you've got something that will run great today, and KEEP running great into the future.

But again, it just no longer makes sense to boot from an external drive.
I'm wondering if at some point, in a future OS upgrade, Apple might remove the ability to do this completely...

 

[turbineseaplane]

These days, with the internal SSD "integrated" with the CPU and RAM "all together", you simply can't get the performance from an external drive that you can get from the internal one.

This is simply not true.

In fact, the base Mini M4 (256) can actually run slightly faster off a Thunderbolt NVMe enclosure/dock when equipped with a good quality Gen4+ drive.

How do I know?
I was running mine this way and the external SSD was slightly faster than the internal base SSD.

 

[Corefile]

Your data is more important than the boot drive so recovering your data is the primary constraint. I would use the internal drive as just the boot drive and keep valuable data elsewhere.

 

[Ben J.]

My main concern with an external boot drive would be the fragile Thunderbolt connection. I agree with Corefile; keep the internal as bootdisk, and use external(s) as bulk file storage.

 

[LeVan]

I've been waiting for the release of M5 mini and then upgrade from my mini2018.

But now I'm reconsidering.
Because I want run macOS from external drive, so I can buy the cheapest version.
At least Apps and homedir should be in external. Or at least most of them.

Does anybody run their mini like that?

I've just probably toasted my second external ssd with mini2018.
I suspect the lack of TRIM over usb-c.

I'm moving to use TB-NVME now, but I don't know if TRIM will work even with that?
Does it? Can it?

I finally took the bite and tried sudo trimforce enable.
It immediately corrupted the internal ssd.
Now I'm trying to re-install "emergency user" installation to that internal ssd.
I use 24/7 that external installation, I would have needed internal installation just to check that external ssd's health.
Since Apple does not offer way to read SMART data and you can't use SATSMART when booting from external.

If the macOS life from external boot will be as miserable with M4/5 mini than it is with mini2018, I think I will pass.
Key issues:

1. TRIM
2. SMART
3. Those with ThunderBolt drive

and those issues with:
A) mini M4
B) mini 2018

There are 2 issues here; 1. using an external SSD to boot from, and 2. Getting Trim to work on an external disk.
As for 1. It is possible using a Thunderbolt drive connected to a Mac Mini M4 or M5 when they come out. And I have done it using the case and drive combination below, but I can't recommend it as it tends to corrupt the OS on the internal drive. 2. Trim will be enabled by default on a Thunderbolt drive running Sequoia or Tahoe.
I have been using 2 external Orico 2,5" drive cases with Crucial MX500 SSDs in them, connected to a MBA M2 and Trim is enabled with that combination. For a link to that drive case, do a Google search for Orico clear plastic 2,5" SSD case. USB devices will normally not have TRIM enabled, as it is only supported on a drive connected to a Thunderbolt port or an internal drive. However, if the UASP protocol is supported on the USB device, TRIM will work. The Crucial MX500 series has this UASP protocol enabled.
To check if UASP is enabled on a currently connected USB 3.1 device, use the following command using the Terminal;
Code:
log show --debug --last boot --predicate "processID == 0" | grep trim <--- can take a while, be patient.
To enable Trim:
Code:
sudo trimforce enable