I imagine having everything on one drive makes backup simpler. In the distant past I tried Time Machine once and found it rather confusing in practice (I grasped the concept); now I use CarbonCopy Cloner set to update my backup on an external SSD nightly when I'm in bed. No weird alternative universe where each file exists in a series of versions by time, hovering in front of me like some sci-fi warp display. I like it simple. Guessing CarbonCopy Cloner, Super Duper and Time Machine can backup multiple volumes, but how much complexity does it add to the process? Do they backup to a single volume, or do people partition the backup volume?
There are some technically sophisticated people using Macs, and there are some technically unsophisticated people (and shades of gray in between) using Macs.
Here's a thread that may be of use to some:
Do external SSDs have more heating issues than internal? Why? Issues addressed:
1.) The often discussed substantial heat given off in Thunderbolt-based external SSD enclosures, and does it matter?
2.) Concerns about routine use of an external boot disc with Apple Silicon Macs (
Post #11 has the link provided by PaulD-UK. Disclaimer: I personally don't see how that is a problem if you use the external as your startup disc. I get that making an Apple Silicon Mac boot off a different startup disc than it is accustomed to may be more hassle than it used to be?
It's interesting to me how different people go about using an external in different ways; some make the external their boot drive, some boot from the internal but move their 'home folder' to the external (IIRC, that makes Apple Intelligence work?), some use the internal for app.s and smaller files but the external for large libraries (e.g.: Photos) and big files, etc...
Anyone know if a good online article, Wikipedia page, YouTube! video or other resource that compares and contrasts the pro.s and con.s of each of those approaches?
It seems that simply moving everything to an external SSD as your startup disc would be the easiest way to go, for a desktop Mac like the Mini that's rarely moved. So why doesn't everybody just do that? I get that MacBook owners may want the option to not carry around an external SSD.