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New MacBook 14" M1Pro and booting from external USB drive

PhatManDiamond

PhatManDiamond

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 24, 2017
32
6
Central, NY 12043
Im a owner of a new MacBook Pro M1 14". I have a external drive that has Catalina on it. Use it in case I need iTunes. I be dammed if I can get it to boot up to that drive unlike my old 2015 Air. Call Apple and they said the new M1 Pro and M1 Max will not boot from external drives. Anybody can verify that? I may just keep my Air. Was going to donate to a worthy cause.
 
Here is an article I remember reading on it:

Macworld

Booting Apple Silicon from an external drive is a bit of a mess. I think the key is you need to be using a native Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4 drive. It won't book over USB.
 
SpotOnT said:
Here is an article I remember reading on it:

Macworld

Booting Apple Silicon from an external drive is a bit of a mess. I think the key is you need to be using a native Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4 drive. It won't book over USB.
Click to expand...
I used SuperDuper to clone my 16" Macbook Pro M1 Max onto a USB 3.2 external drive (Western Digital My Passport SSD). The initial attempt to boot from it required several restarts and authorizations, but it eventually produced a bootable device.
 
OP wrote:
"I aslo have a drive with Big Sur. It wont boot to that one either. Maybe Im doing something wrong?"

Yes.
You're trying to boot with an OS that's simply TOO OLD.

The ONLY OS that boots the new MBP's is Monterey.
Got it?

Having said that, please keep reading.
If it's iTunes you like, you don't have to give up iTunes with Monterey.

There's a free utility app out there called "Retroactive"
Download it here:
github.com

GitHub - cormiertyshawn895/Retroactive: Retroactive has been discontinued. You should transition from Retroactive to supported apps such as Music, iTunes for Windows, iMazing, Photos, Darktable, Lightroom Classic, and DaVinci Resolve.

Retroactive has been discontinued. You should transition from Retroactive to supported apps such as Music, iTunes for Windows, iMazing, Photos, Darktable, Lightroom Classic, and DaVinci Resolve. - ...
github.com github.com
(scroll down a little to see the download button and instructions on how to use it).

What Retroactive does:
It will download and "patch" iTunes to work with Monterey.
You can keep using it, just as before.

You'll need to move your iTunes music folder to the new MBP...
 
Fishrrman said:
OP wrote:
"I aslo have a drive with Big Sur. It wont boot to that one either. Maybe Im doing something wrong?"

Yes.
You're trying to boot with an OS that's simply TOO OLD.

The ONLY OS that boots the new MBP's is Monterey.
Got it?

Having said that, please keep reading.
If it's iTunes you like, you don't have to give up iTunes with Monterey.

There's a free utility app out there called "Retroactive"
Download it here:
github.com

GitHub - cormiertyshawn895/Retroactive: Retroactive has been discontinued. You should transition from Retroactive to supported apps such as Music, iTunes for Windows, iMazing, Photos, Darktable, Lightroom Classic, and DaVinci Resolve.

Retroactive has been discontinued. You should transition from Retroactive to supported apps such as Music, iTunes for Windows, iMazing, Photos, Darktable, Lightroom Classic, and DaVinci Resolve. - ...
github.com github.com
(scroll down a little to see the download button and instructions on how to use it).

What Retroactive does:
It will download and "patch" iTunes to work with Monterey.
You can keep using it, just as before.

You'll need to move your iTunes music folder to the new MBP...
Click to expand...
iTunes via Retroactive just crashes on open for me on 12.01 M1 Pro.
 
iTunes 12.9.5 did never run on any Apple Silicon Processor.

This Bug is well Known.

So guess its no more iTunes or I keep old MacBook Air or I buy kids all new devices.
 
Can't speak for using Retroactive with Apple Silicon just yet (I won't have a MacBook Pro 14" until mid-December).

But I can say that iTunes installs and runs fine in Monterey on a 2018 Mini (of course this is an Intel-based Mac...)
 
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