Running an iMac from an external drive.

[VTown]

I have a 2015 iMac and am running the operating system off of an external 2TB SSD drive. Runs great.
I just picked up a 2017 iMac (faster cpu, triple the memory, newer thunderbolt ports).
I would also like to run the 2017 iMac operating system off of the SSD drive.
My question is, would it be as simple as plugging the external SSD into the newer iMac and setting the boot drive?

 

[Juicy Box]

My question is, would it be as simple as plugging the external SSD into the newer iMac and setting the boot drive?

If the OS is compatible with the newer iMac, then yes.

I have a few external drives that I use as bootable drives for many different Macs and as long as the Mac is compatible with the OS it hasn't been an issue with the Intel Macs.

 

[gilby101]

If the OS is compatible with the newer iMac, then yes.

That is, macOS 10.12.5 (Sierra) or later.

 

[VTown]

Thanks.

 

[apostolosdt]

Such actions work just fine, as long as OS compatibility is observed.

 

[Fishrrman]

If the newer Mac can run on the OS that's installed on the external boot disk, it should work.

Why don't you just TRY it, get back to us and let us know how it went?

Note:
This may work only for Intel-based Macs.
Apple Silicon has changed everything.