In Full Agreement Posted November 10, 2021 Share Posted November 10, 2021 Please tell me if it's possible to use the same external drive on different Apple laptops? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustAnotherHun Posted November 10, 2021 Share Posted November 10, 2021 If you use it as storage, no problem. If you use it as a boot drive it could not work, if the hardware of the laptops is not identic 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimewoodworker Posted November 10, 2021 Share Posted November 10, 2021 1 hour ago, In Full Agreement said: Please tell me if it's possible to use the same external drive on different Apple laptops? Nothing about an external drive links it to a particular computer. However it is possible that if you have formatted the drive under either Big Sur or Mohave you may have chosen APFS format rather than HFS+, if you have the disk formatted with APFS the time machine backup is much faster BUT older OS versions will be completely unavailable to see the disk.. 59 minutes ago, JustAnotherHun said: . If you use it as a boot drive it could not work, if the hardware of the laptops is not identic That is totally wrong, you don’t know what you are talking about. There is nothing that ties a boot drive to the hardware that was used when it was installed. If your hardware will boot using the OS version on an external drive any install on any external Drive will be able to boot any other computer that can run that OS the only occasions where it will not boot are if the OS is too old for the computer or the OS is too new. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustAnotherHun Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 13 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said: the only occasions where it will not boot are if the OS is too old for the computer or the OS is too new. Other words for what I wrote. If the OS is too old or too new for the mac, the hardware on both machines is different. It does not work then. Easy, huh? 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimewoodworker Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 6 hours ago, JustAnotherHun said: Other words for what I wrote. If the OS is too old or too new for the mac, the hardware on both machines is different. It does not work then. Easy, huh? Nothing remotely “what you wrote” your claim was that an OS will only boot the exact same hardware it was installed on. Quote If you use it as a boot drive it could not work, if the hardware of the laptops is not identic(missing al) The machines need to be around 10 years different so you have hundreds of different machines that an instance of OS X will boot. Easy, huh? I have a USB key and an external SSD that will boot all Mac computers built from about 2005 from Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger to macOS 10.14 Mojave, and another that will boot macOS 10.15 macOS 11 Big Sur & macOS 12Monterey So unless you’re trying to boot a Blueberry iMac one of the 2 will boot it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustAnotherHun Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 (edited) You do understand the difference between could and would? But ok, I should have written "might not" instead of "could not". Have fun discussing how many angels might dance on a needlepoint. Ahh, before I forget: Quote I have a USB key and an external SSD that will boot all Mac computers built from about 2005 Then try to install IOS12 on a Macbook Air from 2014. And have a look at the official Apple website ???? Edited November 11, 2021 by JustAnotherHun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimewoodworker Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 1 hour ago, JustAnotherHun said: You do understand the difference between could and would? But ok, I should have written "might not" instead of "could not". Have fun discussing how many angels might dance on a needlepoint. Ahh, before I forget: Then try to install IOS12 on a Macbook Air from 2014. And have a look at the official Apple website ???? Well aren’t you special 555555 wriggling around trying to escape from the “hardware of the laptops is not identic” Statement. Also there are no MacBooks of any generation that allow IOS12 to be installed. All Macbook Air’s from October 2010 support macOS 10.13.6 minimum For macOS 12 Monterey you need MacBook Air, early 2015 and later. It’s quite likely that the length of time that a Mac computer will allow updating to the latest OS is going to be around 6 years. That however has nothing to do with booting many computers from an external drive, it is just which version of the OS you need or want to use. you may enjoy discussing your mythology of non existent fantasies, I prefer to stay with the immensely practical technical support. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustAnotherHun Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 So far to your say "back to 2005". IOS12 not to be installed on MBA 2014. You'd better staydoing woodwork, whatever that will be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SheikYabodyline Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 (edited) Your question needs to be a little more specific for it to be answered. What is the formatting of your ExtHDs? Often Macs will not mount "read and write" if the ExtHD is formatted NTFS. For example, my Seagate Ext HDs are NTFS formatted (to read films from friends who use Windows), so every time Mac has an update for my OS I have to re-install the "NTS for Mac" program from the Seagate website. Edited November 11, 2021 by SheikYabodyline Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimewoodworker Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 9 hours ago, JustAnotherHun said: So far to your say "back to 2005". IOS12 not to be installed on MBA 2014. You'd better staydoing woodwork, whatever that will be. You are clearly blathering on a subject that you have the smallest knowledge about, going from your comments on this thread and others. look at the original question On 11/10/2021 at 8:49 PM, In Full Agreement said: Please tell me if it's possible to use the same external drive on different Apple laptops The short answer to that is YES IT IS. The longer answer is that there are some cases (not a lot but they exist) where to use the disk you may be restricted to certain formatting options and hard drive cases. From your screen name and “interesting” use of English I am making some allowance’s for poor use of words in that English is not you native or even secondary language. The problems there are that you may (despite evidence to the contrary) actually know the correct information, but with technical support you have to be exactly correct in your answers. Your answer was wrong. You are bringing up a totally different subject about installing the OS or booting the computer, it is irrelevant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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