Macbook Air 2017 use an External SSD as a startup disk???

I have a 2017 MacBook Air that is currently on Monterey 12.6.1 and cannot update anymore or do anything else really as I have only got 300MB of storage left of the 256GB. Is it possible to connect an external SSD to the MacBook and run it as the startup disk? I am looking at the Samsung T7 Shield USB 3.2 1TB Portable SSD specifically and hoping that I can offload most of, if not all of, the information such as MacOS and system data from the internal HD over to this. Before I spend the money though I thought id ask the question. I can see people do it for the iMac and Mac mini but ant seem to find about the MacBook Air.


In the near future the whole setup is getting changed in my house with Mac Pro, MacBook Pro and MacBook for the daughter for her school work but cannot afford to do this yet so looking for a cheaper temporary solution in the meantime.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 12.6

Posted on Aug 15, 2023 01:12 PM

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Aug 15, 2023 02:03 PM in response to rlheat

Hi there!


Using an external SSD as a startup disk on a portable Mac isn't always feasible. The external SSD would need to stay connected via. USB at all times, even when in sleep mode. This is why the external SSD solution is generally only recommended for desktop Mac computers.


This Apple Support article would be a good place to start: Free up storage space on your Mac - Apple Support.


-Jack

Aug 15, 2023 02:21 PM in response to rlheat

if you are running low on space, you can purchase an external HDD or SSD of sufficient capacity and move your larger files (videos, pictures, documents, etc...) to it. once they are on the EHD, you can simply erase the same files from your internal drive. and, if it's just going to be used for storage, you can use an HDD and save a few bucks over the cost of an SSD. FWIW, i personally keep very little on my internal drive.


additionally, you want to keep ~ 20% of your local drive as free space for proper operation of macOS.

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Macbook Air 2017 use an External SSD as a startup disk???

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