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How to create a bootable external disk in macOS 11 or 12

Complete step-by-step instructions for installing a new copy of macOS to an external disk, making it bootable. For Intel and M1 Macs of all flavours.

August 26, 2021 Macs, Technology

Should you clean install Big Sur or Monterey?

Why would you want to go to the lengths of erasing your startup disk and installing a macOS upgrade clean? Here’s why, and how to do it.

August 11, 2021 Macs, Technology

Making a good Recovery: Installing a different macOS in Recovery

Install macOS in Recovery can only install one version, which probably isn’t the one you want. How can you get an earlier version installed, then?

June 28, 2021 Macs, Technology

Why you can’t make a snapshot of Big Sur’s System volume to roll back

Snapshots are designed to make it easy to roll back to a previous state. Why then can’t you use a snapshot to roll back to an earlier version of Big Sur?

June 11, 2021 Macs, Technology

Why cloning Big Sur isn’t as useful for an M1 Mac

For some, inability to clone to the internal SSD of an M1 Mac seems disastrous. In reality, it could achieve little, and there are better solutions.

May 28, 2021 Macs, Technology

Last Week on My Mac: Big Sur 11.2.1 update is broken

T T Read More

How to install macOS on your M1 Mac’s external SSD. But it comes with a snag: you can only install 11.2 and can’t update it to 11.2.1.

February 14, 2021 Macs, Technology

Is it not possible to boot an M1 Mac from an external disk?

It’s a commonplace task: make a bootable external disk for emergency use, containing your diagnostic and repair tools. On a new M1 Mac? Should be simple.

December 18, 2020 Macs, Technology

Upgrading to Big Sur 11.0.1: news from the surgery

If you haven’t upgraded to Big Sur yet but intend doing so early, be reassured: it’s one of the smoothest for years. Full details and a few tips to help.

November 20, 2020 Macs, Technology

How should you clean re-install Catalina?

Older versions of Catalina can fail to erase the System and Data volumes, but 10.15.6 should be able to, making clean re-installation simpler.

August 3, 2020 Macs, Technology

Last Week on My Mac: Flaws in re-installing Catalina

T T Read More

Follow Apple’s instructions for a clean re-install, and you’ll probably hit an error, and be left floundering in Recovery mode with an unbootable system.

December 22, 2019 Macs, Technology

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