I've never done this, so my concern might be a total non-issue.
But how do you prevent the external SSD accidentally becoming unplugged when you're doing this with a laptop? And what would actually happen if that did occur?
But how do you prevent the external SSD accidentally becoming unplugged when you're doing this with a laptop? And what would actually happen if that did occur?
Currently this is the weak point of using external bootable SSD's. Because of that, I prefer the SSD's where the Thunderbolt/USB cable is captive at the SSD end, as then there are less connections that can be unplugged accidentally.
What I would like is to have in the laptop a CFexpress memory card slot.
The CFexpress memory cards have a PCIe electrical interface, but they are mechanically identical with the older Sony XQD cards, i.e. they are solid, rugged, not flimsy like the SDXC memory cards, and they allow a very large number of insertion/extraction cycles.
If the laptops would have such card slots and if SSD's would be available at a reasonable price in this format, then there would not remain any reason to use non-removable SSD's. The current CFexpress specification is based on PCIe 3.0, but future versions can be updated to PCIe 4.0, like the internal M.2 SSD slots of the latest laptops.
Thinkpads up to 2013 also had a tool-less removable disk drive that allows for hot swapping 2.5" SATA drives in seconds while keeping them safe inside. This has been abandoned with the obsolescence of optical drives though.
> The CFexpress memory cards have a PCIe electrical interface, but they are mechanically identical with the older Sony XQD cards, i.e. they are solid, rugged, not flimsy like the SDXC memory cards
I agree, though with SDExpress becoming standard soon there is a much realler possibility of future laptops having pcie microsd slots, which might be good enough if you can find a durable model.
[1] https://thinkmods.store/products/expresscard-to-nvme-adapter
A gentle reminder that you live in a world where SSDs on some laptops are not removable at all, as are batteries. And I’m leaving out minutiae like RAM.
I’m just not seeing it as possible, how would you plan the obsolescence of such devices?
Yes, it's a shame you can't charge a 10x markup on the storage the end user takes with them, but you can still charge a 10x markup on the built in storage that's non-removable and whose failure still blocks booting (necessitating replacement of the whole thing, naturally)
For those not using Apple laptops, this might be a thing, but I still doubt it's something manufactures will see a lot of demand.
My favorite has been the USB memory sticks that are the same physical size as a bluetooth dongle. Since they are so low profile, the chances of them coming unplugged are pretty damn slim. The only draw back was they are pretty small in capacity for trying to run an OS.
https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop/updates/sta...
What I’ve also seen some companies do is simply duct tape the ssd to the laptop lid so they can walk around freely to meeting rooms etc.
At home I don’t need that
Perhaps useful for dual-booting between personal and work installations, considering MacBooks are sealed with one drive?
This way I kept all the company settings and programs working in a way that a time machine restore couldn’t do.
Works just the way you would expect from an internal ssd and switching takes less than two minutes if necessary