Boot your new MacBook Pro from an SD card

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 10 June 2009 11:36

Opinion and Analysis

Want a really small and light emergency boot drive for a new MacBook Pro? An SD memory card could be the answer.

Fitting the new MacBook Pro models with an SD slot is a smart move by Apple. Making it easier and quicker to exchange larger files between the Mac and a mobile phone or camera is not the only benefit.

For example, I've heard of someone using the SD slot on a Windows notebook to make immediate backups of any work done in-flight. The idea is that the card can live in the slot almost permanently (unlike a more protruding USB thumb drive that must be removed before putting the notebook into a case), and in the event of an emergency it can be slipped into a pocket.

Someone else I know carries a bootable Mac OS X installer image on a USB thumb drive in case the operating system gets clobbered. Combining this with frequent data backup to a second partition on his hard drive means he can recover from such events relatively quickly and without needing the (relatively large and fragile) installer DVD.

With the debut of the new MacBook Pro models, Apple has pointed out that they can boot from an SD device providing it has been prepared with a GUID partition table and Mac OS X Extended format.

SD cards are even smaller and lighter than thumb drives, but they are also more expensive.

It's not too hard to find an 8G thumb drive for less than $A30, but you'll probably pay closer to $A40 for an SD card (substantially more for the fastest parts).

Still, if you want to shave the last few grams from your load, or you like the idea of having a second 'internal' boot drive, this could be the way to go.