I have an early 2011 MacBook Pro. I want to try Sierra as most of the software I want to use no longer works on Mavericks.

I went through a number of post that I can install Sierra on 8 GB USB drive but that turned out only to be a macOS installer thumb drive. I am interested in installing Sierra on USB drive just to test drive it and to run my favorite software.

I bought 16 GB USB for that purpose but only found out it cannot be installed there for lack of space. Can somebody guide me, can I have Sierra USB Image that I can load on USB and test drive it or can I install it on USB and run Sierra from it whenever I want it. @mac_user You need an install usb stick because macOS Sierra does not support installing itself (exception: updating) onto other devices except from the bootable installer. Also, the 16gigs of ram is nice, but your USB 2 bus is dog slow and not memory nor processor will do much good. You're only as fast as all of the components working together. SATA for the SSD will only help for in/out filesystem access of files stored on it. A thunderbolt to eSata or USB 3 to an external drive would be practical for testing software.

I've done this. – Feb 20 '17 at 13:36 •. You certainly can install macOS Sierra to a USB device. Rich Gang Tapout Mp3 Download Waptrick. I would advise you use USB 3 or 3.1 in order to ensure a smoother experience while booted from this device. First of all, use the Mac App Store installer for macOS Sierra, which you can get here:. Learn more about obtaining macOS Sierra here: Next, it's best to format your USB device as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

Pop in your OS X install DVD and wait for it to mount. Once it appears on the left hand side in Disk Utility, click on the Restore tab. Highlight and drag the install DVD into the Source file path on the right. Now, highlight the flash drive partition, underneath the name of the actual flash drive, and drag that to the Destination file path.

Once you do this, open the macOS Sierra installer. When you are prompted to choose an install destination, make sure to choose your USB device.

I too am attempting this on the very same model of machine. I have found that it is possible to install directly to the flash drive without a second USB installer. However, it took on order of 8 hours to complete. And running the OS was excruciatingly slow. I find this confusing as I have installed that OS on a USB external hard drive with no issues and only a very slight slowdown booting over USB from that drive. Makes me wonder if Apple is deliberately hobbling flash drive installs. Or perhaps there is some sort of accelerator that is missing for flash drive boot volumes.