If you’re not using Wi-Fi, you can skip those steps and simply image the disk with Disk Utility, rename the. I usually work with Wi-Fi connected Raspberry Pis, so these steps mention how to ssh (log into) an existing pi and change its hostname. Fortunately flashing a card of similar size should take less than 4 minutes, way faster than the time needed to use the Raspberry Pi imager, configure Wi-Fi, update and upgrade software, and more, so performing these steps can be a real time saver!

The steps aren’t complicated, but the initial imaging of a working SD card can take some time on older Macs (about 25 minutes for a 32GB card, but if you have a new Mac it may only take a few seconds). These instructions will demonstrate how to use a Mac to make a copy (image) of a microSD card with a working copy of Raspberry Pi software installed, and how to copy (flash) the image onto a new SD card, then install it in a Pi and (very important for wireless Pis) give the Pi a new hostname. Since it can take a while to install the Raspberry Pi OS, then perform configurations and installations for things like Wi-Fi networking, the update and upgrade of Pi software, installation of CircuitPython, and more, it can be useful to make a backup copy (called an image) of a working microSD card so that you can simply flash this backup copy onto a new SD card, then put this card into a new Pi and change its hostname. The better solution is to use ApplePiBaker, which you can find at For some reason Disk Utility now copies very fast, but the image created cannot restore into a working sd card. Two things you should consider about an SD Card: performance and accidental ejection.Updates for the latest macOS & Disk Utility seem to have rendered the procedures below unworkable. Apple has an extensive support page about the SD card slot, which is a sort of shortcut name for a variety of card formats that can fit and conform to a set of standards.Īnd Apple explicitly answers the question about whether you could even switch to an SSD as your startup volume: Yes! Make sure it’s both using the GUID partition format and Mac OS X Extended. While these cards may come formatted in a Windows-specific or universal format for Macs and PCs, you can reformat to “Mac OS X Extended” (HFS+) in Disk Utility, and use them just like any other Mac volume. If you’ve got a Mac with just a 128GB drive, you might find a $20 to $30 128GB SD Card could fit your needs. The sweet spot is 256GB, which can cost from $60 to $80 at online stores 512GB cards are typically at least $200.

If you don’t use a standalone camera to shoot, you might be unaware that capacities have grown from 32GB and 64GB to 256GB and 512GB while prices have dropped ridiculously.

Macbook sd card