MacBook Pro SD Slot, Use It As An Boot Device

Boot With The MacBook Pro SD Slot using Sandisk SDHC 16GB Card

The recent update to the MacBook line we saw from Apple introduced the MacBook Pro SD slot. You can use it for many useful things.

The 13 Inch and 15 Inch MacBook Pro got this upgrade. They replaced the ExpressCard slot. Many of you probably have an camera at home. Having this slot available means you wont have to look after the cable if you want to transfer your data. Just plug in the SD card and you are set.

The MacBook Pro SD Slot also give you other options, you can for example boot Mac OS X from an SD card. It is nice to have this possibility to boot a fresh system if something would go wrong with your Mac. I had to do this once. Although I did it with an USB memory stick instead. The process is the same and pretty simple.

What you need is the Mac OS X installation disc that shipped with your computer or the install file from App Store. For SD card I recommend using an Sandisk SDHC 16GB Card. If you can afford it get the SDHC version. It is a lot faster. I recommend this one without doubt: SanDisk 16GB Extreme® III 30MB/s Edition SDHC High Performance Card. It is a bit pricey but hey, it is fast

Formatting this card is a quick operation. The installation of Mac OS X is what is going to take the longest time. Make sure you have an hour or so set aside to this project when you begin. When you are finished you will get back the time invested!

Check out the video below from Macworld.com. They will instruct you in the formatting and installation process. It is quite simple to do.

Thats it, now you have an mobile and fresh installation of Mac OS X, quite handy to have if your computer suddenly wont boot. It will definitely reduce your troubleshooting time significantly.

Use the SD Slot as permanent storage

Check out http://www.niftydrives.com/ for adding a permanent storage solution to your Mac.