Chosen Solution
I just purchased a Mac Pro mid 2010 Quad-Core (MC560LL/A) with 2 1 TB HDD running El Capitan. It’s replacing my Mac Mini (mid 2010) which has an upgraded Crucial MX200 1 TB SSD running High Sierra. Can I install the SSD (with adapter) into Mac Pro (still has 2 open trays) and make it the boot drive- skipping the whole backing up/ transfer thing? I’m a novice but I’m assuming different processors, graphic cards etc. make this impossible.
No, it shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve got a hard drive I use with a USB adapter that I use to boot everything from old Macbooks to new iMacs (using the Option key at startup) and never have a problem booting. What I would do is try to figure out which SATA port is the main one (SATA 0 usually) and plug the SSD into that so that it boots from the SSD first. Otherwise, you could just plug the SSD in, turn it on and immediately hold the Option key to get the boot menu and select it from there. You should have zero trouble booting from it.
Hold that thought! Not so quick here your Mac Pro may not be able to run High Sierra! First a HDD and a SSD are now treated differently! A HDD will have GUID/Mac OS Extended (Journaled) file system unlike the SSD which will have GUID/APFS. Apple also has an issue with SATA based SSD’s running APFS! (too many queues created which slows writing files) So I don’t recommend going any higher than Sierra with these systems until Apple addresses this. As reference it takes over a minute for me to save a URL link into a folder! Or a Pages document stalls out when I try to save it for the first time so I can’t work on it until its done! I’m just testing the newest BETA so far no improvements. @mayer can fill-in the steps he did to get Sierra running on his Mac Pro
Thank you everyone for your input. The Mac Pro arrives on Wednesday (Ebay $400) and I can’t wait to get to work. I’ve ordered my adapter bracket, the no shock wrist band and my tor wrench set. If all goes well I might tackle 4Ksupport then hand off/continuity/Bluetooth 4. 0. Configure & Prosper
