Carbon Copy Cloner 7.2
I remember seeing this one way back in Big Sur; you’d create a perfectly functional bootable copy of the system, but it wouldn’t show up in the Startup Disk Preference Pane. Apple ultimately resolved that issue in macOS Monterey, but now we’re seeing it again — unfixed in the Golden Gate release candidate.
The new CCC has a workaround, as does SuperDuper.
CCC 7.2 introduces a hybrid approach for bootable backups: as long as the source and backup OS versions are the same, CCC will update the backup incrementally without requiring any task configuration changes. This new approach will make many of the CCC-specific features available for bootable backup tasks, e.g. backup versioning, Quick Update, insight into what changes were made to the source between events. For the long stretches of time where your Mac’s OS isn’t getting updated every day, now you can enjoy the full benefits of the CCC backup solution.
These are great benefits for anyone that requires a bootable backup, but this isn’t a panacea. If the OS versions don’t match, the destination (and all backup versions) still must be erased and recloned; again, to offer the most reliably-bootable copy of macOS. We made improvements here, too. By default, CCC will ask for your approval before erasing the destination — this allows you to schedule your backup task without the fear of the backup getting automatically erased whenever the source OS is updated. That also allows you to retain the option of downgrading the source volume’s macOS, which you might want a day or so to assess.
Previously:
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I concur. After half a day running tests, this workaround (to me) has some limitations.
-- Make no mistake if you have bootable macOS 15.x backups, they will work perfectly on the Mac you just backed up.
-- Make no mistake, if you are using SuperDuper! 4.0.7, this backup will show up as a bootable disk on macOS 27.0 and 27.2 beta 2. But it doesn't boot, it just shows up as bootable.
-- Make no mistake, if you are using SuperDuper! 4.0.7 and create a macOS 27.0 or 27.2 beta 2 bootable, it will work. But on a Mac running 15.8? It want to upgrade something (the error never really said what will be upgraded, hardware (external SSD or internal.
In a nutshell? My main computer running 15.8 can still only create bootable copies for 15.8. This represents a showstopper for upgrading it to macOS 27.x. I emailed Shirt-Pocket support to give them an FYI. If I wish to copy my internal SSD from 15.8 to 27.0 or 27.2, I do a bootable backup on 15.8, and use Migration Assistant on the 27.x Mac. Oddly enough, that apps has always shown the bootable backup, even under older versions of SuperDuper.
