Clone strategy - alternating partitions on USB drive?
It’s much more important to back up your data than to make clones of your computer.

The idea is that you can get back up and running quickly even if you’re on a different computer; even if it’s a PC!  A clone will be specific to your machine.  If it’s a 2015 (for example) and it gets lost/stolen or sent in for repairs and a kind soul loans you a 2013 model, that clone is useless as it won’t function on an older machine.


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(IMO) a clone isn’t necessary anymore especially if you’re using APFS as it has a built in snapshot feature that allows you to make an immediate point in time backup of your drive. Instead, put together a strong backup strategy that allows you to get up and running quickly.

And speaking from personal experience, while I have a Time a Machine backups, when I upgraded to Catalina I didn’t even do a migration.  I took the opportunity to “tune” my new system with respect to the new shell (ZSH) new features like iCloud Drive, etc.  I relied much more on my cloud files than Time Machine.  That said, I still wouldn’t go a single day without having that continual TM backup.