How to transfer 300GB of photos from 2016 MBP using a detachable SSD? Assistance needed :(
How to transfer 300GB of photos from 2016 MBP using a detachable SSD? Assistance needed :(
Took these shots with a Canon camera. All offline. MacBook Pro 2016 (no touchbar) stopped working. The motherboard is probably damaged, but the SSD is fine. How should I handle this? I’m considering an adapter to convert the Apple SSD to a standard interface like NVMe or SATA. Then I could connect it to my PC and retrieve the photos. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!
I don't find such adapters available, unfortunately. Another Mac is quite pricey. There are no backups since I'm not very careful. I'm currently learning about "target disk mode" and wondering if it could work with a friend's MBP—they say the working Mac can recognize the dead one as a drive. Could be worth trying? Thanks!
Ensure the system activates for the target diskmode. Attempt to hold t and power it on, though a dead board may not respond.
It doesn't appear to include a "Lifeboat" connector for direct PCIe access in case of failure.
The storage card appears to be an NVMe M.2. The issue lies with Apple devices because the connections don’t match standard computers. I recently had to replace cards on an Apple laptop that had been given a cup of tea, so I broke into Apple and swapped the cards to retrieve data. A 500GB M.2 costs around $50, while an Apple model would be $500. That’s typical Apple pricing. It seems possible to find an adapter for M.2 to Apple, but I’m not aware of any that work in reverse. If you can borrow someone else’s similar Apple and swap the cards, that’s what I’ve done before. The next challenge is that Apple’s screws on the bottom are pentalobe, which is the only type they use. You should be able to purchase a set of screwdriver bits suitable for all sizes; we recently bought one with two pentalobe options. An alternative would be a small straight screwdriver, which might provide enough grip if the screw isn’t overly tight. This was my original approach.
Back then, adaptors were basically just simple pin swappers and relocators—no real electronics involved. If you're looking for help, it might be worth checking out a nearby vendor or a local repair shop that can handle data recovery. Otherwise, borrowing a mac or finding a specialist could work.
When local options aren't available, specialized data recovery companies can assist for a cost—often they possess suitable laptops for such repairs.