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The April 2014 update of Apple's 13" MacBook Air features refreshed dual-core i5 and i7 processors, plus slightly increased battery performance.

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Where to find the RIGHT SSD driver adapter for 2014 MacBook Air

My SSD driver on this MBA is broken. I am trying to save my data. The SSD on this model is with 12+16 pin. Most SSD to SATA adapter I found from internet was for 2012 or eariler model SSD with different pin numbers. Does anyone get the same problem and find a right adapter supplier?

Thanks!

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Sadly you won't find an external case or SATA adapter for your SSD. Apple uses a proprietary SSD.

Your only option here is to find a friend that has the same series as your system and is willing for you to swap out his SSD for yours. Then you can copy off the data onto a USB flash drive or setup your friends system on a network so you can then use the Apple migration assistant to clone your SSD's data onto your new system.

Presently that is how we do it when we have to recover a users system.

Update

Well time heals all wounds!

OWC now has a full line up of external cases to hold both the Air, Retina & iMac systems which host M.2 SSD's. Follow this link: OWC Envoy Pro Portable, Bus-Powered USB 3.0 Enclosure For Apple Flash SSDs (June 2013-Current Mac Models)

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6 Comments:

Thanks Dan. Can you specify how to do it. I can use my wife 11' MBA same year. Should I just switch her SSD into mine. i am still bit confused since my SSD is complete dead. Will it work on another MBA...

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Is the SSD dead or the system dead? Apple did have a recall on the SSD. If that is the case bring your system into an Apple Store or authorized service center.

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Dan, I just ordered this mSATA adapter but have not had a chance to use it yet. Do you know if it will work on Apple products? http://www.ebay.com/itm/261549891527?_tr...

mSATA Board with MO-300A Clip with USB 2.0 Cable

Description:

mSATA to a 1.8 micro SATA Adapter Card with a 16 Pin Micro SATA USB Cable

Dimension of card : 73mm X 40mm X 7mm

The card is compliant with 1.8 Inch Micro SATA specification. It supports 3.3 Volt Mini PCI-e SSD mSATA Modules

Features:

Mini PCIe mSATA SSD supports the MO-300A full size card.

Form Factor: 50.95 mm (L) x 30 mm (W) x 3.8 mm (H)

It may be used in any application where a 1.8 Inch Micro SATA SSD drive may be used or it can be connected to the Micro SATA 16 Pin USB cable for easy use through any USB 2.0 port.

Micro SATA Cables PN #MST-16P-USBCBL

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Not sure this will work. We bought a few OWC Envoy enclosures to hold the older SSD units. Apple changed things with the '13 model and newer to a modified M.2 interface. I haven't done anything with these newer systems, they just didn't work for us. I'm hoping Apple see's the light here soon, offering something similar to the older '12 Unibody models with serviceable RAM & storage (2 ports & larger options 1~2 TB). The pro market needs a pro's laptop, not a student or home unit Apple is doing now.

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Thanks Dan. I did a search on MacSales site for OWC Envoy and THIS model you linked to did NOT come up! I don't get it, but I appreciate the link and ordered it!

-Mike

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None of this will work, there are no good enclosures out yet

Get a bootable flash drive with systemrescuecd, or ubuntu. With ubuntu you will have to install ddrescue, with systemrescuecd it comes with ddrescue. Worst case scenario you will have to install the package yourself on ubuntu if systemrescuecd won't boot. These are bootable operating systems that can run on a USB flash drive.

Then, connect an external drive of equal or larger size than your SSD. Boot into the linux flash drive.

run fdisk -l

You'll see /dev/sda, /dev/sdb, /dev/sdc, /dev/sdd, etc.

One of these is your destroyed internal drive, one is the external drive you connected, one is the flash drive, etc.

figure out which is which using common sense, then do the following

ddrescue -f -d -r 1000 /dev/internalssdthatisdead /dev/externaldrivethatisgood logfile.log

obviously, put the right sd device after /dev, do not copy and paste that directly

it will rescue all the data. you can then use that drive with whatever data recovery software you like best. ddrescue clones your original drive while repairing as much as it can in the process of reading data off the destroyed internal drive, and is legally free software.

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Seven years later and the cost of enclosures for the 12+16 SSDs is still ridiculously high. OWC and Amazon have them in the $70 to $90 price range. If you need something to allow cloning or data recovery, unenclosed (open circuit board) version are around $20-$30.

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Where can I find one that is open circuit board? I'm looking like crazy to try and find one and save my friends photos. He has a early 2014 macbook air A1466 with a sandisk ssd that is 12+16 pin

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This is. 12+16 to m2 adapter: https://www.amazon.com/LIANXUE-MacBook-C...

It will let you plug your 12+16 SSD into a standard m.2 device. It’s under $10 on Amazon. There are no reviews so be careful. Found several others using the search phrase “ 12+16 ssd to usb”.

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unfortunately it's not a USB adapter which you can use for cloning a 12+16 pins SSD from a Mac 2013. Why does it has to be so hard to find the right USB adapter for this 28 pins SSD?

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@ambisteler - Its a custom Apple part! Give this a read The Ultimate Guide to Apple’s Proprietary SSDs

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Richard will be eternally grateful.
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