Does an Apple flash storage to USB adapter exists?

[RoboMcD]

Tittle says it all.

I am updating my MBA so I am (edit: will be) left with a perfectly good functional 128 GB Apple flash drive card laying around useless now. Is there an adapter you can use to connect this old flash storage as external drive to a usb port?

I have several adapters to connect old internal SSDs and HDDs and a 4 TB backup drive as external drives to my PC or laptop, so I was wondering if you can use this old Apple drive as external drive as well.

Search does not recognize usb or ssd, so looking it up did not show results but maybe it does not exist.

 

[IWT]

I am left with a perfectly good functional 128 GB Apple flash drive card laying around

You could criticise me for not directly answering your question; but a 128GB Flash Drive Card is not ideal for lengthy storage.

Flash Drive Cards and their like are really used for short storage or transfer of data from one source to another. And if it's been "laying around useless" for any length of time, then I'd be even more wary of how I used it.

So, please reconsider using it as an "external drive".

Getting back to your question, I'm not sure that there is an obvious adapter which would suit what you are after.

Ian

 

[MacBiter]

Tittle says it all.

I am updating my MBA so I am left with a perfectly good functional 128 GB Apple flash drive card laying around useless now. Is there an adapter you can use to connect this old flash storage as external drive to a usb port?

I have several adapters to connect old internal SSDs and HDDs and a 4 TB backup drive as external drives to my PC or laptop, so I was wondering if you can use this old Apple drive as external drive as well.

Search does not recognize usb or ssd, so looking it up did not show results but maybe it does not exist.

A 128GB memory stick (flash) would not cost more than an adapter - however, would the Apple SSD include a controller? If not, it would be as slow as a memory stick, but if it does it MIGHT be worth finding a suitable enclosure though as has already been said, 128GB is quite limited these days.

 

[RoboMcD]

Thanks. Maybe I should have been clearer.

This is the original 128 GB SSD from my MBA. I am in the process of changing it for a larger M2 NVMe card, so at this moment it is still in use but it will come available soon (I hope).

I was hoping to make it into a very quick USB flash drive but you are right, 128 GB USB flash drives are not that expensive anymore. Here, they start at about $8 and go up to well over $20 for quicker versions.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Tittle says it all.

I am updating my MBA so I am (edit: will be) left with a perfectly good functional 128 GB Apple flash drive card laying around useless now. Is there an adapter you can use to connect this old flash storage as external drive to a usb port?

It likely depends on what interface, exactly, this particular SSD has. The bad news is that Apple has used a bunch of different interfaces for their SSD's, some of them proprietary. So you may or may not be able to find an adapter. See:

Apple Proprietary SSDs: Ultimate Guide to Specs & Upgrades
https://beetstech.com/blog/apple-proprietary-ssd-ultimate-guide-to-specs-and-upgrades

 

[pm-r]

Thanks. Maybe I should have been clearer.

This is the original 128 GB SSD from my MBA.

That helps one understand your question better, I thought you were looking for a USB adapter for a USB flash drive which are available for a dime a dozen.

Google Search

Just in case. But double-check which direction they are designed to be used and the port type.




- Patrick
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[RoboMcD]

I think this MBA has the Gen 4A 12+16 format: The 13″ MacBook Air [early 2015 - mid 2017] used the same Gen. 4A drives as the rest of Apple’s product lines, but didn’t support the PCIe 3.0 connection the newer drives were capable of.

 

[ferrarr]

That SSD guide only goes up to mid 2017 Macs.

 

[RoboMcD]

Mine is an early 2015 even though I bought it with a nice discount in 2017

 

[jpdemers]

An adapter, if it does exist, will cost more than a 128GB thumb drive. Not a hard decision, IMO.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

An adapter, if it does exist, will cost more than a 128GB thumb drive. Not a hard decision, IMO.

Depending on the flavor of USB that one's Mac supports (and which the adapter also supports, of course), an SSD can be MANY times faster than a USB thumb drive.

Also, USB thumb drives aren't designed for long term reliability. (They are designed to be cheap and convenient.) An SSD is designed for long term reliability.

So the two are not at all equivalent. They are each designed for a different role. It's like comparing a golf cart with a Chevy Corvette.

 

[IWT]

Also, USB thumb drives aren't designed for long term reliability. (They are designed to be cheap and convenient.) An SSD is designed for long term reliability.

Totally agree, Randy. I made that point in Post #2.

Ian

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Totally agree, Randy. I made that point in Post #2.

I didn't get that from that post. The OP referred to what he had as a "128 GB Apple flash drive card". It sounded like you interpreted that to mean something other than an SSD. But I think that an SSD is what he had.

It's no big deal. The two things are easy to confuse with each other without precise language.

 

[IWT]

Thanks Randy.

Ian

 

[pm-r]

They are each designed for a different role. It's like comparing a golf cart with a Chevy Corvette.

As you were saying..,.



Even if they have a few similar-looking features..


- Patrick
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[RoboMcD]

Good remarks, and yes, I did not check long time because I have USB flash drives enough (7 1/2 GB, from a project our non-profit ran). I just found out that 64 GB and 128 GB flash drives really are dirt cheap now.

But as said already, I am talking about what to do with the original OEM 128 GB flash drive that will come out of my MBA 2015 once I figure out which NVME SSD to replace it with.

Nice golf cart by the way, hope it does not leave rubber tracks on the course.

 

[jpdemers]

But as said already, I am talking about what to do with the original OEM 128 GB flash drive that will come out of my MBA 2015 once I figure out which NVME SSD to replace it with.

Put it up on eBay, see if it's worth more than the postage needed to ship it.
Parts for older Macs are often in demand, especially those prone to going bad. (I took in a couple hundred bucks selling the innards of an old iMac.)