Mabook Air SSD into a 2009 27" iMac?

[Gareth]

This random brand USB case is still $80, not much savings vs OWC. I'd go OWC in this case (no pun intended, or was it?).

https://www.amazon.com/MEITK-External-En...06XHXXT32/

[Gareth]

Robert M wrote:
Gareth,

You sure? It lists the specific model of that MBA in the description.

I'm 100% positive that case won't work.

GODSHARK PCIe SSD Enclosure wrote:
DO NOT support 2012 MacBook Pro SSD and 2010 2011 MacBook Air SSD (6+16 pin) and 2013 2014 2015 2016 MacBook Air Pro Retina SSD (12+16 pin).

It says it doesn't support the 2015 MacBook Air. The first image says it's only compatible with 2012 MacBook Air (7+17 pin), as does the 2nd image, which also shows it's not compatible with the 2013+ SSDs (12+16 pin).

[jdc]

too much work/money unless the drive is huge.

$30 -- $5 more than a case -- will get you a 256 GB external flash ready to go: https://www.amazon.com/Adata-External-Sd...9?dchild=1&keywords=256+gb+external+hard+drive&qid=1591744544&sr=8-9

Sure, internal would be faster... but gotta take the whole thing apart + adapters + cables... still limited to 300 MB/s internal.

Dont get me wrong, we have a 2007 iMac with an internal SSD that does just fine... but wouldnt bother with it today...

[Lew Zealand]

IMO not worth it. Stick the MBA SSD in a drawer until you find another machine to use it in.

I have a 512 GB (!) SSD harvested from a water-damaged 2016 13" MBPro awaiting the same fate. It's not technically mine (owned by our org) so I can't offer it here but it is modular so could help someone else who has only a 128 or a 256.

[Gareth]

Probably the cheapest way to adapt that drive to USB is as follows:

Sintech Adapter to PCIe M.2, $20 (there might be another listing with a Prime option)
https://www.amazon.com/Sintech-Adapter-C...0173ODBCE/
I have briefly tested this adapter and it does work.

USB to PCIe M.2, $20. This is more of an "open" USB stick, because the adapter makes the drive 110mm long (80mm is the most common M.2 size) and too tall for a normal USB case.
https://www.amazon.com/QNINE-Adapter-Per...07JKWHFRC/

And you'd probably want to throw a $10 heatsink on the drive, so now you're at $50 for a hacked together solution, which again, makes the OWC solution seem just easier. But, as also mentioned, you may be better off just buying a 2.5" SATA SSD to install internally or use externally.

Oh, and Apple PCIe SSDs go for a premium on eBay, so you could always just sell the SSD to fund a 2.5" SSD purchase.

256GB can fetch up to $60ish, 512GB can fetch $90ish. 1TB (though I doubt it's 1TB b/c the Air didn't have enough space for Apple's 1TB drive) can fetch $190ish.

So yea, considering that the drive is probably between 128GB and 512GB, it makes way more sense to sell it and buy something more appropriate.

[Paul F.]

Well.. this ended up a bit more complicated than I thought!

Appreciate all the ideas!

I believe its a 256gb SSD, but as the laptop can't be booted right now, I'm not positive.

I may yet find something useful to do with it, but maybe that iMac (which I don't want to put a lot of money into given it's age, but hate to have it doing nothing for lack of a drive, HD or SSD) isn't the right project for it.

If I can put it in a 3.5" adapter, cheap, maybe it'll go in an old server I have to build a Linux machine. Or not... as that's not worth much money to do, either.
It's food for thought, though!

[Gareth]

Paul F. wrote:
If I can put it in a 3.5" adapter, cheap, maybe it'll go in an old server I have to build a Linux machine. Or not... as that's not worth much money to do, either.
It's food for thought, though!

The same reason that makes it difficult to put in the iMac will make it difficult to put in the Linux machine. But, if the Linux machine has PCIe slots, you could get a cheap PCIe slot adapter, however, I'm not sure if these are Linux compatible, or bootable: https://www.amazon.com/LWS-Adapter-2013-...07Y4Y2VDN/

Paul F. wrote:
I believe its a 256gb SSD, but as the laptop can't be booted right now, I'm not positive.

If you can pull the SSD, the capacity will be printed on it.

[Robert M]

Gareth,

Good catch! I stand corrected. Thanks.

Robert

[Paul F.]

Gareth wrote:
[quote=Paul F.]
If I can put it in a 3.5" adapter, cheap, maybe it'll go in an old server I have to build a Linux machine. Or not... as that's not worth much money to do, either.
It's food for thought, though!

The same reason that makes it difficult to put in the iMac will make it difficult to put in the Linux machine. But, if the Linux machine has PCIe slots, you could get a cheap PCIe slot adapter, however, I'm not sure if these are Linux compatible, or bootable: https://www.amazon.com/LWS-Adapter-2013-...07Y4Y2VDN/

Paul F. wrote:
I believe its a 256gb SSD, but as the laptop can't be booted right now, I'm not positive.

If you can pull the SSD, the capacity will be printed on it.
Physical space will not be an issue in that old server... it's a 4U case, and there's plenty of space inside to just vice-grip it to something... Connectability will be the issue. :-)
I don't have time to fool with it for now, but I think that Macbook Air is going in my "salvage" pile, rather than my "e-waste" pile.