Is there an enclosure that is compatible with my original macbook air ssd that would allow me to use it as an external drive ? I bought the OWC envoy pro enclosure but it is not compatible.
MacBook
That part number appears to match up with a SATA based SSD used in a MBAir from 2013-2015. According to the OWC product page this Apple SSD should work in this Envoy Pro Enclosure linked here:
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MAU3ENPRPCI/
From reading the OWC information on this product page and the product compatibility page linked within the product page the Apple SanDisk SSD should work (the articles only mention issues with Toshiba SSDs and certain Samsung models). If the SSD is not working in the enclosure, but the SSD works in the laptop, then perhaps your USB cable or the enclosure itself is bad (or possibly you have a bad USB port on your Mac). Are you connecting the enclosure directly to the Mac? Sometimes an adapter, dongle, or hub will cause problems with external USB drives.
The proprietary Apple PCIe SSDs can only be used in very specific Mac models or with an OWC Envoy Pro Enclosure. Keep in mind Apple has several different variations on this proprietary PCIe SSD so it would also require a very specific version of the OWC Envoy Pro Enclosure and very specific Macs. I believe most of the Apple PCIe SSDs from 2013 - 2017 work with one model of the OWC enclosure and an SSD from a 2011 - 2012 Apple laptop requires a different OWC enclosure that may no longer be available. I'm not aware of any other brand of enclosure which will work with these proprietary Apple PCIe SSDs.
Also the OWC Envoy Pro Enclosures only work with the Apple PCIe SATA based SSDs and not an NVMe based SSD. OWC includes a note in the enclosure stating if an NVMe based SSD is used with the OWC enclosure it will likely damage both the SSD and the enclosure. From what I can find I think your SSD is a SATA based SSD so this is probably not the problem.
That part number appears to match up with a SATA based SSD used in a MBAir from 2013-2015. According to the OWC product page this Apple SSD should work in this Envoy Pro Enclosure linked here:
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MAU3ENPRPCI/
From reading the OWC information on this product page and the product compatibility page linked within the product page the Apple SanDisk SSD should work (the articles only mention issues with Toshiba SSDs and certain Samsung models). If the SSD is not working in the enclosure, but the SSD works in the laptop, then perhaps your USB cable or the enclosure itself is bad (or possibly you have a bad USB port on your Mac). Are you connecting the enclosure directly to the Mac? Sometimes an adapter, dongle, or hub will cause problems with external USB drives.
The proprietary Apple PCIe SSDs can only be used in very specific Mac models or with an OWC Envoy Pro Enclosure. Keep in mind Apple has several different variations on this proprietary PCIe SSD so it would also require a very specific version of the OWC Envoy Pro Enclosure and very specific Macs. I believe most of the Apple PCIe SSDs from 2013 - 2017 work with one model of the OWC enclosure and an SSD from a 2011 - 2012 Apple laptop requires a different OWC enclosure that may no longer be available. I'm not aware of any other brand of enclosure which will work with these proprietary Apple PCIe SSDs.
Also the OWC Envoy Pro Enclosures only work with the Apple PCIe SATA based SSDs and not an NVMe based SSD. OWC includes a note in the enclosure stating if an NVMe based SSD is used with the OWC enclosure it will likely damage both the SSD and the enclosure. From what I can find I think your SSD is a SATA based SSD so this is probably not the problem.
curlyfromalhambra wrote:
Is there an enclosure that is compatible with my original macbook air ssd that would allow me to use it as an external drive ? I bought the OWC envoy pro enclosure but it is not compatible.
Contact OWC for support. Excellent customer service
If they do not have a compatible enclosure I have seen no other.
Thanks - Unfortunately I didn't do my research and found out after the fact, anyway since my mac had a third party SSD (but it was original equipment, that is it originally came with my new mac). Is there a vendor that sells SSD enclosures for third party SSDs that originally come some Macs ? mine is a Sandisk and I hate to discard a perfectly good 250 GB SSD. Thanks again
If the SSD is a standard M.2 NVMe SSD, then you can use this OWC enclosure:
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/ENVPROC2N00/
Or this one from Plugable (read the product description carefully as some SSDs are not compatible plus they mention possible issues with M1 Macs):
https://plugable.com/products/usbc-nvme/
Both of these enclosures only work with NVMe SSDs. SATA based M.2 SSDs will not work in these enclosures.
StarTech and Anker are two other brands with good reputations.
Good discussion. I verified that I have a Sandisk SSD, and that it is not a cable or hardware issue (i.e. changed cables, re-seated SSD, try connecting to my desktop) and that the Envoy Pro is powered (light comes on). So there appears to be no easy solution. What to do. Thanks for the help.
Thanks - yes looks like I do have an Apple SSD (256 GB SDNEP 655-1838C) by another matter, does that mean I can only use it when installed in a Mac ?
I believe the current OWC Envoy Pro Enclosures are compatible with the 2013-2017 MBAirs. I'm not sure OWC still sells enclosures for the 2011 or 2012 MBAir. The OWC enclosure is only compatible with an original Apple SSD and not a third party SSD.
Thanks Again, very useful info.
Like I said, I had already purchased the OWC upgrade kit (which includes an Envoy Pro Enclosure) and removed the SSD in my macbook Air before checking for compatibility. The SSD I removed is not compatible with the with the Envoy Pro enclosure. OWC just points me to the site where it says that some SSDs are not compatible. Now that I have the original SSD outside the Macbook Air, I cannot determine its pedigree, there are only a couple of Sandisk logos on the SSD. I guess I could put it back in the Mack book Air (which now has a 1TB SSD that came with the kit and is working fine) and maybe get more info about the original SSD ??
Are you using an SSD Adapter with the SanDisk SSD to work in the Mac? If so, then the links I provided should work with the SanDisk SSD without the adapter.
If you have an Apple SanDisk SSD, then that is another matter. Apple SSDs usually have a 665-xxxx number printed on them. What year is your MacBook Air?
curlyfromalhambra wrote:
try connecting to my desktop) and that the Envoy Pro is powered (light comes on). So there appears to be no easy solution.
I assume the desktop is another Mac since Windows won't recognize the Apple file systems? If the SSD is formatted with the APFS file system, then you would need a Mac running macOS 10.12.6+ to be able to access the APFS file system since earlier versions of macOS don't know anything about the APFS file system.
If you connected the drive to another Mac, then check the System Profiler (Option-click the Apple menu & select the first option) to see if the Envoy Pro enclosure even shows up under one of the USB sections. If the enclosure is not seen under USB, then you have a hardware issue of some sort (computer USB port, USB cable, or enclosure issue). If you don't see the enclosure listed in the System Profiler's USB section, then you may want to perform this test without the SSD installed in the enclosure just in case the SSD is causing a problem with the enclosure).
Sure enough - the system profiler sees the Envoy without the SSD. but not when the SSD is installed.
SSD from Apple Macbook Air not compatible with OWC Envoy pro Enclosure
