I believe I have a thunderbolt 2 port on my Mac. I bought a external SSD which I am having trouble connecting. My goal is to backup the Mac and migrate to a newer one.
I bought a thunderbolt 3 to thunderbolt 2 adapter but the sex is wrong I need male to male to connect to the adapter in order to connect to the SSD.
Is this worth pursuing? Or am I descending into ridiculousness? Any other ideas?
Scenario: USB-C (USB 3.*) SSD.
If your SSD speaks some flavor of USB 3, the way to attach it to your MacBook Air would be with a USB-C to USB-A adapter cable. You'd plug the SSD into one of your USB-A ports. You would want an adapter that is rated for at least USB 3.0 speeds. (Since the MacBook Air's USB-A ports run at USB 3.0 speeds, that would be the maximum you could expect even if the SSD and the adapter could both run faster.)
Scenario: Thunderbolt 3 SSD
If you have a Thunderbolt 3 SSD, you might be able to get things to work, but only if you purchased a Thunderbolt 3 dock with its own power supply. You would use the Apple Thunderbolt 3-to-2 adapter to connect that powered dock to the Thunderbolt 2 port on your Mac, then plug the SSD into a Thunderbolt 3 port on the dock.
This would be very expensive and you would still be limited to Thunderbolt 2 data transfer rates – so if this is the situation you are in, you might want to consider just getting a USB-A / SATA or USB-C (USB 3.*) / NVMe SSD that you can attach to one of your USB-A ports.
Scenario: USB4, Thunderbolt 4, or Thunderbolt 5 SSD.
If your SSD only speaks one of these protocols, get another SSD. Intel-based Macs predate USB4, and backwards compatibility rules for Thunderbolt 4 and 5 preclude using Thunderbolt 4 and 5 accessories with hosts that do not have USB-C-based Thunderbolt ports.
Scenario: USB-C (USB 3.*) SSD.
If your SSD speaks some flavor of USB 3, the way to attach it to your MacBook Air would be with a USB-C to USB-A adapter cable. You'd plug the SSD into one of your USB-A ports. You would want an adapter that is rated for at least USB 3.0 speeds. (Since the MacBook Air's USB-A ports run at USB 3.0 speeds, that would be the maximum you could expect even if the SSD and the adapter could both run faster.)
Scenario: Thunderbolt 3 SSD
If you have a Thunderbolt 3 SSD, you might be able to get things to work, but only if you purchased a Thunderbolt 3 dock with its own power supply. You would use the Apple Thunderbolt 3-to-2 adapter to connect that powered dock to the Thunderbolt 2 port on your Mac, then plug the SSD into a Thunderbolt 3 port on the dock.
This would be very expensive and you would still be limited to Thunderbolt 2 data transfer rates – so if this is the situation you are in, you might want to consider just getting a USB-A / SATA or USB-C (USB 3.*) / NVMe SSD that you can attach to one of your USB-A ports.
Scenario: USB4, Thunderbolt 4, or Thunderbolt 5 SSD.
If your SSD only speaks one of these protocols, get another SSD. Intel-based Macs predate USB4, and backwards compatibility rules for Thunderbolt 4 and 5 preclude using Thunderbolt 4 and 5 accessories with hosts that do not have USB-C-based Thunderbolt ports.
The MacBook Air (13-inch, 2017) has
You haven't told us what type of external SSD you have, but there is no scenario in which the Apple Thunderbolt 3-to-2 adapter, alone, could work – even if the "sex" was right.
For one thing, the adapter does not carry power from one side to the other. This means that if you use it to directly connect any bus-powered SSD, you are dead in the water. You could use it to attach a Thunderbolt 3 dock that has its own power supply, but that is likely overkill in this situation.
If t turns that your USB-C SSD does speak USB 3.*, there are lots of USB-C (female) to USB-A (male) adapters – short cable adapters, or inline plug adapters.
Thank you for your help. I did not know about the power issue. Now I can return that adapter and buy the other one you mention below. This is SSD I bought.
SanDisk Extreme® Portable SSD - 2TB - Apple
Thanks again
2017 Macbook Air 13 back up to USB-C
