Data transfer cable - 2015 to 2020 MBP

[micksandals]

So my mid-2015 Macbook Pro has the system folder error (folder with a question mark). I tried the recovery options to no avail, spoke to Apple and essentially I need to wait until I can take it somewhere to get fixed. Current climate, that's not great.

I have a new Macbook Pro, and I'm wondering if there's any way I can (try to) access the hard drive on the 2015 MBP from my new one using target disk mode. The new MBP just has USB-C ports, the old had Thunderbolt (2) ports. Is there a nice, easy (and probably expensive) cable I can buy from Apple?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Sanpete]

From what I've read (never tried that combo), a USB-C 3 or Thunderbolt 2 cable should work.

 

[Fishrrman]

The 2015 has tbolt2, I believe.

You can probably use the Apple tbolt3-tbolt2 adapter, then access the 2015 in "target disk mode" (not sure if this will work if the computer won't boot at all, I've never tried it).

As I look at the adapter, it's not labeled as to which end (male or female) is the tbolt2 end of things.

The adapter is $50, but you might find a used one on ebay for half that, considering it will be used only once.

Having said that...
It might be possible to get the 2015 booted and running from an EXTERNAL drive.

Since you have a second NEW MBP, you could try this (and it won't cost you a dime):
- You'll need either a USB external drive (HDD or SSD, doesn't matter)
or
- You might be able to use a USB flash drive if it's 32gb or larger.

- You'll need CarbonCopyCloner, which is FREE to download and use for 30 days.

What to do:
- Connect the USB drive to the NEW MBP.
- Erase it to APFS, GUID partition format
- Use CCC to clone the contents of the NEW MBP to the drive
- Now connect the drive to the 2015 MBP, and see if you can get booted from it
- If you CAN, you MIGHT be able to access the internal drive, and "get what you need" from it. You might even be able to get an OS installed and get it running again.
Even though a drive won't BOOT, doesn't mean it can't be "read".

 

[KPOM]

So my mid-2015 Macbook Pro has the system folder error (folder with a question mark). I tried the recovery options to no avail, spoke to Apple and essentially I need to wait until I can take it somewhere to get fixed. Current climate, that's not great.

I have a new Macbook Pro, and I'm wondering if there's any way I can (try to) access the hard drive on the 2015 MBP from my new one using target disk mode. The new MBP just has USB-C ports, the old had Thunderbolt (2) ports. Is there a nice, easy (and probably expensive) cable I can buy from Apple?

Thanks in advance.

You might try creating a bootable installation disk and trying to reinstall Catalina.

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

You can use a USB flash drive or other secondary volume as a startup disk from which to install the Mac operating system. These steps are primarily for system administrators and other experienced users who are familiar with entering commands in Terminal.

support.apple.com

 

[profcutter]

Another option would be to get an enclosure for the 2015 drive, OWC sells them, and put the internal drive in there. Then you can connect it to your new machine.