Salvaging Photos from 2014 MacBook Pro

MrsMonster wrote:

Thank you for your response!

I, unfortunately, did not recognize the importance of backing up files at that time and these are the only copies I (may) still have.

I'll look into the device you mentioned and do some digging on whether any sort of device/adapter/enclosure exists to access it.

I realized that I do have a friend with an Apple computer of some type, so perhaps I can see about accessing it with their help.

Thanks again!

Two things:

(1) Even if you can find the right enclosure, putting the SSD inside it can be tricky in several respects. You might want to have an Apple Authorized Service Provider handle it. They can also determine if the SSD itself was damaged or rendered unusable by the liquid mishap.

(2) In the worst case, if you have no backup, it is likely that those photos exist in other places. Text messages sent or received, on people's iPhones, other family members' phones or computers, even original camera cards from digital cameras.

This is a nightmare scenario, family photos, I am so sorry this happened to you and I do hope you find at least some of them. I am a bit obsessed with backups, not only do I have most of my photos in the cloud but I have multiple copies in multiple backups and also stored on other computers (which are also backed up two or three ways).

It is worth taking a little time to set up these backups and redundant copies. Seeing your user name as "Mrs..." and you mention a young child, so I assume that makes you the Mom (I apologize if I assumed wrongly) ... which means time is probably the one thing you don't have a lot of right now. But it is important because between hardware failures (all this hardware can and will stop working someday and a 11-year old computer is past its projected lifetime) and young children, pets, mishaps etc. these backups are a necessity!

Because OWC/MacSales did the Engineering work to reverse-engineer the storage in a MacBook Pro 2014, they know so much about it, they developed a "convenience" external enclosure as well. This is intended for use while installing their new replacement drives, but CAN be purchased separately for about US$60. But there is a risk -- there is no guarantee that your old drive would work after removal,

Repurpose the Apple or OWC SSD from your Late Model Mac into a Portable Drive

Experience incredible portable performance in the palm of your hand. The OWC Envoy Pro 1A combines elegance and functionality in sleek, portable external storage designed for use with the factory-installed PCIe/NVMe SSD from most 2013 to 2019 Mac models, as well as high-performance OWC SSDs, including Aura Pro X2, Aura Pro X, Aura N2, and Aura N.1

The device uses a USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Micro-B) cable, which may require an additional adapter to USB-C

The device is sold on this page:

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MAU3ENP1AW

NB >> Be sure you understand all the warnings that Steve626 has given you.

This is not trivial and holds substantial risks.

This is what the drive inside your failed Mac looks like. It's a circuit board with solid state chips soldered on. (What is depicted in this image is a replacement part for your internal drive from OWC)

I don't know of any way to connect such a part to an iPad. You would need some type of custom enclosure. Which might exist, or maybe a shop can create or procure one for you. I see enclosures advertised online for "OWC Aura Pro X2 external drive enclosure." Maybe one of those would work.

Be aware, however, that liquid damage in a laptop may well have rendered your internal drive non-functional.

I think just restoring from your backups (or iCloud if you use it) would be a lot simpler.