The prohibitory symbol shown in the image below is displayed by macOS when it detects an unsupported boot environment.
When Apple releases new Mac models, the new hardware is built to boot a specific version of macOS or newer. This means each time Apple releases a new Mac model, BlackBag has to build a new boot environment to support the new model.
If you encounter the prohibitory symbol, we recommend checking for a MacQuisition update to make sure you have the most current version installed on your dongle. One way to do this is to launch MacQuisition on a Mac connected to the internet. Then click on the [MacQuisition] menu and choose [Check for Updates]. You can also check for the latest version on the Software Downloads page.
*JUL 6, 2020 UPDATE - MacQuisition version 2020R1 can support 2019 and older models.
We are working on a new version of MacQuisition to support the models below:
2020 MacBook Pro 13" (EMC 3348 and 3456)
2020 MacBook Air 13" (EMC 3302)
2020 Mac Mini (EMC TBD)
What can I do until the new version of MacQuisition is released?
It is still possible to use MacQuisition to create an image or Data Collection on unsupported hardware by using the Target Disk Mode method.
If you are not familiar with Target Disk Mode, Apple has information here.
1- Place the source Mac in Target Disk Mode (TDM) by holding down the option key and then the 'T' key. For the 2018/2019 models, you should see a Thunderbolt and a USB
icon appear on the screen.
2- Attach either a Thunderbolt cable or a USB 3.0 cable to the source Mac.
3- Boot to MacQuisition on a host Mac that has either a Thunderbolt 3, a Thunderbolt 2, or a USB 3.0 port.
4- Attach the source Mac that is in Target Disk Mode to the host Mac that is booted to MacQuisition.
To support the 2018-2020 models, the host Mac model needs to be 2012 or newer. If the host Mac has a USB-C port, we recommend using this Apple USB-C TB3 cable to attach the source Mac in TDM to the host Mac. If the host Mac has a Thunderbolt 2 port, we recommend using this Apple TB cable and Apple TB3 to TB2 adapter. While they should be stocked in Apple or Best Buy stores, if one of these cables is not available, a 3rd party Thunderbolt (USB-C 3.1 ) or USB-C data cable may work. If an adapter is needed for the source or host port, we recommend only using genuine Apple adapters.
If you are running the host Mac live, the host Mac will need to have macOS 10.13.6 or newer to detect the 2018-2020 Mac models. If you choose to attach the source Mac in TDM to a live Mac, we highly recommend using SoftBlock or a hardware write-blocker so the source Mac is write-protected.
*NOTE - The 2018 models and most 2019/2020 models have a T2 chip with built-in SSD encryption. A physical image of the SSD from a Mac with T2 chip has encryption that is different than FileVault encryption. Since the data from a physical image is outside of its original hardware, the built-in encryption from the T2 chip cannot be decrypted. We recommend following the steps in this article for a physical image or this article for a logical data collection.