*grumble* the problem with maintaining and reusing perfectly good older tech (in this case, a 2015 iMac that just needs a fast external SSD instead of the internal SATA spinny rust HDD) is that the connectors and adapters one needs are outrageously expensive since nobody makes them anymore.

in my case, a thunderbolt 2 cable with mini DP connectors (has to be thunderbolt, not just mini DP) and an adapter from that to USB-C. Those two items cost *more* than the 1TB external SSD I'm going to plug in with them.

... but still a lot less than a new Mac, and this one should be fine for my son's Ableton and Garage Band efforts. I'm just offended at paying sixty bucks for a cable that was $20 when it was still in common production.