Devices · Apple laptops and desktops
Once the free look has identified the issue, reckon on £300 + VAT. A Mac differs in two ways. It encrypts from the time you first press the power button. And if there is a Fusion pair, macOS has made one volume across two separate drives. Anything you download fails on reaching the first of the two; on this bench both are normal steps. Send us just the drive (not the computer) and give us the password on the form. On T2 and Apple silicon Macs the flash is permanently attached to the motherboard, and that is not something we take on; if you're not sure which kind you have, ring us first.
Ask an engineer and the first look is free
0115 8220606
| What is happening | What usually causes it | What that means for you |
|---|---|---|
| A flashing question mark on a folder | It has no disk it can start from | Leave it switched off and have the drive tested |
| A crossed-out circle as it tries to start | macOS is there, and will not load | The drive first, then the container |
| First Aid reports errors and then gives up | APFS damage beyond anything Disk Utility can mend | Take the image first, decide afterwards |
| Error -119930868 from com.apple.DiskManagement.disenter | That APFS volume will not mount | Normally read back from a clone |
| Disk Utility: file system verify or repair failed, error -69845 | Disk Utility has nothing left to try | Power it off and go no further |
| A boot loop, beginning with a macOS update | Firmware or container corruption, with everything below that layer intact | Comes back, as a rule |
Your case number is assigned when the item is received. Then an engineer works out what went wrong (no charge). At this point, you receive a basic summary of which parts are recoverable and which are not. You also receive a single written quote for the price of the recovery. Accept the quoted price or turn it down, and there is no obligation to pay anything.
Under FileVault every byte reads as encrypted. Give us your password and this becomes a routine recovery. The image is captured so that you can still unlock your files afterwards.
A drive held in by screws is imaged like any other. Soldered flash isn't quite the same: T2 and Apple silicon Macs aren't something we undertake, so if you're unsure whether yours has a drive that comes out or soldered flash, ring us first.
With a Fusion iMac, the first half of a document might be on flash and the second half on the mechanical disk. Each is imaged independently, and then the CoreStorage or APFS structure that binds the two together is rebuilt. So you get whole documents back, rather than the fragments they were stored as.
A complete file list will be provided before any invoicing. Simply say "yes" or "no" to what we found: yes means it is billed, no means it is not, and in most cases you only pay if we recover your data. What we find is posted to you on media purchased specifically for your case, at no additional cost to you. We consider the process complete once you have opened those files yourself on your own computer.
About the figures: Apple doesn't publish a breakdown by model, and there has never been a public reliability study of soldered Mac flash (not even by Backblaze). So there are no honest MacBook failure rates anyone can print. Apple has these numbers and keeps them.
The Apple Store had already decided this iMac was beyond repair. Inside, though, was a Fusion Drive (flash bonded to a mechanical disk and presented by macOS as one volume), with the mechanical side about to fail. Both halves were imaged separately, the pairing was recreated from those two images, and a Lace Market design studio had ten years of work back.
Yes. Either one will do: your login password or your recovery key. On the Macs we accept, the lock is FileVault. Without one of those credentials the volume stays locked, at our lab and at every other. T2 and Apple silicon Macs, with their flash soldered to the board, are not work we take on.
Usually not, where the drive comes out. What you asked was a data question, and what came back was a repair answer. A repairer fits a new logic board; the old board goes on a shelf, and your files are still on the drive. Recovering those is a separate service, done on separate equipment. With soldered-flash T2 and Apple silicon Macs, though, we don't take the job on.
Because macOS shows you one icon for what are really two physical disks: a small flash module tied to a slower mechanical one. Blocks belonging to one file can sit on either. Send us only half and you get back only fragments. We image both halves and recreate the map that connects them.
No. Soldered flash, as found in T2 and Apple silicon MacBooks, is not work we take on. The encryption is tied to that board, and taking the flash off to read it elsewhere never works. If you're not sure which kind you have, ring us first.
The look costs nothing. It gives you a file listing of what opened and what did not, along with the cost of finishing the job, in writing, before anything chargeable begins. In most cases you only pay if we recover your data. Do not switch the drive on until you have that listing.