HN Explorer

Ask HN: Apple MacBook power failure. No way to recover SSD data?

7 points by achillesheels ↗ HN
My 2015 MacBook failed to turn on Sunday evening and the data recovery diagnostics company gave me the bad news yesterday afternoon: because everything is integrated onto the encrypted logic board, there is no way to recover the data during a power failure. This is due to Apple’s proprietary tech.

I find this hard to believe that the data can’t be retrieved (and I have some important research I did not have time to back up over the weekend to recover). Is there absolutely no way to recover this data during a mobo failure?

I really appreciate the response (especially from any Apple engineers out there :))

15 comments

[ 5.5 ms ] story [ 52.6 ms ] thread
joshstrange
I was under the impression 2015's all still had removable hard drives but after looking at the iFixit I guess I was wrong. At this point I'd think about contacting Rossmann Repair Group [0]. I've never used them or been in your position but this is the guy who is famous for repairing logic boards and other "un-repairable" components from Apple.

[0] https://rossmanngroup.com/

achillesheels
Awesome thanks!!!
achillesheels
I spoke with Rossman, they are pessimistic they can transfer the data out just by the nature of the soldered disk. I’ll give them a chance anyways.
rasz
Obviously you cant "just" recover data, they will have to repair your computer first.
pathartl
If there wasn't any liquid damage, there's probably a good chance that it's a couple hundred dollar repair through RRG. Obviously they'll quote it for free, but they always do great work and their prices are fair.
WildGreenLeave
No, you are right. Yesterday I had my battery in my 15" 2015 replaced and there was definitely a replaceable harddrive there. (Just with an Apple proprietary adapter)
dv_dt
Ask Apple support directly, they may have options that third parties do not offer.
m-p-3
A newer model with a 15% rebate when returning the defective one?
samstave
Yeah screw that.

I had a Macbook Pro 15" literally catch on fire and melt the keyboard. However - some time prior I had spilled a little on the keyboard, which apparently had triggered a liquid detector in the unit.

While these events were not related, Apple held on to the machine for almost two months, then told me they recognized the safety issue of my machine catching fire (while I was asleep) but because a liquid sensor had gone off - They could offer me a new machine at full retail price.

And this was DURING THE TIME THEY ISSUED A RECALL FOR THAT SPECIFIC MODEL CATCHING FIRE!

rasz
Apple has a canned response of sending people to drivesavers, their "partner", $3-10$K quotes and no recovery for soldered drives.
millzlane
Going to an apple store. Without saying to much that I shouldn't say, there exists a device that could power up a dead main logic board for data transfer.
achillesheels
The geniuses I spoke to were very keen on wanting to send it in to replace. The two data recovery specialists I spoke to say it’s just a crappy Apple design for the data to be unrecoverable after a power failure.
millzlane
They don't do some repairs in store IIRC. Your particular model has a removable ssd drive that can be removed with a screw driver and you'll require a 12+16 pin ssd reader to read the data.

The only thing you need to know is admin password or have the recovery key for the drive if filevault was turned on.

achillesheels
Ok I’ll look into this, the techs said the SSD is soldered onto the logic board and is not removable.