
Ask HN: Apple MacBook power failure. No way to recover SSD data? - achillesheels
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.<p>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?<p>I really appreciate the response (especially from any Apple engineers out there :))
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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/](https://rossmanngroup.com/)

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achillesheels
Awesome thanks!!!

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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.

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rasz
Obviously you cant "just" recover data, they will have to repair your computer
first.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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dv_dt
Ask Apple support directly, they may have options that third parties do not
offer.

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m-p-3
A newer model with a 15% rebate when returning the defective one?

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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!

