MacBooks can die silently: no clicking, no warning messages, the device simply won't wake or won't charge. Whether it's a spilled drink, a failed drive or a removable blade SSD, we recover data from MacBook Air and Pro models with removable storage throughout Staines and Surrey.
A free diagnostic on every Apple MacBook job. One fixed quote in writing before any work begins.
In most cases you only pay if we recover your data. For all electronic and mechanical work, including chip-level repairs, 50% is required upfront, with the balance only payable if we recover your data. For BitLocker, ransomware, CCTV/DVR and forensic jobs, full payment is made upfront once you accept the fixed quote. Full details regarding our costs can be found on the data recovery cost page.
Each MacBook job starts by matching each symptom to its likely failure cause; these twelve account for almost everything brought into the workshop.
Nothing seems to kill more MacBooks: the logic board corrodes fast, however the data on the SSD nearly always survives the damage.
A failed logic board or charging circuit doesn't end a recovery: even though the board may be dead, if the drive or blade SSD unplugs, we can image it on its own and recover the data separately.
The internal hard drive or SSD has either physically died or lost its operating system: we will extract your files first, and discuss repairs after that.
If an update fails during installation, the Mac gets stuck looping, but this does not harm your documents: they remain intact under the broken operating system.
Older machines use standard 2.5" hard drives, and when one fails mechanically, that is where our head-swap bench comes in handy.
Apple's own SSDs fail like all other SSDs, and although they require the correct adapter and access to service mode, we can still pull data from them.
One bad click in Disk Utility and the volume vanishes, but on a removable drive the lost volume can be recovered until the freed space is used up.
If there are encrypted volumes, you'll need to find your password or recovery key before you call, and then it's business as usual.
Deleted volumes can't be recovered once all of the associated disk space is used up, so turn off the Mac right now and do not continue using it.
Flexgate or a faulty display panel may leave your Mac perfectly healthy behind dark glass; just getting your files off is entirely routine.
Occasionally, Apple's proprietary blade SSDs lose their controller mapping and become invisible: we connect them via a blade adapter in service mode.
Worn flex/SATA cables inside older MacBooks can act like a failing hard drive, but the drive itself is usually fine once imaged.
Before 2012, MacBooks used typical 2.5-inch drives, and from 2013 to 2017 they had Apple's proprietary blade SSDs (both types remove easily, image cleanly and are recoverable here). One side of our work is traditional Mac hard drive recovery and the other is blade SSD recovery. Any machine built in 2018 or later is completely different, because the T2 chip (or Apple Silicon hardware) encrypts storage that is soldered onto the logic board, so you cannot remove it. If the logic board or SSD fails, your files go along with it. We do not recover soldered Mac storage: we stopped offering board-level recovery on soldered Mac machines about 24 months ago, when our success rate became too low to promise anyone. Therefore, if you are unsure what type of device you have, call us for a quote on 0800 689 0668 before you send anything. Post us only the drive or blade SSD, not your whole MacBook.
Water, coffee, tea: these liquids travel quickly to the logic board. On the bright side, when the machine contains either a removable drive or a blade SSD, the liquid spill seldom touches your data, allowing the module to be imaged immediately upon removal from the machine. Do not charge it and do not "wait and see": corrosion spreads daily. Get a quote today on 0800 689 0668 or complete our free online diagnostic form. Then send the drive or blade SSD (not the entire MacBook) to us as soon as possible and the odds swing firmly in your favour.
It's clear from the entire MacBook process flow that the goal is to get the removable drive or blade SSD onto an imaging workstation quickly.
Blade SSDs in 12+16 pin and gumstick configurations connect directly to our imaging workstations without needing a donor MacBook to access them.
The traditional 2.5-inch mechanical hard drives in pre-2012 machines are processed using our standard hard drive workflow, from heads to firmware.
When a blade encounters liquid, we decontaminate it and treat its connectors until the module reads cleanly again.
Native parsing of Apple file systems means we can extract snapshots and use your password to open FileVault.
Wiped volumes, deleted files and lost APFS snapshots are brought back from whatever free space remains in each volume.
A removable drive which was previously labelled "unrecoverable" by another lab gets a true second chance at recovery on new hardware here.
If the storage is removable, we can recover it: this includes both the 2.5" SATA drives found in pre-2012 MacBooks and Apple's proprietary blade SSDs of 2013 to 2017. Liquid spills that short the logic board typically do not affect the ability to read data off a removable drive. Older machines also experience frayed internal SATA cables that appear similar to a failed drive, and blade SSDs sometimes lose their controller mapping and disappear. Any storage soldered into the logic board, including the T2 and Apple Silicon machines from 2018 forward, is not something we recover.
Before sending anything, get a quote from us either by telephone or using our free online diagnostic. Then post your hardware to us (tracked and insured), or drop it off at our Guildford laboratory in person.
Sending a drive from a computer, laptop, MacBook, iMac, CCTV/DVR or server? You will need to remove the internal hard drive or SSD and send us just the drive, as we are unable to remove the drive for you. We also cannot recover storage soldered onto a motherboard, such as in Apple Silicon Macs and some thin laptops. Only drives that can be removed from a machine and sent to us can be recovered. If you are unsure whether your device has a removable drive, please call us before sending. RAID, server and SAN drives need to be removed from their enclosure and labelled by bay. For a NAS, send the disks themselves if they are removable, otherwise the entire NAS device. An external single drive should come to us whole, along with its cable and power supply.
↓ Print the booking-in & shipping form (PDF)
Please mark the package for the attention of Guildford Data Recovery, and we will call you as soon as we have diagnosed your media.
Unsure as to how to proceed with sending the item in for recovery? Then simply call 0800 689 0668, or complete the free online diagnostic prior to dispatching the item to obtain your price quotation.
Free diagnostic, fixed quote, and in most cases you only pay if we recover your data. Start now or call the freephone.