One question decides everything: does the storage come out? Up to about 2017 it does, and the state of the machine barely matters. From 2018 the flash is soldered to the logic board and encrypted by it. Thirty seconds in About This Mac tells you which position you are in. A worked example: an Apple Mail store rebuilt after a folder merge.
$ mdr diagnose /dev/disk2 → Device: MacBook Pro (2015) · 512 GB SSD → Status: WILL NOT BOOT — question-mark folder → Client: confidential · Manchester M2 $ mdr engineer-working → Drive removed: imaged read-only → APFS container: rebuilt from image → FileVault: unlocked with your key $ mdr verify → ✓ documents — 31,200 files → ✓ photos — 18,400 files → ✓ Mac recovered — data back
Where the drive lifts out, recovery is routine. Where the storage is soldered to the logic board and that board has failed, the data cannot be recovered by us or by anyone — the encryption key died with it. We establish which you have before quoting anything.
It takes thirty seconds and it determines the entire answer, so it is worth doing before you call anyone.
Click the Apple menu, About This Mac, and note the model and year. Anything up to roughly 2017 almost certainly has storage that comes out — a SATA drive, or a proprietary blade SSD that unscrews. From 2018 onward, Intel Macs with a T2 chip and every Apple Silicon machine have the flash soldered to the logic board.
That single fact splits the outcomes completely. Removable storage means the state of the Mac is largely irrelevant — dead screen, dead board, spilled coffee, none of it matters once the drive is out. Soldered storage means the board is the only route in, and if the board is gone so is the route. Tell us the model when you get in touch and we will tell you which position you are in before you send anything.
Each generation narrowed what survives a hardware failure.
Worth knowing before you book an appointment, because it surprises people.
Apple is generally good at identifying a failing drive and will tell you so plainly. What follows is a replacement — which returns a working Mac and none of your files, because the old drive leaves with the old parts. Customers are routinely referred on at exactly that point, and several have arrived here holding a Genius Bar diagnosis.
The order is what matters: recovery first, repair second. Once the data is safe, replacing the drive is precisely the right advice. Done the other way round, the machine comes back working and the contents are gone with the old hardware.
The awkward conversation, dealt with up front.
If FileVault is on — and on any recent Mac it very likely is — we need the account password or the recovery key. Not because we want access to your files, but because the volume is mathematically closed without it. There is no laboratory technique, no equipment and no amount of money that opens an encrypted APFS volume without the credentials, and any firm implying otherwise is not describing something real.
If you do not have it, check before assuming it is lost: a recovery key is frequently escrowed to your iCloud account, and on a work Mac it will usually be held by whoever manages the estate. That five-minute check has salvaged jobs that looked closed. Where the key genuinely no longer exists, we will tell you at the diagnostic and there is nothing to pay.
Not by the fault, and not by how much data there is.
£300 +VAT covers any Mac whose drive comes out — MacBook, MacBook Pro and Air, iMac, mini, whatever has failed and however the machine is behaving.
£550 +VAT flat covers Fusion Drive machines, because that is two devices imaged separately and recombined into the single logical volume macOS presented. Both halves must arrive together; one alone yields fragments.
Soldered storage on a failed logic board is not something we take on, and you will hear that at the free diagnostic rather than after an invoice. Physical drive-level work carries a 50% deposit with the balance only on success; everything else is no fix, no fee. Drop-off at Peter House on Oxford Street, Manchester.
Get the drive to us, and tell us a brief note on the Mac and fault. The diagnostic that follows costs nothing, and one figure goes in writing before any work begins.
Nothing starts until the drive to us — the removable drive, or both halves of a Fusion Drive is on the bench. Pack it properly and put your contact details in with it. The diagnostic that follows costs nothing, and one figure goes in writing before any work begins.
Posting it? Use something tracked and insured — whatever is on the drive is worth considerably more than the postage. Bringing it in? Weekdays, 9am to 5:30pm, and it still wants packing as above for the journey.
Not sure it is worth sending? Tell us about the Mac and fault, plus anything already attempted — an engineer reads every one of these and comes back with an honest view of the odds and a price band, before you post anything.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 0161 871 0788.
The questions we’re asked most about recovering data from a Mac.
Check Apple menu, About This Mac, and note the model year. Up to roughly 2017 the storage comes out and recovery is routine whatever the machine is doing. From 2018 onward the flash is soldered to the logic board — recoverable while the Mac runs, not once the board has failed.
No — the Genius Bar diagnoses and replaces hardware, which returns a working Mac without your files. Customers are frequently sent on to firms like ours at that point. Recover first, repair second.
£300 plus VAT for any Mac whose drive comes out, and £550 plus VAT flat for a Fusion Drive, which is two devices recovered and recombined. Fixed in writing after a free 48-hour diagnostic.
If FileVault is enabled, yes — the account password or the recovery key. An encrypted volume is mathematically closed without it and no technique opens it. Check your iCloud account or your IT department before assuming the key is gone.
Yes, and this catches people out. macOS spreads files across the SSD and the hard disk, so recovering one alone returns pieces of everything and the whole of nothing. Both devices must come in together.
No, by anyone. The flash is soldered to the board and encrypted by the security chip, so the key dies with the board. A chip-off returns ciphertext. We stopped taking these on rather than charge people to discover that.
What matters on a Mac is not the badge but the era. Pre-2016 machines have storage that lifts out and recovers routinely; T2 and Apple Silicon machines encrypt to a key fused into the board, and soldered storage on a dead board is not something we take on.
Names with an arrow have a guide of their own — brand-specific faults, and what they mean for a recovery.
£300 +VAT where the storage lifts out, £550 flat for a Fusion Drive. Soldered storage on a dead logic board is not something we take on, and you will hear that at the free diagnostic rather than after an invoice.