Frequently asked questions
30 answers from Payam Toloo, founder of Payam Data Recovery, to the questions people ask most about getting data off a dead, water damaged, locked or failing MacBook, covering hard drive, removable SSD and onboard SSD models (including T2 and Apple silicon M1, M2, M3 and later). For pricing, turnaround and how to send your MacBook in, see our Apple MacBook Data Recovery service page.
Need your data back rather than advice? Get a free quote or call 1300 444 800.
Which type of storage does my MacBook have?
| Era (years) | Example models | Storage type | Where your data lives |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 to 2012 | White and black MacBook (2006 to 2010), non-Retina MacBook Pro (2006 to 2012, the 13-inch Mid 2012 was sold until 2016), original MacBook Air (2008) | Hard drive (spinning disk). Some 2008 to 2009 MacBook Air models had an optional SSD | On a hard drive that can be removed from the MacBook |
| 2010 to 2019 | MacBook Air (Late 2010 to 2017), Retina MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 to 2015), 13-inch MacBook Pro without Touch Bar (2016 to 2019) | Removable SSD (Apple’s own blade-style SSD, not a standard drive) | On a removable SSD that plugs into the logic board |
| 2015 to today | 12-inch MacBook (2015 to 2019), MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (2016 to 2020), MacBook Air (2018 onwards), every Apple silicon MacBook (M1, M2, M3 and later) | Onboard SSD | On memory chips built into the logic board. The SSD cannot be removed |
General questions, such as a flashing folder with a question mark, slow startup or deleted files, apply to every MacBook, whether it has a hard drive, a removable SSD or an onboard SSD. Questions about a dead logic board apply only to MacBooks with an onboard SSD, because the data is stored on chips built into the logic board, so the board has to work for the data to be read. From 2018, models with the Apple T2 chip, and all Apple silicon models, also encrypt the onboard SSD to that logic board, which is why it cannot simply be moved to another computer.
Not sure which MacBook you have? Choose Apple menu, then About This Mac, or check the model number on the underside of the case.
The most common reason we see it really not booting is because it’s not turning on. There’s no power. And generally that’s caused by damage to the logic board, usually caused by liquid damage or corrosion near the USB-C ports.
Applies to: All MacBooks.
Yes, there’s a very good chance the data is recoverable. We work on MacBooks that are not turning on and physically damaged due to damage to the logic board every single day, and in 95% of cases at least, the data is always recoverable.
Applies to: All MacBooks.
Yes. It’s very important not to charge the computer or apply power to it. Just leave it off and get it to us as soon as you can, and there’s a good chance we can recover all your data still.
Applies to: All MacBooks.
Yes, we work on those all day every day, and at least 95% of the time we’re successful in getting all the data back. The most important thing to do is don’t let anyone try and factory reset the computer or do any type of repairs, because if the data recovery is the most important thing, we can recover your data for you in a safe way without causing any data loss or damage.
Applies to: MacBooks with an onboard SSD built into the logic board.
Yes, there’s a very good chance. We’ll have a look at it for you, and as long as the NAND memory chip, which is the SSD. As long as the SSD is not physically cracked or broken, then there’s a good chance the data can be recovered.
Applies to: MacBooks with a removable SSD or onboard SSD.
Yes, there’s a very good chance we can get everything back for you.
Applies to: All MacBooks.
Yes, we have professional and safe methods that we can help get the data off the onboard SSD for you, and recover everything onto a USB hard drive (your own empty one, or one you buy from us).
Applies to: MacBooks with an onboard SSD built into the logic board.
Yes, we can definitely get your data back in those cases using a few different methods. First one is it could be some sort of an operating system or partition problem. It may be that the SSD on the MacBook might have some read errors or slow reading sectors, indicating early stage of failure, or it could be caused by some problem on the logic board that may be causing that issue. Sometimes we might see some unrelated components that are causing that. For example, a short-circuiting component that may be related to the Bluetooth or the Wi-Fi, and it prevents the computer from starting up, or the computer may be overheating or some other kind of fault that’s causing that. But either way, we can have a look for you for free. We’ll give you a quote, then we back up all your data onto a disk (your own empty one, or one you buy from us), and you can get Apple or any other repairer to replace the logic board or you can buy a new computer.
Applies to: All MacBooks.
Yes, in most cases the data can be recovered, but it may indicate a serious problem of the hard drive or SSD inside your computer may have failed completely. So if it’s an older style MacBook, it may be a hard drive with damaged heads or some other serious issue. If it’s a newer MacBook with an SSD that’s either removable or built-in, it may indicate a hardware failure of either bad sectors, damaged PCB, hardware failure like the failed controller or NAND chips. But yeah, definitely if you bring it to us, we’ll check it out. We’ll tell you what we can do to help you, and there’s a good chance we can get all your data copied to a portable USB hard drive or SSD, and you can either get the SSD or hard drive replaced.
Applies to: All MacBooks: hard drive, removable SSD and onboard SSD models.
Yes, if you bring it to us, we can connect it using target mode or shared disk mode using the USB-C or Thunderbolt cable from your computer to one of our Mac computers. We can make a backup of all the data for you onto a portable USB hard drive or SSD, and then you can factory reset your computer, update the software, and then copy all the files back on there is the ideal solution.
Applies to: All MacBooks.
Yes, that’s what we specialise in. We can temporarily fix the problem with your MacBook logic board, back up all the data for you onto a USB external hard drive or SSD. That way you can take the computer back to Apple, they can replace it or repair it, and then you can transfer all the files back onto the new computer.
Applies to: MacBooks with an onboard SSD built into the logic board.
Yes, as long as you know the login password, we can help you recover the data from the computer.
Applies to: All MacBooks.
We do very complex and advanced electronic repairs on MacBook computers to get them to turn back on so we can recover the data. Where generally Apple will replace the faulty part with a new one, and in the case of a MacBook, they’ll replace the whole logic board with a new logic board, and the reason why that won’t help you is because the SSD is built into the logic board, which is the memory chips that stores your files, and if they replace your logic board with a new one, you will just get a brand new MacBook with no files on it. But if you bring it to us, we’ll temporarily fix the problem by doing very small intricate microsurgery on the electronics, component level repairs, and chip-off recoveries and chip transplants. This is a very specialized service that Apple does not offer, and in order for us to be able to back up your data before they replace the logic board for you.
Applies to: MacBooks with an onboard SSD built into the logic board.
Yes, in most cases it is. It generally indicates a firmware problem, or it could be an indication of a hardware fault with the CPU or the controller or the SSD on board. But the majority of time, we recommend to let us have a look at it for you for free. We’ll try and work out what’s causing that for you, but the majority of the time the data can be recovered and copied to a new USB hard drive for you.
Applies to: All MacBooks.
Yes, in most cases we can. The majority of the time, we’ll test the SSD for you, see what’s wrong with it, give you a free quote, and the majority of time we’ll fix the problem with the SSD to be able to get it to work again, and then we’ll make a clone copy and then save all the files and folders to a USB external hard drive. There’s only a few rare cases, which is about 10% of the work that we do, where there could be a problem called NAND degradation, where the memory chips haven’t malfunctioned, but they’ve just basically died due to old age. In that case, it’s usually not possible, um, because if the memory chips are not reading, we may not be able to get working readable files, and we may get only parts of the files which cause data corruption, but that’s pretty rare.
Applies to: MacBooks with a removable SSD (MacBook Air 2010 to 2017, Retina MacBook Pro 2012 to 2015, 13-inch MacBook Pro without Touch Bar 2016 to 2019).
In most cases, the answer will be no because the login password for a MacBook is a security feature. If your computer has FileVault or APFS, then there’s no way for us to hack or crack or bypass the security or the login password. If you have an older HFS file system from a much older MacBook, we can access your data and back up all your files and folders without the password.
Applies to: All MacBooks.
No, we don’t have any way to do that.
Applies to: All MacBooks.
Yes, in some cases that is possible. Because if there’s a, if there’s a short circuit and, or an electronic component that’s failed, then we need to temporarily repair it to get it working. If we can leave your computer in a working state, we’ll leave it the way it is for you. But in most cases, we return it back in the original faulty state, because we may be using some very expensive components and parts to get your computer to work, and as part of our business, we’ll keep those parts to use again and again for other customers, and we’ll put only your original parts back on there, as per our commitment to our partnership with Apple to return everything in the original state with no new, new parts, in case you end up going back for Apple hardware support, AppleCare, or repair, or warranty through Apple. In order for, we have to put the original parts back on your computer. Otherwise, if you end up going to Apple for any warranty or AppleCare, um, they may void your warranty if we’ve replaced the components with other ones.
Applies to: All MacBooks.
No, we have no way to do that.
Applies to: All MacBooks.
Yes, um, we can connect your MacBook to one of our computers through target mode or shared disk mode using a Thunderbolt or USB-C cable, and backup your data as long as you know your user profile password.
Applies to: All MacBooks.
You can try and connect an external keyboard. Like a, like a USB-C keyboard if you can get one, or you can try a USB-C connected mouse. Um, and then you can use the Bluetooth using the mouse to connect the Bluetooth keyboard. Otherwise, if you’re not able to do any of that yourself, and nothing else is working, you can bring it to us and we can back up your data for you in a safe and reliable way.
Applies to: All MacBooks.
Yes, we can back up every single file and folder, usually with the original folder name and file names, including your whole user profile, your library folder, your applications, your iPhoto library, your desktop, your downloads, every single file that was on there. Because often we use a program that makes a clone copy of every single file and folder in the file system.
Applies to: All MacBooks.
Yes, we can. We can get everything back off a dead MacBook once we get it to turn on. We’ll make a full backup of everything for you.
Applies to: All MacBooks.
Yes, we can. We’ll back up all the data for you and save it all onto a USB external hard drive or SSD.
Applies to: All MacBooks.
Yes, we can. Once we get the MacBook to turn back on doing component level repairs, we’ll be able to back up that partition for you onto an external USB hard drive or SSD.
Applies to: Intel MacBooks with a Windows Boot Camp partition.
It’s a personal choice. Most people, um, have Apple iCloud or a Time Machine backup. If you never did a Time Machine backup and never set up iCloud, and you have important data that’s worth paying a professional to recover for you, then definitely bring it to us and we’ll get your data back first. Then you can sort out the computer repair afterwards when you have a full backup of the files.
Applies to: All MacBooks.
Yes, we can do that as part of our free assessment and quote, and then if you approve the quote, we offer you our data recovery service and it’ll copy all your photos as well as every other file if you need it onto an external hard drive or SSD.
Applies to: All MacBooks.
In most cases, yes. But if you’ve done any sort of factory reset or restore from iCloud, the answer is no, because we can’t recover deleted data. But in most cases, if you’ve just done an update, there’s a possibility that it may just look different or, um, the files may be in a different location to what you’re used to if it’s a, it’s a major update. But generally we can recover your data, but we recommend after an update like that, contact Apple support, do some troubleshooting through their, uh, customer service to see if you can understand what’s happened first, and only bring it to us if you really think there’s a problem.
Applies to: All MacBooks.
No, we have no way to do that.
Applies to: All MacBooks.
Yes, that’s what we specialize in. Our, our goal is not to fix your computer so you can use it again. Our goal is to just get it to work for long enough that we can type in your password, unlock it, get it working for long enough that we can back up all the files and folders. Then you can definitely have it back and just buy a new computer or have it repaired if you want.
Applies to: All MacBooks.
Real cases like these: MacBook Pro A2338 with liquid damage, MacBook Air M2 with a dead logic board and MacBook T2 firmware fix.
Need your files back? Read about our Apple MacBook data recovery service, or ask for a free quote below.
First published 28 October 2026, 7:14 PM AEDT. Last updated 28 October 2026, 9:11 PM AEDT.
The information on this page is provided by Payam Toloo, founder and owner of Payam Data Recovery. This content is copyright and may not be reproduced on other websites without written permission. You are welcome to quote or reference it with a link to this page.
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