Home / Apple and MacBook Data Recovery
On a modern MacBook the storage is soldered to the logic board and locked to it, so the data can only come off through that same board. When the board fails, we repair it at component level, far enough to power up and release your files. Drop it to our staffed office in Bundall, or post it in free from anywhere in Australia.
With most computers, a dead machine and a dead drive are separate problems. You pull the drive, put it in something that works, and copy the files off. On most MacBooks made in the last several years that is no longer possible, and it helps to know which kind you have.
MacBooks up to around 2015, and a few later models, have a drive that can be taken out. If the board has died but the drive is healthy, the data can usually be copied off directly without touching the board at all. If FileVault was switched on, we will need your password to unlock it.
From 2016, most MacBook Pro and MacBook models have their storage chips soldered directly onto the logic board. There is no drive to remove. The board has to run for the data to come off it.
Intel MacBooks with the T2 chip (roughly 2018 to 2020) and every Apple silicon Mac encrypt the storage all the time, whether or not you turned FileVault on. The key lives in the security chip on that board and never leaves it. Moving the storage chips to another board, or reading them in a lab, gives you encrypted noise. The original board is the only way in.
This is why a logic board replacement ends your data. When Apple, or anyone else, fixes a MacBook by replacing the logic board, your storage goes out with the old board and you get back a working computer with an empty drive. That is a perfectly good repair if your data is backed up. If it is not, decide about the data before you agree to it, because once the old board is gone, so are your files.
Most of the MacBooks we cannot help with were made worse after they failed, not by the failure itself. A few minutes of restraint keeps your odds where they are.
The symptom does not tell us the fault on its own, but it narrows it down, and it tells you whether your data is likely to be in danger.
No chime, no light, no response to the charger. Usually a failed power component or a short somewhere on the board. This is the most common job we see, and the storage itself is very often untouched. The fault just has to be found and repaired so the board can run again.
Even when it seemed fine afterwards, corrosion keeps working under the components for days or weeks before something gives out. The sooner the board is cleaned and assessed, the less damage there is to repair. Every day it sits matters.
A Mac that starts, then stalls on the logo or loops back round, can be a software problem, a board fault or failing storage. The worst thing to do is let it keep trying. Each attempt is wear on storage that may already be struggling.
The Mac cannot find a startup disk. On older models with a removable drive this is often the drive or the cable that connects it, and the cable is a known weak point on some models. On newer Macs it points at the storage or the board, and needs a proper look.
Fans, keyboard light or a startup sound, but nothing on the display. Sometimes the board is fine and only the screen or its cable has failed, in which case the data is in no danger at all and can be retrieved without board work. Worth finding out before assuming the worst.
Physical impact can crack solder joints or components on the board, or break the display while leaving everything else working. Tell us how it happened. It points straight at where to look.
Same process as every job we take, with the board work in the middle.
Describe what happened and what it is doing now. Often that conversation is enough to tell you whether it is likely to be a board job, a display fault or something simpler. If it is worth bringing in, drop it to our Bundall office or post it in, and bring your charger if you still have it.
You get a confirmation once it is logged. It then goes securely to our own workshop, where the board repair equipment is.
The board is examined and measured to find what has actually failed and whether the storage and security chip are intact. A diagnostic fee applies to this stage and is quoted to you beforehand.
We tell you what failed, what the repair involves, what it costs and how likely it is to get your data back. If the storage or the main chip itself has failed, we tell you that plainly, because on a modern Mac that is one of the few situations nobody can recover from. Nothing proceeds without your approval.
The fault is repaired at component level, far enough for the board to start and unlock. Your data is then copied off to new media while the board is running, and checked before we call it done.
You get your data on new media along with your MacBook, and a straight answer about whether the machine itself is worth keeping. Allow two to three business days after payment before collection.
Getting a board to run long enough to copy your files off is a different job from making it a reliable daily computer again. Both are possible, but they are priced and approached differently, so it helps to know up front which one you need.
The repair is aimed at one thing: getting your files off safely. This is the right choice when the Mac is old, heavily damaged or due for replacement anyway, and it is often possible even where the machine is beyond economical repair as a computer.
If your data is already backed up and you just want the computer back, say so. It changes what we recommend, and sometimes the honest answer is that a replacement makes more sense than a repair.
If your MacBook is covered by Apple warranty or AppleCare and the data is backed up or does not matter, check with Apple first. We would rather point you there than sell you a repair you do not need. If the data does matter, talk to us before Apple replaces the board.
The same rule runs through most of Apple's range: on recent devices the data is tied to the original board, so recovery means getting that board working rather than moving a drive somewhere else.
Recent iMac and Mac mini models with T2 or Apple silicon work the same way as a modern MacBook, and the same board level approach applies. Older iMacs with a mechanical hard drive or a Fusion Drive are a standard drive recovery, with any drive that needs opening handled on our laminar flow clean bench.
Data on an iPhone or iPad is encrypted to that device and unlocked by your passcode. There is no chip to remove and read elsewhere, so recovery means board level repair: finding the fault and getting the original board running long enough to unlock and back up. It is the same approach as a MacBook, on a smaller board, and we put the same effort into it. Have your passcode ready.
A failed Time Machine backup drive or external disk is ordinary drive recovery, and very often the most recoverable part of the whole story. See the full list of what we recover.
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I broke my computer screen and rather than selling me his service straight away, he suggested I check with Apple to see if it was under warranty and talked me through the whole thing.
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Tell us the model, what happened and what it is doing now. A five minute phone call usually establishes whether your job is worth pursuing, and there is no charge for that conversation.
1, Lvl 15/2 Corporate Ct
Bundall QLD 4217
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
Please call before dropping in.
Tell us what happened and we will come back to you with a plain answer about whether it is worth pursuing. If it is urgent, ring us instead on 1300 532 935. A phone call is nearly always faster.
While you wait to hear back, leave the Mac alone. Keep it off the charger, do not try to restore or reinstall it, and if it got wet, do not switch it on. The condition it is in right now is the best chance you have.