Apple MacBook Data Recovery

With 25+ years of Apple-focused engineering, Sheffield Data Recovery handles every Mac storage scenario: Intel and Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3), removable SATA/NVMe drives, T2-based systems, blade SSDs, external Time Machine disks, and Fusion Drive two-device pairs. We recover from physical, electronic, media and logical faults across MacBook, MacBook Air/Pro and iMac models.

How to send your device/drive: place it in an anti-static bag (if available), cushion well in a padded envelope or small box, include your contact details, and post or drop it in. Diagnostics are free; we confirm findings and options before any recovery work. A critical service (typically within 48 hours) is available on request.

Top Apple MacBook / MacBook Air models we see most often (representative “top sellers”)

• MacBook Air 13″ (2013–2017, SATA SSD)

• MacBook Air Retina 13″ (2018–2020, Intel NVMe)

• MacBook Air 13″ (M1, 2020)

• MacBook Air 13″ (M2, 2022)

• MacBook Air 15″ (M2, 2023)

• MacBook Air 13″/15″ (M3, 2024)

• MacBook Pro 13″ (2012 non-Retina, SATA)

• MacBook Pro 13″ Retina (Late 2013–2015, PCIe blade)

• MacBook Pro 13″ (2016–2019, Touch Bar, NVMe)

• MacBook Pro 13″ (M1, 2020)

• MacBook Pro 14″ (M1 Pro/Max, 2021)

• MacBook Pro 16″ (M1 Pro/Max, 2021)

• MacBook Pro 14″/16″ (M2 Pro/Max, 2023)

• MacBook Pro 14″/16″ (M3/M3 Pro/Max, 2023)

• MacBook 12″ (2015–2017)

• MacBook 13″ Unibody (2009–2010)

• MacBook Air 11″ (2012–2015)

• MacBook Pro 15″ Retina (2012–2015)

• MacBook Pro 15″ (2016–2019, Touch Bar)

• MacBook Pro 17″ (2011, SATA)

• MacBook Pro 13″ (2020 Intel NVMe)

• MacBook Air Education models (various years)

• Refreshed MBA/MBP CTO capacities (popular SKUs)

• iMac 21.5″ (2010–2019, SATA/Fusion)

• iMac 27″ 5K (2014–2020, SATA/Fusion)

• iMac Pro 27″ (2017)

• iMac 24″ (M1, 2021)

• iMac 24″ (M3, 2023)

• Mac mini (Fusion/NVMe) frequently paired to laptops for backups

(Model names are representative; we support all Mac laptops and iMacs.)

All Mac operating systems we handle

Classic Mac OS: System 1–7, Mac OS 8, Mac OS 9 (9.0–9.2.2)
Mac OS X / OS X: 10.0 Cheetah, 10.1 Puma, 10.2 Jaguar, 10.3 Panther, 10.4 Tiger, 10.5 Leopard, 10.6 Snow Leopard, 10.7 Lion, 10.8 Mountain Lion, 10.9 Mavericks, 10.10 Yosemite, 10.11 El Capitan
macOS: 10.12 Sierra, 10.13 High Sierra, 10.14 Mojave, 10.15 Catalina, 11 Big Sur, 12 Monterey, 13 Ventura, 14 Sonoma, 15 Sequoia
Filesystems: APFS (incl. snapshots & encryption), HFS+, HFS, exFAT, FAT32, NTFS on Boot Camp/external.

Interfaces & storage we support

SATA (2.5″), PATA/IDE (legacy), PCIe, NVMe, Apple blade SSD (PCIe/AHCI/NVMe), M.2 (B/M/B+M), U.2/SFF-8639, USB 2.0/3.x/USB-C, Thunderbolt 1–4 (enclosures), FireWire 400/800 (legacy), eSATA, Fusion Drive pairs (SSD + HDD), HDD hybrid/SSHD, external Time Machine disks, RAID/NAS members used by Macs.

Specialist focus: Fusion Drive two-device recovery

We reconstruct CoreStorage/APFS Fusion mappings by pairing the SSD blade and HDD components, extracting Logical Volume Group (LVG) metadata, spacemaps/object maps (APFS) or CS extents (CoreStorage). If one member is degraded, we image each device independently, then virtually re-fuse the container to restore mountable volumes. If the SSD metadata region is lost, we infer the map from surviving headers and transaction records, then fall back to extent-guided carving for critical files.

Professional Mac workflow (what we actually do)

1. Intake & write-protection – record serials, SMART/baselines; attach via write blockers.

2. Power/firmware triage – oscilloscope + current profile; service area (SA) access; head map checks; NVMe admin responses.

3. Electronics/firmware – ROM read/transfer, adaptive tables (head map, P/G-lists), SA module validation (DIR/overlay/translator), translator rebuild.

4. Mechanical path (HDD) – head-stack swap, spindle swap/platter migration (radial alignment/clocking preserved), pre-amp verification.

5. Imaging – hardware imagers (PC-3000, DDI) with unstable-media profiles: head-select, zone priority, progressive block sizes, reverse reads, back-off/timeouts; NVMe name-space imaging.

6. SSD/NVMe – controller ROM/SAFE mode, FTL (L2P) extraction, ECC/XOR/interleave parameters, channel/plane isolation; chip-off only when required.

7. Logical reconstruction – APFS object map/spacemap repair, snapshot enumeration, HFS+ catalog/extent B-trees, NTFS/exFAT/EXT where present; carving for JPEG/RAW/Final Cut/Logic/Office; container/index repairs (moov/mdat).

8. Encryption – FileVault/APFS, T2/Secure Enclave/Apple Silicon volumes are recoverable with valid credentials/recovery keys; we decrypt on the clone, then rebuild the filesystem. (Without keys: only raw carving of any plaintext residues is possible.)

9. Verification & delivery – SHA-256 manifests, sample open tests, directory audits; secure handover.

Top 75 Apple MacBook & iMac faults we recover — with technical approach

Mechanical (HDD in older MacBooks/iMacs & Fusion HDD):

1. Clicking on spin-up → donor HSA, translator rebuild, head-map imaging.

2. Spindle seized → spindle swap/platter migration; SA validate; clone good surfaces.

3. Stiction (heads stuck) → controlled release; immediate short-timeout imaging.

4. Platter scoring → donor heads; isolate damaged surfaces; partial clone.

5. Weak single head → disable head; per-head zone imaging.

6. Excessive reallocated sectors → reverse/small-block passes; reconstruct FS around holes.

7. Servo wedge damage → skip wedges; interleaved reads; reconstruct with gaps.

8. Off-track servo → adaptive calibration; low-speed track follow.

9. Ramp/parking failure → HSA swap; pre-amp check; clone.

10. Head pre-amp short → HSA replace; bias tests; clone.

Electronics/Firmware:
11. PCB/TVS/regulator short → replace/ROM move; safe power; clone.
12. ROM/adaptives corrupt → rebuild from donor family; patch adaptives.
13. Translator corruption (HDD) → regenerate from P/G-lists; restore LBA.
14. SA copy-0 unreadable → use mirror SA, repair modules.
15. USB-to-SATA bridge faults (externals) → bypass to native SATA; decrypt if vendor crypt present.
16. FireWire/Thunderbolt bridge dropouts → re-bridge or native bus imaging.
17. SMR write log damage → reconstruct shingled translator; logical rebuild.
18. 0MB capacity / BSY lock (affected families) → vendor terminal patch, clear SMART logs.

SSD/NVMe (Intel/T2/Apple Silicon):
19. Controller lock/firmware crash → ROM/SAFE mode, admin resets; image namespace.
20. NAND wear/ECC maxed → ECC tuning, majority-vote reads, channel isolation.
21. Power-loss metadata loss → FTL/journal rebuild; else chip-level NAND dump.
22. Read-disturb/retention → temperature-tuned reads; refresh strategy.
23. Soldered storage (T2/Apple Silicon) → logical recovery with keys; otherwise limited to carve caches/temp.
24. BGA controller detach (external SSD) → prefer ROM access; reball only if last resort.
25. Vendor XOR/scrambler unknown → derive via known-plaintext; apply globally.
26. Hidden second namespace/OEM partition → enumerate/admin cmds; clone each.

Fusion Drive (CoreStorage/APFS):
27. Missing SSD member → image HDD + reconstruct map; carve if metadata lost.
28. Missing HDD member → image SSD; rebuild container; partial recovery.
29. CS LVG metadata corrupt → parse backup headers; infer extents; re-fuse.
30. APFS Fusion spacemap/object map damage → regenerate; salvage volumes.
31. Fusion split during macOS reinstall → recover both devices; restore logical map.

macOS/APFS/HFS+ logical faults:
32. APFS object map corruption → rebuild OMAP; mount clone.
33. APFS spacemap inconsistencies → regenerate; recover files.
34. APFS snapshot overflow → enumerate & export snapshot states.
35. FileVault2 enabled, key available → decrypt clone; full FS rebuild.
36. HFS+ catalog B-tree corrupt → rebuild catalog/extent trees; graft orphans.
37. HFS+ journal stuck → replay/zero on image; mountable.
38. HFS wrapper/HFS+ hybrid issues → unwrap and recover.
39. NTFS Boot Camp volume RAW → $MFT/$Bitmap repair; export.
40. exFAT Time Machine portable disk corrupt → rebuild FAT/bitmap; recover bands.

System/Update/Install issues:
41. macOS update interrupted → APFS rollback; snapshot restore; export files.
42. OS won’t boot (question mark folder) → clone first; rebuild FS; copy data.
43. Startup disk “not mounted” → APFS container repair; object map fix.
44. “Your disk is not readable by this computer” → never format; image; repair on clone.
45. “First Aid” attempted → undo/repair on image; carve pre-repair structure.

Encryption & Accounts:
46. FileVault user lost password → require recovery key; decrypt clone.
47. T2 Activation Lock vs. storage → data recoverable only with credentials.
48. Keychain damage → decrypt volume; export files; keychain repair where possible.
49. iCloud Drive placeholders only → recover local caches from image.

External/Backup (Time Machine):
50. Sparsebundle corrupt → band map reconstruction; DMG mount; copy backups.
51. TM over SMB disk reuse → reconstruct .backupdb; carve bands.
52. APFS TM snapshots on local disk → enumerate & export states.

Applications & Pro-media:
53. Photos Library corrupt → repair database; extract originals/resources.
54. iMovie/Final Cut libraries → rebuild event databases; relink media.
55. Logic Pro projects → salvage package contents; recover audio regions.
56. Lightroom catalogs → SQLite page-level salvage; relink originals.
57. Large MOV/MP4 won’t play → moov/mdat rebuild; re-mux; GOP re-index.
58. ProRes/CinemaDNG on external → per-clip index rebuild.
59. Outlook/Apple Mail stores → PST/OST/mbox salvage; rebuild indexes.

Power/Thermal/Mechanical shocks:
60. Overheating → current/thermal profile; staged imaging with cooling.
61. Liquid ingress (laptop) → isolate storage; corrosion mitigation; image.
62. Drop damage → HSA/spindle assessment; contamination control; quick clone.

Partition maps & boot metadata:
63. GPT header & backup lost → infer from FS superblocks; rebuild GPT.
64. Hybrid MBR mishaps (Boot Camp) → correct hybrid; restore NTFS/APFS access.
65. Protective MBR only → recover GPT from secondary; mount volumes.

Peripheral/bridge issues:
66. Thunderbolt enclosure resets → link speed limit; firmware update; clone.
67. USB-C/UASP instability → fall back to BOT; stable host; image.
68. FireWire bridge dead → transplant or native bus; image.

RAID/NAS disks used with Mac:
69. Single member from degraded array → clone each member; virtualise array; export.
70. Soft-RAID metadata damage → parse headers; rebuild virtual disk; copy files.

CCTV/IoT disks attached to Macs:
71. Overwritten ring buffers → carve H.264/265; partial timeline export.
72. exFAT allocation loops on camera media → FAT rebuild + carve.

User/FS operations gone wrong:
73. “Erase” clicked in Disk Utility → image; rebuild APFS container; carve if metadata lost.
74. Accidental deletion → unallocated scan; snapshot/state restore; carve.
75. Third-party “repair” tool damage → roll back on image; manual metadata repair.

Why Sheffield Data Recovery

• 25+ years of Apple storage expertise (Intel, T2, Apple Silicon).

• Fusion Drive specialists — CoreStorage & APFS re-fusing from mismatched pairs.

• Controller-aware NVMe/SSD recovery (FTL/L2P maps, ECC/XOR/interleave).

• Forensic discipline: write-blocked imaging, SHA-256 verification, audit trail on request.

• Advanced tooling & donor inventory to maximise success.

• Free diagnostics and critical (≈48-hour) service available.

Start your case

Package your device/drive securely (anti-static + padded envelope/small box) with your details and post or drop it in. Our engineers will assess, present clear options, and proceed with the recovery path you approve.