Apple Mac Data Recovery

Hull Data Recovery is your local Mac and Apple data recovery expert in Hull, UK, backed by 25 years of experience. We recover data from any Apple computer – MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Pro and Mac Studio of any year – using professional, friendly service. Our engineers handle all Mac operating systems (from macOS Sierra and High Sierra through Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey, Ventura and Sonoma) and every type of Mac storage device (traditional HDD, SSD, Solid-State Hybrid drives, PCIe/NVMe SSDs or the soldered-in flash of Apple Silicon machines). We also offer board‑level recovery for Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3) Macs, T2‑chip Macs and Fusion Drives.

We address all common Mac data loss scenarios with technical expertise. Our Hull cleanroom lab and specialist tools let us recover data even from severe faults. For example, when an SSD controller fails, we perform a “chip-off” recovery: carefully desoldering the NAND chips and extracting their raw data, then virtually rebuilding the APFS file system to retrieve files. In one case study, our team used chip-off NAND extraction and APFS reconstruction to recover almost all data from a MacBook Air SSD that was otherwise unreadable. We also handle macOS and HFS+ file system repairs, reconstructing damaged APFS containers and HFS+ volumes to restore lost folders and documents. In short, our expertise includes SSD controller repair, NAND flash extraction, APFS file system reconstruction, and even logic-board‑level recovery.

Supported Macs and Storage Types

• All MacBooks and Macs: We recover data from every Mac laptop and desktop – MacBook/Pro/Air (including Retina and Touch Bar models) and iMac, Mac mini, Mac Pro, Mac Studio towers.

• Apple Silicon & T2 Macs: Modern Macs have soldered-on storage controlled by Apple’s T2 or M1/M2 chips. We offer chip-level recovery for these – for instance, reflashing a T2 chip via DFU mode with Apple Configurator to restore access, or extracting flash from an Apple Silicon board.

• Mac Operating Systems: Any macOS version is supported – from Sierra and High Sierra (which used HFS+) through the latest Sonoma (APFS). We navigate Mac firmware (EFI) and volume structures to recover files under all OS releases.

• Drive Technologies: We handle all internal Mac drives: spinning HDDs (standard or hybrid SSHDs), all types of SSDs (SATA, PCIe, NVMe), and Apple’s proprietary flash storage. This includes older removable MacBook SSD modules and newer fixed NVMe sticks.

Top Mac Data Loss Issues and Solutions

We see dozens of Mac data loss cases every year. Here are 30 common MacBook/Mac issues and how our engineers recover your data:

• Dropped or Impact Damage: A fall can jar a Mac and damage its drive. We open the machine in our Class 100 cleanroom and inspect for broken components. For an HDD, this often means a head crash – we perform a head-swap with precision tools and adjust the drive’s firmware to match the new heads. For SSDs, we check for cracked chips or solder joints. In all cases we image the drive immediately to safe media once it’s stabilized.

• Liquid (Spill) Damage: Spills can short-circuit the Mac’s board or corrode drive contacts. We carefully clean any corrosion under a microscope, replace corroded components, and often remove the drive to image it outside the wet enclosure. If the SSD itself got waterlogged, we may perform a chip-off recovery or use specialized flash readout tools.

• Fire or Overheat Damage: Extreme heat can melt connectors or warp platters. We examine drives for thermal damage. For HDDs, if platters are warped or delaminated, recovery is often limited; otherwise we follow standard mechanical repair. For SSDs, we replace burnt controller chips or LEDs (on NVMe modules) and then attempt chip readout. We also upgrade cooling on your Mac to prevent repeat.

• HDD Motor or Bearing Failure: If a hard drive won’t spin or makes grinding sounds, the motor assembly may have seized. Our lab can replace motors and bearings from donor drives. We then use hardware imagers to read the platters in a controlled way. Since modern drives have firmware tied to their hardware, our firmware engineers adjust the replacement parts to match the original drive.

• HDD Head Crash: A clicking “click-of-death” usually means the read/write heads touched the platters. We perform a precision head swap in the cleanroom. As noted by data‑recovery research, a new head stack must be carefully aligned and the drive’s firmware adjusted, or else good sectors may still be marked bad. Our team has the special tools (head combs, shim sets) to maintain head spacing during the swap.

• Platter Damage (Scratches): If the magnetic platter surface is scratched, recovery may be only partial. We try to image around damaged tracks using low-speed imaging so as not to dig deeper into scratches. In rare cases of severe damage, we may attempt platter transfers (moving platters to a perfect drive) in our cleanroom, though success depends on scratch depth.

• Drive Electronics (PCB) Failure: A power surge or board fault can kill the drive’s circuit board. We replace the drive’s PCB with an identical donor, transferring any unique ROM or firmware memory from the original. Modern drives often have drive-specific firmware on the PCB, so we clone that to the replacement board. After board swap we attempt to spin up and image the drive.

• Bad Sectors on HDD: We frequently recover data from drives that develop bad sectors. Using professional imaging hardware, we read each sector multiple times and remap bad blocks on the fly. This can salvage data from drives that the OS has stopped using. We then reconstruct files from the healthy blocks.

• Overheating Damage: Continuous overheating can degrade components (especially SSD controllers). We check for burnt chips or solder joints on the board, replace any heat‑stressed parts, and rebuild the drive’s logic. We also improve cooling and advise on vent cleaning or fan replacement in the Mac itself.

• Power Surge / Electrical Damage: If a lightning strike or charger surge hits your Mac, it can fry the drive or logic board. We inspect traces and components under the microscope, replace any fried power controllers, and test the drive separately. Often only the drive’s electronics are damaged, so removing the drive and recovering it externally yields the files.

• SSD Controller Chip Failure: When an SSD’s controller (the chip that manages flash) dies, the drive often isn’t recognized. In these cases we perform chip-off recovery: we carefully desolder the NAND flash memory chips and read them with specialized flash readers. A quote from a recovery case: “We used chip-off NAND recovery techniques to access raw storage” then “rebuilt the APFS file system from the extracted NAND data”. In other words, we emulate the drive’s controller in software to stitch the flash contents back into your files.

• NAND Flash Wear/Degradation: SSDs can wear out (each flash block has limited write cycles). When many flash cells fail, the controller may misbehave. We try multiple read passes and error-correction tools to pull data out of the remaining good cells. If necessary, we chip-off the flash and use off-board tools that can access weak memory cells more gently than the original controller.

• SSD Firmware Corruption: Sometimes the SSD’s onboard firmware (translator or microcode) gets corrupted, leaving the drive inert. We use professional firmware recovery tools to reload or repair the SSD’s firmware. This can bring the controller back to life long enough to image the flash.

• macOS File System (APFS/HFS+) Corruption: Mac volumes can become corrupted by crashes or improper dismounts. We run Apple’s fsck and third-party repair utilities to fix directory and metadata errors. If automatic tools fail, we manually analyze the file system structures and reconstruct lost directories. For example, we can repair or rebuild an APFS container to recover a missing startup volume.

• APFS Container Damage: In APFS (used since High Sierra), the container can get corrupted (invalid superblock, snapshot issues). We use low-level APFS tools to scan for valid volume structures and restore access to data. Our process is similar to the Oxford case above: chip-off followed by APFS rebuild allowed 98% data recovery success. We apply those same concepts when a MacBook’s SSD is recognised but its APFS volumes are unreadable.

• Partition Table Loss: If a drive is accidentally repartitioned or its partition map is erased, none of the volumes mount. We scan for known file signatures (APFS, HFS+, FAT, etc.) to locate where data used to be. Then we reconstruct the partition map so your previous data partitions become visible again.

• Accidental File Deletion: Deleting a file in macOS typically just removes its directory reference – until TRIM kicks in on SSDs. Important: most modern MacBooks have TRIM enabled by default, which means deleted files are immediately purged. As Data Clinic notes, with TRIM on “deleted data is overwritten almost immediately… remov[ing] any chance of the deleted data being recovered”. If TRIM was disabled (some older Macs or special cases), we can scan the drive for deleted file remnants and reconstruct them. Otherwise, we emphasize regular backups since truly deleted files on a TRIM-enabled SSD are usually unrecoverable.

• Accidental Formatting / Re-initialisation: If a volume is reformatted (even partially) the file structures change. We can often recover the old data by raw scanning. If you’ve reinstalled macOS by mistake, we power off immediately and image the drive – we may still recover documents from the old filesystem. We have specialized carving tools that can find common file types (photos, documents, etc.) even if the partition was erased.

• FileVault Encryption: FileVault encrypts a Mac volume. To recover data we need the user’s password or recovery key. If we have the credentials, we unlock the volume and extract your files as normal. Without them, the data remains encrypted. (Note: FileVault on a dead drive is mathematically secure; no recovery company can bypass it without the key.)

• T2 Security Chip Failures: Intel Macs from 2018–2020 use Apple’s T2 chip for encryption. When the T2 fails or its firmware corrupts, the Mac won’t boot and the SSD’s keys are locked. In some cases we can repair this by reflashing the T2 firmware using Apple’s proprietary tools. For example, one data recovery lab describes using Apple Configurator in DFU mode to perform a “firmware revive” on the T2 chip. If successful, the Mac boots and the data unlocks. However, if the T2 chip itself is damaged beyond repair, the data on the SSD cannot be accessed due to hardware encryption.

• Apple Silicon (M1/M2) Storage Failure: Newer Macs (2020+) have the storage soldered to the logic board. If such a drive fails, we approach it like any other flash chip: we chip-off the flash and read it externally. The challenge is encryption – Apple Silicon stores keys on the same chips. We use advanced techniques to try and preserve the key data during chip-off. Without the encryption keys, data loss is likely, but we attempt every board-level recovery option available.

• Boot Failure (Flashing Question Mark): If a MacBook shows a folder/question mark icon, it can’t find the startup disk. This could be due to a failed drive or a corrupted OS. We remove the drive and connect it to a working Mac. If the drive is intact but the OS corrupted, we copy the data off it and reinstall macOS on another disk. If the drive itself is failing, we image it in our lab first.

• Mac Doesn’t Power On (Dead Mac): Sometimes the Mac’s logic board is the culprit and the drive is fine. We can often remove the internal SSD or HDD and recover it outside the machine. For Apple Silicon Macs with no removable drive, we consider board repair or replacement of the faulting power components and then attempt boot.

• Drive Not Recognized by System: If the Mac or BIOS/EFI doesn’t see the drive at all, we test the drive on other controllers. For example, we might connect a MacBook SSD to a USB adapter or a desktop SATA/NVMe port. If needed, we open the drive (for an HDD) or the Mac (for a soldered SSD) and replace connectors or interface chips. In some cases of SSDs, the firmware simply isn’t responding; then we use chip-off methods.

• Fusion Drive or RAID Failures: Some iMacs and older Mac setups use Apple Fusion Drives (HDD+SSD) or software RAID. When these fail, we split the array: recover from the SSD and HDD portions separately, then reassemble the data. We have tools to re-create AppleRAID and APFS Fusion volumes from the recovered pieces.

• macOS Update/Data Migration Errors: If an update or migration fails and data seems lost, it’s often because the system volume was erased. We connect the drive externally and retrieve data directly from it, then re-create a new system volume. User data (home folders) is usually intact and recoverable.

• File Corruption: Sometimes files themselves are partially damaged. We attempt to repair common formats (Photoshop, Office, video) after recovery using specialized software. For critical business documents, we often recover damaged versions and try to reconstruct them.

• FileVault Password Lost: If a FileVault key or password is forgotten and no recovery key exists, the data is effectively unrecoverable. We inform customers of this risk. (As the saying goes: “Back up before encrypting.”)

• EFI/NVRAM/SMC Issues: Rarely, a Mac’s firmware settings get confused. We can reset NVRAM/PRAM or SMC, but this typically doesn’t affect on-disk data. If the disk was using a non-bootable format, we advise reformatting with APFS or HFS+ as needed.

• External Enclosure or Cable Fault: If an external Mac hard drive or SSD enclosure fails, we simply remove the drive and recover it directly. Common issues here are failed USB-to-SATA bridges or broken FireWire/Thunderbolt ports. Once inside our lab, we image the drive with the interface bypassed.

• Overwritten Data: If data has been overwritten by new files, recovery is unfortunately impossible. We always recommend regular backups to avoid this scenario. We will check for any untouched fragments, but in practice true overwrites cannot be undone.

• Miscellaneous/Evolving Issues: We encounter unique cases (e.g. firmware bugs, new encryption schemes). Our long experience lets us adapt – whether it’s repairing a new T2 variant, decrypting an unexpected format, or recovering from an emerging Mac hardware failure.

Each case starts with a free diagnostics evaluation at our Hull lab. We thoroughly analyse the failed Mac or drive to identify the cause and give you an accurate recovery plan and quote. Our turnaround times are fast thanks to 25 years of refinement, and we keep pricing competitive. Whatever your Mac issue, trust Hull Data Recovery’s friendly experts to retrieve your data safely and securely.

Why Hull Data Recovery? With 25 years’ experience and thousands of successful recoveries, we are Hull’s leading Mac data recovery specialists. We use certified cleanroom procedures for hardware repairs, and advanced chip-level techniques for SSDs and soldered storage. Our services cover all MacBook and desktop models, all macOS versions, and every storage type. We offer free diagnostics in Hull and nationwide mail-in service. Contact Hull Data Recovery today for a no-obligation evaluation – our expertise and prices are hard to beat for Mac and Apple data recovery in the UK.