Apple changed how Mac storage works twice, and each change narrowed what can be recovered after a hardware failure. A removable drive is routine work; a Fusion Drive is two devices rebuilt into one volume; soldered storage on a dead logic board is beyond everyone. We establish which you have before quoting anything.
$ bdr diagnose /dev/disk2 → Device: MacBook Pro (2015) · 512 GB SSD → Status: WILL NOT BOOT — question-mark folder → Client: confidential · Oxford OX2 $ bdr engineer-working → Drive removed: imaged read-only → APFS container: rebuilt from image → FileVault: unlocked with your key $ bdr 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 at the diagnostic, before anything is quoted.
Apple changed how storage works twice, and each change narrowed what is recoverable after a hardware failure.
Modern Mac recovery is as much about file system structure as about hardware.
APFS is not a renamed HFS+. It uses containers holding multiple volumes that share space dynamically, with copy-on-write metadata and checkpoints rather than one static catalogue. Where a container is damaged, the volume is rebuilt from the most recent coherent checkpoint and the file records walked forward — which frequently recovers a volume that Disk Utility declares unreadable.
FileVault is a hard boundary. An encrypted volume can only be recovered with the account password or recovery key — we do not and cannot break it. That applies equally to the hardware encryption on T2 and Apple Silicon machines. If you have the credentials, encryption is no obstacle at all; without them, a perfect image yields nothing readable.
Assessed by storage type rather than by model name.
All generations, with the removable-versus-soldered question settled first.
Including Fusion Drive models, where both devices must come in together.
Including units with multiple internal drives or attached arrays.
HFS+ and APFS volumes on external disks, Time Machine drives and RAID enclosures.
Where the backup drive itself has failed — often the only surviving copy, and worth recovering carefully.
Two prices, set by what the storage is rather than what went wrong.
A Mac with a removable drive is from £300 +VAT. A Fusion Drive is £550 +VAT flat, because two devices are recovered and recombined into the single volume they were always meant to be. Storage soldered to the logic board is not a service we offer, and we will say so at the free diagnostic rather than after a bill.
Most jobs are no fix, no fee; physical drive-level work carries a 50% deposit with the balance due only on success. Full write-ups: a MacBook Air that booted to a black screen, Fusion Drive Recovery: Grinding, and Scored Platters and a MacBook Pro with a soldered SSD, and why we said no. Also: a MacBook the Genius Bar sent to us.
Send the drive in for its free diagnostic with a brief note on the Mac and fault; an engineer evaluates it and confirms the exact quote in writing before any work starts.
Getting your data back starts with getting the drive to us — the removable drive, or both halves of a Fusion Drive. Pack them safely, enclose your contact details, and once we've run the free diagnostic we confirm your exact quote in writing before any work begins.
Posting it? A tracked, insured service is what we’d recommend. Rather drop it in? You’re welcome Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm — just package the device up as above first.
Need a scoped quote first? Describe the Mac and fault on the form and an engineer will assess it and reply with a tailored quote.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 01865 593000.
The questions we’re asked most about recovering data from a Mac.
Where the drive lifts out, yes — it is imaged read-only and the APFS or HFS+ volume rebuilt from the copy. Where the storage is soldered to the logic board and that board has failed, it cannot be recovered by anyone, because the encryption key died with it.
From £300 plus VAT for a Mac with a removable drive, and £550 plus VAT flat for a Fusion Drive, where two devices are recovered as one volume. Soldered storage is not a service we offer.
Because it is two devices — an SSD and a hard disk — presented as a single logical volume. Both must be imaged and the CoreStorage structure rebuilt from the pair, so both need to come in together.
Yes, provided you have the account password or recovery key. FileVault and the hardware encryption on newer Macs can only be undone by the owner — we do not and cannot break it, so without the credentials even a perfect image yields nothing.
Only while the machine still runs. On those models the flash is soldered to the board and encrypted by the security chip, so once the board has failed the data is beyond everyone. We stopped taking these on rather than charge people to discover that.
Yes, and they are worth recovering carefully — a failed Time Machine drive is frequently the only surviving copy of everything. It is treated as a standard external drive recovery.
A free diagnostic, a flat £300 + VAT per Mac, and no fix no fee on most jobs — MacBook, iMac, Mac mini and Mac Pro all recovered, with a straight answer whichever way it goes. Start your recovery today.