MacBook with soldered SSD: why data recovery goes through the logic board
“Just take the drive out”: on a MacBook M1, M2, M3 or M4, nobody can. Here is what we do instead.
On recent MacBooks the storage isn't a drive but memory chips soldered to the logic board, encrypted with a unique key locked inside the Mac's chip. Even desoldered, those chips are unreadable elsewhere. That isn't a limit of the workshop: it is Apple's design.
What it changes when the Mac fails
If the logic board no longer boots (liquid, drop, power fault) and you have no backup, the only way to reach the files is to repair that board, at least long enough to copy them. At Apple a logic-board exchange erases everything; that is why many customers arrive here after a trip to the store.
How we proceed
Diagnosis under the microscope, component-level repair of whatever blocks the boot (often a power chip or a short), then boot and copy of your data to an external drive, another Mac or your new device. You enter your password yourself. Fixed price: 249 €, not charged if nothing is recovered.
And Time Machine?
It is the best answer to all this. An external drive for a few tens of euros and an automatic backup save the anguish. If you don't have one, iCloud Drive for documents and iCloud Photos for pictures are an honourable safety net.
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