A 2008 MacBook Pro, model A1260, with a dead battery and a long-lost charger. The client wanted the data rather than a repair. The drive was extracted and the fault proved to be file system damage caused by a power surge.
← All case files · from £300 + VAT
The client was clear about what they wanted: the data, not a machine repair. That is frequently the right framing on older hardware and it simplifies the job considerably.
On a MacBook of this generation the storage is a standard 2.5-inch SATA drive that lifts out with a screwdriver. The state of the machine around it — dead battery, missing charger, non-functioning display — has no bearing on the data at all.
This is worth stating because it changes with model year. On any Mac from 2018 onward the storage is soldered to the logic board and encrypted by it, and a machine that will not power on is a very different proposition.
The drive itself was mechanically sound. The fault was in the file system, and the damage pattern was consistent with a power surge — an interrupted write leaving the structures describing the volume inconsistent.
That is a logical fault rather than a physical one, which puts it in the least expensive class of work and the one with the best prospects.
The data was recovered. No mechanical work was required and the machine was not repaired, which was exactly what the client asked for.
Older Macs are among the more straightforward recoveries we handle for precisely this reason: the storage is removable and unencrypted by default, so the machine's condition simply does not matter.
Up to roughly 2017 the storage lifts out and the machine's state is irrelevant. From 2018 the flash is soldered and encrypted by the board, and a dead board means no recovery at all.
Batteries, chargers, screens and boards all fail while the storage stays perfectly healthy. Do not write off the data with the laptop.
An interrupted write leaves the file system inconsistent while the disk itself remains sound. That is the cheapest class of recovery there is.