No warning it just won't work and no longer shows up in disk utility. My warranty ran out in July.
Best recommendation? Fix it myself or???
Best recommendation? Fix it myself or???
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2012 MBA SSD failure @ 14months
- Thread starter phr0ze
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Apple have been known to fix things like this if they are only just out of the warranty period...It won't hurt to let them take a look.
BUT....everyone is saying you don't really exist!
Seriously, I'd take it into an Apple store Genius Bar to see what their repair options are, and let them document that this is a problem.
You could twiddle your thumbs and see if Apple eventually lengthens the warranty repairs like they did the Nvidia cards from a few years back.
Or you can do searches on ebay and amazon for 2012 apple MacBook Air ssd's.
Thanks. I made an appointment. I'll try begging.
Ebay SSDs cost more than OWC. And amazon has a limited selection. If apple won't do it, I'll probably get the OWC for 189
Even though I've got a (base) 2013, I'm still keeping abreast of this. My understanding is that it's SSD is completely ahead of the curve technology wise and proprietary. Heaven help us buying a replacement if ours fails out of the warranty period without extended Applecare, and that costs 1/4 of what the machine itself sold for....
Just curious... is yours the 128GB SSD version? There seems to be a huge influx of these croaking here all of a sudden.
I suspect we will be seeing an Apple replacement program if these continue.
Luckily for us 2013 users is so far I've only seen Sandisk & Samsung making the SSDs. Marvell and Samsung make much more reliable controllers than Sandforce which is found in the decrepit 2012 Toshiba SSD.
Another request to share you SSD manufacturer if you had the chance to find it out before it died (or if you can find out during repairs).
Thanks a lot! And sorry about the loss.
Thanks a lot! And sorry about the loss.
Mine is a sandisk. I'm quite relieved to hear that, thanks!
Does anyone else besides Apple use the toshiba ssd's? If so, how are they standing up on the other systems?
I don't know the SSD yet. The disk utility I saw a drive called sandforce with 32KB of total storage..
The Toshiba 128GB SSD uses a Sandforce controller and those have been the ones failing all of a sudden in the last month or so in the 2012 MBAs. Ouch.
Thanks for the update. You may want to search around to see what people have been doing with these failures. A lot of people have had Toshiba drives fail around the 1 year mark as Weaselboy mentioned.
Sorry to hear about it. I will go home and back up mine just in case.
Also worth reminding anyone with this problem - if you bought the MBA with a major credit card there is a good chance that you have an extended warranty. I bought mine with an Amex, which gives an extra year on top of the original warranty. Apple will still charge me for the work, but I can be reimbursed by Amex. If you used a card, check out the company's policy!
What I wonder is whether those with failed drives had FileVault turned on or not. A little google search reveals some that say that the FileVault encryption is especially hard on Toshiba because of their use of the Sandforce controller.
Yup not to mention performance falls off. Sandforce does not like compressed/encrypted files at all. Makes me really question Apple's decision to use this controller when Samsung/Marvell have no problems dealing with filevault.
The SSD sees the encrypted data as already compressed data, like a very large, compressed video file. I doubt that this is the problem.
I'm not sure since its technically the laptop my wife uses.
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No encryption was enabled on the drive. Mostly just web surfing.
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So cost from Apple was $280, no matter the failed part. I got them to waive the charge because it was just sent out for service in June.
I am sure this is not sandforce controller fault. I think the issue is how the controller is getting implemented by Toshiba / how apple is integrating the Toshiba SSD. The same controller is being used with other majors & they are non-faulty. The wrong perception about these sandforce controllers are rapidly changing & this is a quite encouraging as a sandforce fan
He also said I should be able to get apple care if I push. He said if I do have apple care and another major component fails that I would get a new model macbook off the shelf. (This current failure appears to be the second major failure for the macbook)
Assuming you do get AppleCare, I bet part of you then hopes another part fails. Getting a new machine would always be nice. What was the other part that failed previously? I wonder if they give you a new machine if a part fails twice like say the SSD they replaced it with fails as well?
He couldn't tell me what bit they replaced previously but it was either the SSD or the logic board. Also it has gone back for a trackpad repair but he said that doesn't count as major. It takes 3 'major' failures was his words.
I am sure this is not sandforce controller fault. I think the issue is how the controller is getting implemented by Toshiba / how apple is integrating the Toshiba SSD. The same controller is being used with other majors & they are non-faulty. The wrong perception about these sandforce controllers are rapidly changing & this is a quite encouraging as a sandforce fan
This is funny because you just posted your Sandforce defense in another thread where a user reported FOUR Sandforce controlled OWC drives died in one year. Also in that thread (and others) many have reported the same multiple failures with OWC's Sandforce drives. Now we have the 12-14 month old Toshiba/Sandforce drives in 2012 MBAs starting to drop like flies.
So I guess your theory is that there is nothing wrong with Sandforce controllers and neither OWC nor Toshiba know how to properly assemble an SSD.
Not sure what your affinity for Sandforce is all about, but I don't follow your logic at all. The admittedly anecdotal evidence so far points to Sandforce drives having a lot of premature and sudden failures.
