Not, as the post you replied to said, when you are 'out and about'. Well it does back up, but to the same hard drive which is at risk of failure so .. not really a backup.
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Apple Seemingly Unable to Recover Data From 2018 MacBook Pro With Touch Bar When Logic Board Fails
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Every morning, like clock work, I use Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC), using an attached USB 3.1 drive.
And backup my 1TB SSD replacing only changed files, creating a bootable image.
This has saved my booty many a-time, neither due to hardware failure, but due to my VM OS's upgrade failures, while allowing file-level VM replacement en-masse.
Never used TimeMachine. No need. (But does require backup discipline.)
For my use, CCC has proven, time and again, to be the bee's knees.
And backup my 1TB SSD replacing only changed files, creating a bootable image.
This has saved my booty many a-time, neither due to hardware failure, but due to my VM OS's upgrade failures, while allowing file-level VM replacement en-masse.
Never used TimeMachine. No need. (But does require backup discipline.)
For my use, CCC has proven, time and again, to be the bee's knees.
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But if the encryption key is in the T2 processor which is designed to be impenetrable and is now on a logic board which failed then copying the data off the main board doesn't help you at all. Without that particular chip on that particular board working, it's random bytes.
For sure but when the consumer returns home from a day at work it should be a matter of course that a physical Time Machine Backup should be made. After all that is precisely what it is there for.
Far too many times customers have come to me with a failing or failed Hard Drive and no backups have been made. It is the 'it will never happen to me' attitude which is all too common.
There is additional problem that the consumer believes the myth that because it is an Apple product it will be more reliable whereas in reality there is an equal chance of failure.
I don’t mean to persist on this thread, but I’ll give my 2 cents.
If your SSD fails, you lose the data and cannot recover it. I’ve had it happen.
If you accidentally zero out your SSD, you lose the data and cannot recover it.
I agree that having a modular SSD would be more convenient, and would expand your recovery options, but it doesn’t protect you from complete failure.
Somewhere in the corporate offices of Apple there's an executive who is tasked with keeping a list of features that users would be unhappy to see removed from the company's products. Being able to extract the data from a failed MacBook Pro is almost certainly on that list. It's now been checked off, to great rejoicing at Apple Corporate. Oh, and as you might suspect there's also a list of features users hate (i.e. that pointless Touch Bar). Those are to not only to be kept, models that don't have them are slated for removal from production.
Apple's motto is no longer "Think Different." It's "Our Way or the Highway." Apple has begun to gage its success by the anger it generates among its users.
Apple's motto is no longer "Think Different." It's "Our Way or the Highway." Apple has begun to gage its success by the anger it generates among its users.
This series of quotes actually helped me understand the issue, thanks!
I don’t really have an opinion on it.
If the machine breaks and you lose your data because it was encrypted using the onboard chip... wasn’t that the point of encryption?
If the encrypted backups could be hacked using a password, that’s not a very good encryption method.
I totally agree with you. Even if Apple products can be recycled, you would try to extend the of a product as long as you can. It does cost money to recycle so why add more devices/parts into the recycle bin unnecessarily? When you can't replace a specific part that failed and instead having to replace a section, then it is not being green.
As someone who still uses a 2011 15" MacBook Pro as a daily driver, I assure you this is always on my mind.
It is important to have something to backup your important files and maybe we take it for granted with laptops. However, it is not always practical to do backups when we are away from home and there may be no indication of there may be an issue brewing. With this said, Apple should still continue to design the Macs with a capability to recover data from the drive. What would Tim do if he were away from the office and his MB craps out while in the middle working on something?
I would probably be upset if my new 2018 Mac failed and I lost all of my data.
For me personally, that’s happened many times before. So I use the cloud and time machine.
I’ve also lost my photos. I understand the frustration.
That said, there might be a Genius Bar solution not using the removed connector.
Has anyone actually broke the new logic board and brought it in for repair? Or is this based on a tear down photo?
Backup, Backup, Backup.
this should be a repeated mantra for anyone who has data that they rely on. No Data is considered "safe" until there is at least 2 locations with that data that aren't tied to eachother.
And no backup is considered legit until it's properly tested.
The soldered on storage for the new Mac Pro's has been a sticker since day 1 and a mistake that no hardware designer should ever allow to happen. we sort of "accept it" in phones because of the size, but in a "pro" laptop? it's just inexcusable.
Edit: also to people in this thread saying "But on the road!"... yes, you may potentially lose data if you're on the road and can't backup. However, when you're not on the road, do your backups.
it's better to lose a day or two of data than to lose the entirety of it. at least having a 1-2 day old backup is recoverable. Zero backups means zero recovery. it's just hedging your bets
this should be a repeated mantra for anyone who has data that they rely on. No Data is considered "safe" until there is at least 2 locations with that data that aren't tied to eachother.
And no backup is considered legit until it's properly tested.
The soldered on storage for the new Mac Pro's has been a sticker since day 1 and a mistake that no hardware designer should ever allow to happen. we sort of "accept it" in phones because of the size, but in a "pro" laptop? it's just inexcusable.
Edit: also to people in this thread saying "But on the road!"... yes, you may potentially lose data if you're on the road and can't backup. However, when you're not on the road, do your backups.
it's better to lose a day or two of data than to lose the entirety of it. at least having a 1-2 day old backup is recoverable. Zero backups means zero recovery. it's just hedging your bets
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Nobody but yourself is responsible for backups - I learned this the hard way with my Ipad Air. Create a schedule and be done with it. Apple not being able to recover files unintentionally increases security which is a plus in my book.
Yes, there are circumstances where this would be helpful, however, the onus should remain on the consumer concerning their personal information.
Yes, there are circumstances where this would be helpful, however, the onus should remain on the consumer concerning their personal information.
The only way to escape this mess is to have always a security stick with you and synchronize with Sync Folders Pro (best software I've ever bought) or you synchronize your files you created on the road through iCloud – this is a need of this new T2-conception – so Apple should offer a free iCloud account of same space your SSD has for free 
Otherwise this setting (soldered motherboard with T2 controller) is not acceptable...
Otherwise this setting (soldered motherboard with T2 controller) is not acceptable...
Good point. I curious what Apple does with the SSDs it recovers when replacing logic boards, batteries, keyboards, etc.
I am curious about the performance hit, even if negligible in most cases. Do you have any links for performance measurements with and without File Vault enabled?
Have there been any data corruption problems with File Vault recently?
What are the implications for data restoration to a new Mac when File Vault is enabled?
I am interested but haven't used it.
His answer: “I wouldn’t be in this position.”
Because he doesn’t use Macs. Could happen to him on his iPad though.
A port to pull data from a failed logic board. Hmmm... I guess I can't miss what I had no idea existed in the first place!
I would never have thought to rely on Apple to recover data from a machine. But I suppose that I'm old school in my thinking that data and data backups are solely the user's responsibility.
But you are only supposed to need data backups to guard against the eventualities of a dead storage medium or lost machine. Now you also have to worry about other random components dying.
This increases the likelihood of needing a backup.
At the same time, Apple is done selling time capsules, decreasing the likelihood that inherently mobile devices will be backed up on the hour.
And since these are laptops, it is very likely they will be on the road or away from a desk for hours or days.
The data recovery port was a nice feature to mitigate against the risks present in this, but not other, machines, caused by Apple’s Decision to solder the ssd to the main board.
Apple increased the risk of a problem, but also provided a, albeit inconvenient, solution.
Now they have eliminated the solution.
Thanks for the link to DriveDX. I have never used it. Do you know how this compares to other Smart Drive monitoring software?
My question is why are the logic boards failing? My 2016 MacBook pro had a logic board failure after 13 months. One month after my Apple care ran out. I was typing and heard and felt a crack. Then it was black. Dead. They were stumped as to what happened. I was told they have never seen that happen. They gave me no explanation. I have lost faith in Apple.
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I've also had a person telling me in the past that because they are running a raid 1 setup, it is their "backup" solution...
I would also not rely everything on only cloud solutions such as dropbox. I've had first hand experience where I had a shared folders with some of the files being modified by another shared folder user making them to be useless. He had some kind of malware that he was probably unaware of and there was no way of me restoring the files because it was too long ago and also I don't pay for dropbox so I might not have access to the features which are available to the paid users.
There are always going to be trade off and risks for everything. Personally I would worry more about other forms of data loss such as thief or viruses than a failed logic board myself.
I would also not rely everything on only cloud solutions such as dropbox. I've had first hand experience where I had a shared folders with some of the files being modified by another shared folder user making them to be useless. He had some kind of malware that he was probably unaware of and there was no way of me restoring the files because it was too long ago and also I don't pay for dropbox so I might not have access to the features which are available to the paid users.
There are always going to be trade off and risks for everything. Personally I would worry more about other forms of data loss such as thief or viruses than a failed logic board myself.
Whats the fuzz about? No news. No issue. No rumor.
Data and in case dataloss was and will be always a customers responsibility. You can copy your data onto an external drive, you can use time machine, carbon copycloner or even iCloud. If you need to, you can have a backup every minute even. How many times does a logic board fail without you having your important data backed up somewhere and needing to access the internal drive?
Data and in case dataloss was and will be always a customers responsibility. You can copy your data onto an external drive, you can use time machine, carbon copycloner or even iCloud. If you need to, you can have a backup every minute even. How many times does a logic board fail without you having your important data backed up somewhere and needing to access the internal drive?