Apple Seemingly Unable to Recover Data From 2018 MacBook Pro With Touch Bar When Logic Board Fails

[oldMacGenius]

Good, I’m all for streamlining Repair Standard Operating Procedures to speed up the repair turnaround times. Not having Geniuses spend an extra hour (or more) completing a task the user knows they should’ve been doing all along only helps everyone else get their computer back faster. Responsible people shoud applaud this decision.

In no way should a users’ inability to research and set up a proper back up solution for *their own* data be the problem of anyone else but themselves. It’s a hard lesson to learn - some never do. But it is 2018. How many years has data backup been preached?

 

[erichui84]

Great move. If the data was so important I wouldn't trust it on the internal SSD only regardless.

 

[sracer]

People love to whine. How hard is it to make backups for ****s sake? Apple has to engineer a port specifically so that your ass can be covered when you’re too lazy to make and maintain a backup when options like time machine exist and are so easy? Come on whiners.

is this the “blame the customer” approach to Apple product ownership?

Forget that it was Apple’s decision to solder everything. Customers should expect LESS when paying a premium, right? Had they paid less, they could’ve bought a notebook where they could upgrade or replace or recover the internal drive should anything go wrong. Well done Apple in convincing customers to side with you rather than with other customers!

 

[Shirasaki]

Guess everyone needs to carry a portable hard drive with TM backup in case logic board fail while traveling.
Sigh.

 

[bladerunner2000]

People love to whine. How hard is it to make backups for ****s sake? Apple has to engineer a port specifically so that your ass can be covered when you’re too lazy to make and maintain a backup when options like time machine exist and are so easy? Come on whiners.

Something tells me you agreed with Steve Jobs when he said 'You're holding it wrong.'

 

[cmaier]

Great move. If the data was so important I wouldn't trust it on only the internal SSD only regardless.

It’s a laptop. Sometimes you’re not near your backup solution while you’re out and about with it or on the road.

 

[RumorConsumer]

If the 3rd gen keyboard also fail and require a replacement, will the SSD be also taken away?

If the SSD fails, after the warranty, we also need to pay high price to replace things that are not broken because they are all soldered together?

Incorrect. Apple offers a flat rate out of warranty price of $330 for 15” laptops that covers any part failure that’s not due to accidental damage/liquid etc. good deal over all. So no matter what fails on your logic board you can get that rate.
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Good, I’m all for streamlining Repair Standard Operating Procedures to speed up the repair turnaround times. Not having Geniuses spend an extra hour (or more) completing a task the user knows they should’ve been doing all along only helps everyone else get their computer back faster. Responsible people shoud applaud this decision.

In no way should a users’ inability to research and set up a proper back up solution for *their own* data be the problem of anyone else but themselves. It’s a hard lesson to learn - some never do. But it is 2018. How many years has data backup been preached?

True my genii brethren.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Did Apple even think this through before they did oh yeah they did

Of course they did. Getting rid of the recovery jack saved 18 cents per unit.

 

[haruhiko]

But a backup is only as good as the last one you made. It's a portable machine, so we can easiky assume that you can easily go 8 to 12 hours without a backup while out and about. Not a bright move, Apple.

Time machine backs up every hour.

 

[ouimetnick]

I find it hard to believe Apple would have done this just for the sake of having the T2 chip and "Hey Siri". I get that a customer's data is not Apple's responsibility, but if there is no recovery option then this is very bad.

I don't. It's all about thinness and trying to appeal to customers with features like "Hey Siri" I'm pretty sure Tim Cook "envisions" everyone using iCloud to keep their data safe, so no need for SSD recovery since you would log into iCloud and restore. I don't agree or like the idea, but it seems most consumers use internet-based applications (Adobe Cloud, Spotify) Apple Music, Photos, Google services).. I prefer to have everything on my computer since I don't like relying on internet connections to access my stuff.

 

[oldMacGenius]

It’s a laptop. Sometimes you’re not near your backup solution while you’re out and about with it or on the road.

True, but there are other backup solutions that come to mind that will keep a backup of your data automatically regardless of location so long as there’s an internet connection. Never put your eggs in one basket.

If a user doesn’t have an internet connection and their external is at home, there’s thumb drives that work great. The reality is hardware dies. This move by Apple ensures that it is clear as day what happens to your data in the event of a failure: catastrophic data loss.

 

[haruhiko]

Of course they did. Getting rid of the recovery jack saved 18 cents per unit.

It's due to the T2 chip I think instead of cost saving.
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True, but there are other backup solutions that come to mind that will keep a backup of your data automatically regardless of location so long as there’s an internet connection. Never put your eggs in one basket.

If a user doesn’t have an internet connection and their external is at home, there’s thumb drives that work great. The reality is hardware dies. This move by Apple ensures that it is clear as day what happens to your data in the event of a failure: catastrophic data loss.

Online full back up of my computer to a third party is still outside of the things that I accept. (Although I have iCloud back up of my phone with Apple)

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

= joke. I was going for a laugh.

 

[oldMacGenius]

Online full back up of my computer to a third party is still outside of the things that I accept. (Although I have iCloud back up of my phone with Apple)

I’d suggest creating a single folder on a cloud service to automatically back up the deltas of what have changed since your last backup. With 2FA and other security options this could be very secure.

Or buy a NAS for your house.

 

[groovyd]

Absolutely hate when people / companies become fanatic about 'security'... everything just becomes a pain in the a**. Let's say as a user you really don't care about it? Doesn't matter you still have to put up with it and all the ever increasing and incremental costs associated with the extremely unlikely benefit of it. It's like putting in place all sort of exhausting and self-defeating obstacle courses in your life for the exceedingly remote chance you win the lottery it might somehow arguably benefit you but probably won't. Shouldn't security be a choice of the user? I'm entirely willing to take those chances.

 

[a.coward]

Time machine backs up every hour.

Not if you're out and about and away from your Time Machine.

 

[haruhiko]

Absolutely hate when people / companies become fanatic about 'security'... everything just becomes a pain in the a**. Let's say as a user you really don't care about it? Doesn't matter you still have to put up with it and all the ever increasing and incremental costs associated with the extremely unlikely benefit of it. It's like putting in place all sort of exhausting and self-defeating obstacle courses in your life for the exceedingly remote chance you win the lottery it might somehow arguably benefit you but probably won't.

A machine is either secure, or insecure. It doesn't become secure or insecure depending on who is using it. So it's better to be secure. In the old days where there was no encryption at all, people still lost data.

I'm not defending for Apple but to be realistic, it's just like walking on thin ice by depending on the internal SSD on a laptop. Just back it up and forget about it.

 

[rpmurray]

If only Time Machine backups wouldn't fail so often or get corrupted requiring starting from scratch. I guess you could always back up to the cloud. I'm sure that Apple will offer a half-assed solution that fails when you need it.

 

[ericinboston]

All I can say is back up your data (and your entire OS if you want). I own (and have owned since 1984) tons of Wintel and Apple machines. I prefer to clone/image the entire drive (which is the OS and the apps...NOT the data) which is usually about 150GB these days. I image my drive every Friday and I keep the last 5 backups before nuking them. Freeware does this entire backup process.

My data, which is ALWAYS stored on a 2nd drive (other than a few things that are buried in the apps like email) is stored on a 2nd drive. I have just under 1TB of music files, iTunes videos, and pictures. I typically back these items up every 1-2 weeks by only backing up what has changed/is new. Once a month or so I back up the entire 1TB of data to 1 or 2 OTHER external USB 3.0 hard drives.

I'm not paranoid. These are simple processes to follow and can be done with Freeware or buy something for $30. The external drives are $100 max each. I've followed these rules for 30+ years and have never been burned.

People should not expect ANYTHING in return from ANY kind of computer failure. Back up your darn data. It's your responsibility and the process is easy. I do, however, understand that 90% of consumers out there have no clue how to back up anything...which still blows my mind.

 

[Glockworkorange]

Time machine backs up every hour.

But I don't imagine most laptop owners leave their notebooks plugged in all day....

I have one truly mobile laptop and I plug it in and allow it to make TM copies every night.

If the majority of people remember to do that (or a similar workflow), they should be fine.

Backblaze or internet backups are a nice solution as well, and relatively cost effective (although recovery can sort of be a pain in the rear end).

Bottom line: cannot rely on Apple to safeguard data.
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If only Time Machine backups wouldn't fail so often or get corrupted requiring starting from scratch. I guess you could always back up to the cloud. I'm sure that Apple will offer a half-assed solution that fails when you need it.

I am knocking on wood here, but in 10 years or so of using TM I've never had an issue such as you describe...

 

[ThunderSkunk]

FYI, chances are when the time comes, your Time Capsule backups won't be available either due to any number of little discrepancies between your old hardware #s and new either.

At this point, a 20 year rare music & film collection sits on a drive with no file system, reduced to listening to my last remaining stack of records on an old Technics turntable.

 

[TMRJIJ]

Ok Apple. Maybe ease off on the Security a little...

 

[BeatCrazy]

Not if you're out and about and away from your Time Machine.

Tether to your iPhone and use a cloud solution like Box/iCloud Drive.

 

[Quu]

Except that Apple has also end-of-lifed time capsule, so things are going to be quite interesting going forward...

Yes they have, but I made no mention of the Time Capsule in my post. I have an Asus router which has the the functionality I mentioned. I also have a Synology NAS which also has Time Machine support.

I do think that Apple should release a standalone Time Capsule that isn't necessarily a Router as-well, perhaps just a WiFi client with a single Ethernet port to connect it to an existing network for the purposes of backing up just to make our lives easier but chances of that happening are slim to nothing.

 

[Glockworkorange]

FYI, chances are when the time comes, your Time Capsule backups won't be available either due to any number of little discrepancies between your old hardware #s and new either.

At this point, a 20 year rare music & film collection sits on a drive with no file system, reduced to listening to my last remaining stack of records on an old Technics turntable.

This is actually a really good point. Restoring from backup to a new machine can be a chore if there are OS discrepancies.