My 2012 Air SSD failed also. Took it into geek squad for the repair. Apple said they wouldn't honor the warranty because it was an open item.
I really wonder how common this is - I had the SSD on my 2012 Mac Air fail about three weeks ago, a month out of warranty. When I went to the Mac store they wouldn't budge about replacing it (which surpirsed me as I've had good luck with them before).
I have a new SSD coming in the mail, and have been booting with an external in the meantime. Still sucks though - most hard drive companies have warranties of three-five years on hard drives. Maybe my next laptop I'll think more seriously about Applecare. I'm used to Macs being more reliable.
I use SuperDuper, but CarbonCopyCloner is similar. Both work well. I have three external HDDs that I rotate for clone copies of the entire boot HDD. One is kept in a fireproof vault. I don't bother with Time Machine since my usage habits don't involve that much change on data/apps.
It is a LOT easier to recover if you have a clone than from a Time Machine backup. The clone boots easily and a lot faster than TM. Also the clone doesn't use up CPU/disk time when you are not making a copy.
I also use SuperDuper on an external HDD but I also let Time Machine run via a Time Capsule on all my Macs.
WhY? Because these backup systems though NOT the same are complimentary. A Clone type back up is a 'snapshot in time'. True it will quickly bring back a lost total SSD or HDD. However, if you are actually working on a project and/or have made any additions or changes to your files....you will have lost whatever you have subsequent to making a SuperDuper or CCC clone. However, with Time Machine you have constant access to your storage files as they were a mere hour (max) prior to your disk failure (or accidental deletion of a needed file).
Kind of OT but also mentioned multiple times in this thread: What's the difference between a Clone of your HD vs. the Time Machine backup capability all Macs have? I've been using the latter because it came with my 2012 Air and didn't know the former existed.
A clone is a single snapshot in time... and is generally made with a cloning program such as Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) or SuperDuper (SD). This is best when you want to make a hardware change (such as changing your HDD/SSD) or something else when you want the computer to be an exact duplicate of its current state.
Time Machine... and most other "true" backup solutions track changes to your drive... so you can "turn back the clock" and recreate your drive... or a subset of your data to a previous point in time.
Some people only use clones, and in my humble opinion... that are leaving a HUGE hole in their backup strategy. In fact, I personally do not consider a clone to be a real backup.
So... while I think that clones are great... and something that I use myself... I think that relying on just clones is a big mistake. Instead, having a clone in addition to a real backup is very solid plan.
Personally, I use:
1) Time Machine/Time Capsule for local (fast) backups
2) Crashplan+ plus for cloud (offsite) disaster recovery backups
3) CCC for cloning my personal media
All three have very different and specific roles. Time Machine is my primary backup... and what I use if I need to restore to a new machine.
Crashplan+ is an offsite, automatic backup, that continually monitors my computer (every 15 minutes)... and backs up changes to the cloud. If my house burned down, or someone stole my computer and backup drive together... I still have 100% of my data saved offsite.
CCC makes a nightly clone of all my personal media to a thunderbolt drive directly (and continuously) attached to my iMac... so that if anything ever happened to my primary computer... I could move clones of my media (Aperture library, iTunes Library, FCPX library, Camcorder Videos, etc) over to my wife's iMac (or my MBA)... and continue working without any interruption while my computer is repaired and/or replaced. Note that this is not really a "true" backup. Since it is cloned every night... If I was to totally screw up a project, but didn't notice it until the next day... there would be no way to "turn back the clock" because my clone would have already been modified. While CCC does maintin some history of what has changed... it is really MUCH too complicated to effectively "turn back the clock" without causing a series of user errors.
CCC is also used to make a clone of my personal media onto a pair of HDDs that are rotated offsite periodically. Generally, I will rotate the pair when I do major work to one of my libraries. This is an extra copy of my media that is under my direct control and stored away from my computer (actually, in my corporate office). Hence... even if all of my other backups failed... I would still have all of my personal irreplaceable media up to a very recent timeframe.
I generally will not delete original data (ex: SD cards from my cameras) until all of my backup programs have completed... and I have manually moved my most recent data to my offsite location.
Hope this helps
/Jim
Has anyone done a hardware test yet?
EXACTLY
Just two days ago my SSD apparently crapped out. I tried using the resets mentioned above (SMC, VRAM, etc.) but in recovery it doesn't see the SSD at all. Thirteen days past warranty!!!!?!?!!?!?!?
I live in Lexington, KY, and I went to the local Apple Store. She pulled off the back to make sure the connection wasn't the problem, pulled the SSD slot and re-inserted it. Nada.
She told me that ordering the SSD would cost like $400 but Apple had a partner or program where a flat fee of $280 will cover all repairs. BUT there is only a 90=day warranty on those components!
I have had multiple PCs, but my wife and I decided last August to each buy a MBA 2012. We bought an iPad in March 2012. We were thinking of buying iPhones next month when the new ones come out.
But now...I feel like all the "blah blah" about Mac reliability is just like other "blah blah" = smart marketing. SHould you have to buy an extra $100 or $200 service plan (AppleCare) for peace of mind? Isn't it better for the consumer for them to spend more on the SSD component and charge the appropriate price, instead of lowballing on cheap crap?
Anyway, admittedly I'm feeling burned since it lasted till exactly one year, just past my warranty, and I am reluctant to spend another $300 that may fail after 3 months...
I'm a very long time lurker here bit just got around to signing up.
My June 2012 13" MBA (128gb Toshiba) also had an SSD failure, right at the 14 month mark. It came suddenly with no prior indication of problems. It booted to the flashing question mark folder. When using internet recovery, disk Utility could not detect any partitions at all and only showed a 32kb Sandforce device. Yes, you read that correctly - that's kb, not mb or gb!
Luckily I had Applecare and they replaced the drive after the genius confirmed it was toast. Everything else checked out fine using their hardware test at the genius bar.
Anyway, admittedly I'm feeling burned since it lasted till exactly one year, just past my warranty, and I am reluctant to spend another $300 that may fail after 3 months...
Greetings to everyone!
I'm joining your team:
MB Air 2012, 11 inches, bought on 14th of September 2012. 128Gb Toshiba SSD's dead.
.....
This is the best SSD for MBP - OWC Mercury 6G - http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC. They are sandforce based & highly reliable! My issues with SSDs have completely vanished off after switching over to this SSD! cheers, sandforce!!