You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

How to recover data from MacBook Pro SSD

hello everyone, my macbook is completely dead and in our city it can't be repaired, i need data from my ssd, to be backed up, can anyone help me? what do i need? special adapter or what?

thanks


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 12.7

Posted on Nov 14, 2024 1:05 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 15, 2024 9:36 AM

It your laptop is the MBPro 13" (2016 or 2017) non-touchbar model, then there are no enclosures for that SSD. You would need to install that SSD into another laptop with that style of SSD. This SSD has contacts along the long edge.


FYI, the SSD in the MBPro 13" (2016 or 2017) non-touchbar model has an extremely high rate of failure so that could very well be the problem if the laptop powers on but does not boot (gets blinking folder with question mark).


If you have the older model laptops with the contacts along the short edge, then @D.I.Johnson's suggestion for OWC is applicable (search for the Envoy Pro enclosure and make sure to get the correct one for your SSD).


Edit: People should always have frequent and regular backups of their computer and all external media (including the cloud) which contains important & unique data. There are a lot more new ways to permanently lose access to the data stored on the internal SSD of the recent Macs due to all the hardware, software, and security changes.

8 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 15, 2024 9:36 AM in response to febrianto256

It your laptop is the MBPro 13" (2016 or 2017) non-touchbar model, then there are no enclosures for that SSD. You would need to install that SSD into another laptop with that style of SSD. This SSD has contacts along the long edge.


FYI, the SSD in the MBPro 13" (2016 or 2017) non-touchbar model has an extremely high rate of failure so that could very well be the problem if the laptop powers on but does not boot (gets blinking folder with question mark).


If you have the older model laptops with the contacts along the short edge, then @D.I.Johnson's suggestion for OWC is applicable (search for the Envoy Pro enclosure and make sure to get the correct one for your SSD).


Edit: People should always have frequent and regular backups of their computer and all external media (including the cloud) which contains important & unique data. There are a lot more new ways to permanently lose access to the data stored on the internal SSD of the recent Macs due to all the hardware, software, and security changes.

Nov 14, 2024 6:28 AM in response to febrianto256

The only way to recover the data from internal SSD in your failed laptop is to remove the drive and access with another Mac. You can place the SSD in an external drive enclosure or connect to it with a drive adapter cable, but it will have to come out of the laptop.


If your Mac is a newer model with the SSD embedded in the Apple Silicon SOC, then I believe your data may not be retrievable. This may be a learning moment on the importance of making regular backups of your computer data.

Nov 16, 2024 7:29 PM in response to febrianto256

Did your old MacBook Pro display the blinking folder and question mark prior to you removing the SSD?


If so, that is an indication that the OS installed on the drive is somehow damaged or deficient, or that the drive itself is potentially failing. Installing that SSD into another MBP will not solve the problem.

Please see: If your Mac doesn't start up all the way - Apple Support


The remedy for this may be to reformat that internal drive and install a fresh copy of the macOS. This will erase all data that is currently on the drive, if it is still there. Another remedy would be to buy an external drive for the computer, format it and install the macOS onto it and then use that external drive as the startup drive for the computer. With that done then you might be able to access the internal SSD and recover your data. Maybe.


If you have not been making regular backups of your computer files and data, then I'm afraid you may have lost whatever it is you hope to retrieve, my friend. Backups are no good unless you create them before having a problem. Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support



Nov 17, 2024 1:05 PM in response to febrianto256

febrianto256 wrote:

Thank you very much, I will get a mac with the same type and year, is there a way to solve the SSD installation to the new mac motherboard? so that the folder with question mark does not blink).?

If this is indeed the MBPro 13" (2016 or 2017) non-touchbar model, then the folder with blinking question mark is most likely due to a bad SSD. The SSD in that particular model has an extremely high rate of failure. If you need to try to get data off of it, then you can try an Option Boot by holding down the Option key immediately after hearing the startup chime in order to access the Option Boot Apple boot picker menu since that may give the SSD enough time to power on & get into a ready condition. Otherwise, there is nothing you can do with this SSD.


If you have an older non-USB-C laptop, then perhaps the problem is related to the file system or corrupt/missing OS installation as suggested by @D.I. Johnson.

How to recover data from MacBook Pro SSD

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.