The type of Mac you have determines what kind of recovery will be needed; this is because Apple has redesigned their storage system three times. Spinning-drive iMacs can fail just like every other hard drive. The Fusion-era versions created one volume from two separate devices. There were two eras and therefore two different jobs: both of these are our responsibilities at a fixed cost determined upfront. In plain terms: we do not fix or recover storage that is soldered onto a motherboard, which is specialist work. We'll tell you right now whether or not your Mac falls within an area where we do not operate, rather than experiment on your logic board.
Older iMacs & MacBooks contain traditional hard drives and therefore can fail in traditional ways: failure due to clicking heads, dead boards, worn-out firmware etc. Recovery of these units typically involves mechanical work and a DeepSpar image of the failed unit's data. As for the physics involved, there is nothing unique to Apple about how a failing hard drive works. The Fusion Drive era creates a bit of a problem: during the fusion process, macOS merges a hard drive with a small SSD into one single logical volume. When either component of this merged volume fails, the entire logical volume becomes unavailable. Therefore, recovery requires creating images of each component separately and then recombining those components together in software prior to displaying even a single file.
When a Fusion iMac displays the "question mark" folder that flashes repeatedly on the screen after boot-up, the merger between the two components of the logical volume has failed. While generic tools may partially repair a portion of the damaged areas within the logical volume, most will ultimately cause complete failure once used on a Fusion iMac.
With the T2 chip and later (most MacBooks and all Apple Silicon computers), there's nothing removable when it comes to their hard drive: they've got flash soldered onto the logic board and are hardware-encrypted by default. Therefore, recovering your information from these boards requires real expertise and is something we don't do. We'd much rather let you know this right off the bat instead of taking up a whole week with you.
We'll take on your Mac: if your Mac has removable media (i.e., spinning-drive iMac, SATA or blade SSD MacBooks), then the cost will be a flat £300 + VAT. Additionally, for Fusion Drives (where macOS merged a hard disk and an SSD into one volume), in order to restore/recover both disks we charge a flat rate of £550 + VAT. If you would like us to determine whether your Mac falls under this category, please let us perform our complimentary diagnostic. This diagnostic will inform you as to whether your Mac has removable media or not. There is no fee for this regardless of what it shows.
There are many reasons why a user may experience a "Mac emergency". However, plenty do not relate to a faulty piece of hardware at all. A good example of this is an APFS container that does not mount, or a "disk not readable" message displayed after updating or having shut down your computer at the wrong time. Another is when you attempt to access a volume but Disk Utility only allows you to format the disk. APFS is designed with elegance and ruthlessness. It uses snapshot technology and copy-on-write technology. So while the files themselves are usually still available, running First Aid multiple times can cause additional problems. In this situation, we create an image of the entire APFS container and rebuild the file system from that image without losing any of your data for a second time.
If you simply send in a single removable drive (an internal, an external or a laptop/desktop), whatever the fault turns out to be, then this will cost a fixed price of £300 + VAT. If, however, your computer has a Fusion Drive (i.e., it has two devices but they present as a single logical volume), then the cost is a fixed price of £550 + VAT. We do not perform any work for computers whose storage cannot be removed because it is soldered to the motherboard; the diagnostic tool used to identify faults will tell you this immediately. All jobs begin with a complimentary diagnostic process and end at precisely the price quoted: prior to recovering any data, we will provide you with a written quote that represents the amount of money we need to recover your data. On most jobs, there is nothing to pay unless your data comes back. There is no hourly charge, nor is there an "evaluation" fee or anything added to the price based upon the value of the recovered files.
That folder indicates that the Mac cannot find a bootable operating system. This may be due to a failure of the drive containing the OS, a broken Fusion Drive pair, or damaged APFS structures. Stop restarting it: on mechanical or Fusion Drives, each time you restart the Mac you are stressing the failing half further. Therefore, turn off the Mac and remove the hard drive (or both drives if you have a Fusion). Once you have received your quote for the recovery work, then send in the drive(s); the free diagnostic will inform you which type of failure you are experiencing.
For us, yes; we do not offer recovery of soldered storage at the board level and would prefer to be truthful about this than test on your logic board. We will tell you what you really have with a free diagnosis. If the storage can be removed or is a Fusion pair (both at the flat prices above), then that is exactly our work.
We can recover your data using the exact same login credentials that you use to unlock your Mac, exactly as Apple designed. There is no way for us to decrypt your FileVault encrypted files without knowing your login information (password and/or recovery key). Anyone who tells you that there is a method to decrypt the FileVault encryption without the proper login information is likely trying to sell you something. Bring the login details you have and we’ll be straight about the rest.
Yes. Because a Time Machine backup is simply a drive formatted with a specific directory structure, when it fails (which happens, as with any drive), it fails in the same way. There is a wrinkle here: Time Machine backs up only up until the last time it successfully completed a backup. That may be farther back than you'd like. Between recovering the Time Machine backup drive and recovering your Mac, we usually get the archive back home.
Before posting or dropping off your item please obtain a quote using either the form on this site or by calling us. There are then two genuine options. No vans will be used. To hand over your item, go to Tay House, 300 Bath Street (only two minutes from the M8) at Charing Cross, Monday to Friday, 9am–5:30pm. We do not require appointments. Or wrap your item securely and send it to us by insured, tracked post from Paisley, Ayrshire, the Highlands or anywhere else in the UK. Either way, the work is done in-house by our own engineers, with a documented chain of custody, and your data never leaves the UK.
We receive Macs from all over Scotland (and the UK wide) for our data recovery UK service. They go via postal services (insured and trackable) using the same conditions as our counter: we diagnose it free, give you a written price before starting work on your job and don't charge for most jobs unless it works.
Here's one thing to keep in mind: we work on the drive(s), not the Mac. Remove the drive before shipping, or take the Mac to any local computer shop if you'd rather not. Most shops will extract the drive for you within minutes. When sending in a Fusion machine, please ship both drives together; they are essentially one volume in two physical bodies. Leave the Mac at home.
What does the flashing question mark folder mean? What did come back off the drive? Find out by reading this article →
Whether it's a 2012 iMac or a Fusion Drive iMac that doesn't boot, we follow the same path to begin with: shut down, remove the drive, free diagnostic. Mac data recovery in Glasgow: once you receive a quote, choose Charing Cross drop-off or insured postage; three eras, one straight answer.