Southampton Data Recovery — MacBook & iMac Data Recovery Specialists (UK)

25 years in business • Advanced lab workflows • Free diagnostics • 48-hour critical service available

If you’re searching for apple macbook data recovery, data recovery from macbook, data recovery macbook, or macbook air data recovery, our engineers handle every generation of MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and iMac—Intel and Apple-silicon alike. We stabilise the device, image the storage with hardware tools (never working on the original), then reconstruct APFS/HFS+ and encrypted volumes (with client-supplied credentials) to return validated data fast.

Top-Selling MacBook / MacBook Air / MacBook Pro Models We Recover

(Representative high-volume models frequently seen in our labs.)

• MacBook Air 13″ (M1, 2020)
• MacBook Air 13″ (M2, 2022)
• MacBook Air 15″ (M2, 2023)
• MacBook Air 13″ (M3, 2024)
• MacBook Air 15″ (M3, 2024)
• MacBook Air 13″ (2017, Intel)
• MacBook Air 13″ (2013–2015, Intel)
• MacBook Pro 14″ (M1 Pro/Max, 2021)
• MacBook Pro 16″ (M1 Pro/Max, 2021)
• MacBook Pro 14″ (M2 Pro/Max, 2023)
• MacBook Pro 16″ (M2 Pro/Max, 2023)
• MacBook Pro 14″ (M3/M3 Pro/Max, 2023–2024)
• MacBook Pro 16″ (M3 Pro/Max, 2023–2024)
• MacBook Pro 13″ (M2, 2022)
• MacBook Pro 13″ (M1, 2020)
• MacBook Pro 13″ Retina (2012–2015, Intel)
• MacBook Pro 15″ Retina (2012–2015, Intel)
• MacBook Pro 13″/15″ Touch Bar (2016–2019, Intel)
• MacBook Pro 16″ (2019, Intel)
• MacBook 12″ Retina (2015–2017, Intel)
• MacBook Pro 17″ (2011, Intel; legacy)
• iMac 27″ Retina 5K (2014–2020, Fusion/SSD/SATA)
• iMac 24″ (M1, 2021)
• iMac 21.5″ (2012–2019, Fusion/SSD/SATA)
• iMac Pro (2017–2019, NVMe)
• Mac mini (2014–2023, SATA/NVMe/Apple-silicon)
• Mac Studio (2022–2024, NVMe modules)
• Mac Pro (2013 “trashcan”, 2019 tower, PCIe/NVMe)
• Legacy MacBook White/Aluminum Unibody (2008–2012, SATA)

(We also service less common variants; if it’s a Mac, we can recover it.)

macOS Versions We Support (All Generations)

Classic: Mac OS 9.x (legacy).
Mac OS X / OS X: 10.0 Cheetah, 10.1 Puma, 10.2 Jaguar, 10.3 Panther, 10.4 Tiger, 10.5 Leopard, 10.6 Snow Leopard, 10.7 Lion, 10.8 Mountain Lion, 10.9 Mavericks, 10.10 Yosemite, 10.11 El Capitan.
macOS: 10.12 Sierra, 10.13 High Sierra, 10.14 Mojave, 10.15 Catalina, 11 Big Sur, 12 Monterey, 13 Ventura, 14 Sonoma, 15 Sequoia.

Interfaces & Storage Types We Recover

SATA (I/II/III) • PATA/IDE (legacy) • NVMe over PCIe (Gen3/4/5) • AHCI over PCIe • M.2 (B/M/B+M) • Apple proprietary NVMe/AHCI blades • U.2 (SFF-8639) • mSATA • eSATA • SAS/SCSI (legacy) • USB-attached bridges (UASP/BOT) • Fusion Drives (SSD + HDD pair) • T2/Apple-silicon soldered NVMe modules • External Thunderbolt/USB-C NVMe/SATA enclosures.

Our Professional Mac Workflow (Intel, T2 & Apple-Silicon)

1. Write-blocked diagnostics: Identify physical/electronic vs logical fault; read SMART/NVMe SMART/telemetry; on T2/Apple-silicon confirm encryption state and key availability.
2. Stabilisation & Imaging First: Hardware imagers (PC-3000, DeepSpar, NVMe tools) with head-by-head/channel-by-channel control, adaptive timeouts, ECC-aware re-reads, thermal management.
3. Electronics/Firmware Work: ROM transfers, SA module patching (HDD), translator rebuilds, NVMe safe/tech mode initialisation; Apple T2/SEP handling with user-supplied credentials.
4. Logical Rebuilds: APFS/HFS+ (plus exFAT, FAT32, NTFS if Boot Camp). Rebuild object maps, B-trees/catalogs, journals, snapshots; decrypt BitLocker/FileVault volumes with provided keys.
5. Validation & Reporting: Hashes, spot-open testing, counts/sizes audit; clear report of any unrecoverable items.

We’re specialists in two-disk Fusion Drive data recovery (SSD cache + HDD data member), including cases where one member is missing or failing.

Top 30 MacBook & iMac Drive/SSD/Fusion Faults — What We Do

Each item includes a summary and the lab method (software/electronic/mechanical) we use to recover your data.

1. APFS container won’t mount / “com.apple.DiskManagement.disenter error”
   Resolution: Image first; parse NXSB, object map and checkpoint; rebuild volumes, reconcile snapshots; targeted carve for files missing metadata.
2. macOS shows “Folder with Question Mark”
   Resolution: Confirm device enumeration; if absent, stabilise electronics/firmware; clone; rebuild EFI/boot records and APFS container on the image.
3. FileVault-encrypted APFS not unlocking
   Resolution: Acquire full image; with user passcode/Recovery Key, derive keys; decrypt to secondary image; repair object map and volume superblocks.
4. Fusion Drive broken pair (one disk missing)
   Resolution: Clone both members if present; reconstruct CoreStorage/APFS Fusion mapping (block map/L2 cache metadata); rebuild logical volume; if one device missing, emulate via metadata to salvage maximum extents.
5. Fusion SSD ok, HDD failing (bad sectors)
   Resolution: Prioritised imaging of HDD hot extents; ECC-aware multi-pass; rebuild Fusion map; fill gaps with carve; validate catalog.
6. Dropped MacBook HDD clicking
   Resolution: Head-map assessment; donor head-stack (matched micro-jogs/adaptives); short-stroke, head-select imaging; HFS+/APFS rebuild.
7. HDD spins but not detected (translator/SA damage)
   Resolution: Vendor commands to access SA; module patch/rollback; regenerate translator; controlled imaging; logical repair.
8. HDD stiction (beeping)
   Resolution: De-stiction procedure; slider inspection; donor heads if worn; limited-range imaging to avoid re-adhesion; B-tree/catalog repair.
9. Seized spindle / motor failure (iMac HDD)
   Resolution: Platter migration to matched HDA, alignment verification, donor heads; staged imaging; reconstruct FS structures.
10. PCB surge/TVS blown (HDD)
    Resolution: Donor PCB + ROM transplant; rail validation; image; repair container/FS.
11. NVMe not in Startup Options (Apple-silicon)
    Resolution: Check link/namespace; safe-mode initialisation; NVMe imaging with queue/thermal controls; repair APFS container.
12. NVMe throttling/thermal stalls
    Resolution: Thermal management, queue-depth throttling, staged imaging; prioritise APFS metadata regions; rebuild volume.
13. Unsafe shutdown → APFS journal corruption
    Resolution: Rebuild checkpoint; reconcile transaction records; fix object map inconsistencies; carve orphaned extents.
14. HFS+ catalog/file record damage
    Resolution: Catalog/Extents B-tree rebuild; journal replay; orphan re-link; carve missing forks; migrate to APFS on request (on clone).
15. SATA cable fault (2012–2015 MBP)
    Resolution: Bypass with known-good harness for imaging; repair FS on clone; replace cable if requested (separate service).
16. T2 BridgeOS update failure (boot loop)
    Resolution: Image internal storage externally; on decrypted clone (with credentials), rebuild APFS; salvage user data; re-provision device separately.
17. Time Machine sparsebundle corruption
    Resolution: On the clone, repair sparsebundle bands + plist; extract intact backups; recover source files by reconstructing snapshot metadata.
18. External Thunderbolt/USB-C enclosure failure
    Resolution: Bypass bridge; attach NVMe/SATA natively; image; rebuild APFS; if enclosure firmware altered metadata, fix GPT/NS records.
19. BitLocker on Boot Camp partition
    Resolution: Image full disk; decrypt with user key to shadow image; rebuild NTFS; carve where MFT entries are partial.
20. Ransomware on external Mac volume
    Resolution: Offline image; strain identification; apply decryptor if keys exist; carve pre-encrypt remnants; reconstruct APFS/HFS+ catalogs.
21. Overwritten after reinstall
    Resolution: Differential analysis of old/new FS; recover prior APFS volume snapshots if present; carve remaining extents with file-type validators.
22. Partition map wiped (GPT header loss)
    Resolution: Recreate from backup GPT and FS headers; align to correct block size; validate volumes; mount on clone.
23. SSD controller panic / namespace errors
    Resolution: Enter tech/safe mode; reload modules; repair namespace; NVMe imaging; fix APFS.
24. SSD wear/retention loss (high TBW)
    Resolution: Read-retry/threshold tuning; per-channel imaging; LDPC/BCH ECC decode; assemble logical image; rebuild FS.
25. CoreStorage legacy LVG corruption (pre-APFS)
    Resolution: Rebuild LVG/LV metadata and mapping; reattach logical volume; carve for missing blocks; migrate to APFS if required.
26. ExFAT camera/import disk corruption on Mac
    Resolution: Reconcile exFAT bitmap and allocation tables; repair boot region; carve MP4/RAW with container-aware validators.
27. Kernel panics with I/O errors
    Resolution: Hardware imaging to isolate failing LBA ranges; rebuild container/FS from good regions; validate user libraries.
28. Unmountable external drive after eject
    Resolution: Clone with adaptive timeouts; repair APFS transaction state; rebuild directory trees; recover recent writes from journals.
29. Encrypted drive, password forgotten
    Resolution: Image for preservation; without valid credentials/keys, decryption isn’t feasible (we’ll advise lawful recovery options). If credentials later provided, decrypt clone and continue.
30. Counterfeit/relabeled SSD in third-party enclosure
    Resolution: Determine real capacity by pattern testing; image valid span; rebuild APFS/HFS+ truncated to genuine size; provide authenticity report.

How We Recover (Methods & Tooling)

• Firmware & Electronics Repair: ROM transfers, SA module edits, translator rebuilds (HDD); NVMe safe/tech mode, namespace repair, power-rail and oscillator checks, donor PCB/component swaps.
• Mechanical Interventions (HDD): Head-stack replacements, platter alignment/motor swaps where appropriate, de-stiction, debris mitigation; then head-select/short-stroke imaging to maximise yield.
• Logical/Data Recovery: APFS/HFS+ (plus exFAT/FAT32/NTFS/EXT/XFS/ReFS). We rebuild object maps/B-trees/catalogs, replay journals, reconcile snapshots, and carve fragmented media (Photos/ProRes/Office/CAD/VMs/mail).
• Verification & Delivery: Cryptographic hashes, sample-open checks of critical files, directory/size audits, and a clear technical report of any unrecoverable items.

Packaging & Intake (Simple but Important)

Please place the Mac or storage device in a padded envelope or small box with your contact details and fault description. You may post it to us or drop it in person at reception (Mon–Fri, office hours). We’ll perform free diagnostics and confirm options before any work begins.

Why Choose Southampton Data Recovery?

• 25 years in professional Apple recoveries with thousands of successful cases.
• Multi-vendor & multi-generation expertise (Intel, T2, Apple-silicon; SATA/NVMe/Fusion).
• Advanced tools & deep parts inventory (hardware imagers, NVMe interposers, donor PCBs/head-stacks).
• Forensically sound workflow (image first, fix on the clone).
• Critical service available — typical turnaround ~48 hours for urgent cases.

We are specialists in Mac Fusion two-disk data recovery.
Contact Southampton Data Recovery today for free diagnostics.
(Reading & Maidenhead clients welcome — same expert process, same standards.)