Whether your Mac refuses to start, freezes on a question-mark folder, has a dead drive, or has simply lost files, the fix depends on how its storage is built. On any Mac whose drive lifts out, and on Fusion setups, we pull the data off ourselves — APFS, HFS+, FileVault and Fusion volumes are all familiar ground. When the flash is soldered down and out of our reach, we say so plainly, and a recovery we cannot perform is never billed. That’s honest MacBook data recovery — £300 +VAT for a Mac whose drive lifts out, £550 flat for a Fusion Drive, and a straight answer when the storage is soldered beyond reach.
$ bdr diagnose /dev/disk2 → Device: MacBook Pro (2015) · 512 GB SSD → Status: WILL NOT BOOT — question-mark folder → Client: confidential · Guildford GU2 8XH $ bdr engineer-working → Drive removed: imaged read-only → APFS container: rebuilt from image → FileVault: unlocked with your key $ bdr verify → ✓ documents — 31,200 files → ✓ photos — 18,400 files → ✓ Mac recovered — data back
The moment a Mac won’t start, loops on a question-mark folder, or Disk Utility starts offering to erase or repair the drive, pause. Running First Aid, wiping the disk or laying a fresh macOS over the top can bury the very files we’re after. Leave the Mac unreset; on a soldered machine, stop forcing repeated restarts. Shut it down and get in touch — and hang on to your FileVault recovery key if you have one.
From a Mac stuck at boot to a collapsed Fusion Drive, these are the Mac and MacBook problems we see most — startup and file-system trouble, dropped or failed drives, Fusion Drive breakdowns, FileVault volumes and soldered storage. The range below runs from a corrupt directory all the way to storage that has physically failed beneath your data.
Every line is in scope — MacBook, MacBook Air and Pro, iMac, iMac Pro, Mac mini, Mac Studio and Mac Pro, on both Intel and Apple Silicon. What actually sets recoverability isn’t the model but the storage: a drive that lifts out, a Fusion pairing, or flash soldered to the board.
From 2018 on (T2 and Apple Silicon, M1 to M4), the flash sits soldered to the board and locked to the Secure Enclave — with no chip to lift out, we’d rather be honest when it’s beyond reach than promise what can’t be done.
Post or drop the drive in for a free diagnostic with a quick note on the Mac and what went wrong; an engineer looks it over and puts the exact quote in writing before a thing is done.
Give us the model, the year and the story — won’t start, files deleted, a drink spilt — and an engineer diagnoses it and sends back a written quote, generally within 48 hours.
A strictly read-only image is taken on dedicated hardware, so nothing is ever written back to your original and a failing drive isn’t pushed any harder.
When FileVault is active and you hold the password or recovery key, we unlock the volume, then rebuild the APFS, HFS+ or Fusion structure from that image.
Your files and folders come back intact where possible; where the structure is torn, we carve documents, photos and video out of the image by their signatures.
Before anything goes back, we confirm the recovered files genuinely open and the folder tree is complete.
Verified data is handed back on a fresh drive, or by secure download on jobs up to 75GB.
Post your device or drop it in. We diagnose first, then quote — and most jobs are no fix, no fee.
Tell us what happened and we’ll get back to you, usually within a working day.
We’ll be in touch very soon. If it can’t wait, call 01483 901310.
A single flat fee to recover one Mac drive — always after a free diagnostic and a written quote, before any work begins.
A selection of recent Mac and MacBook jobs — boot failures, dead drives, Fusion Drives and liquid damage. Identifying details stripped out; every result verified.
The file system on the drive was failing. We took the SSD out, imaged it read-only and rebuilt the volume to recover the data.
The HDD side of the Fusion Drive had gone. We imaged each half on its own and rebuilt the Fusion volume to bring the data back.
The board was damaged, but the SSD lifted out intact. We removed it, imaged it and recovered the lot.
A head fault had stopped the drive. We fitted donor heads in the clean-air bench, imaged it and recovered the files.
Nothing had yet written over the data. We imaged the drive and carved the erased files straight back out.
The drive itself was healthy and readable. We imaged it and pulled the folders back out of the emptied Trash.
Send the drive in for its free diagnostic with a brief note on the Mac and fault; an engineer evaluates it and confirms the exact quote in writing before any work starts.
Getting your data back starts with getting the drive to us — the removable drive, or both halves of a Fusion Drive. Pack them safely, enclose your contact details, and once we've run the free diagnostic we confirm your exact quote in writing before any work begins.
Posting it? A tracked, insured service is what we’d recommend. Rather drop it in? You’re welcome Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm — just package the device up as above first.
Need a scoped quote first? Describe the Mac and fault on the form and an engineer will assess it and reply with a tailored quote.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 01483 901310.
The questions we’re asked most about recovering data from a Mac.
Usually, yes — where the drive lifts out or it’s a Fusion Drive. A Mac that won’t start is far more often a software or file-system fault than genuinely lost data. We image the drive read-only and rebuild the APFS, HFS+ or Fusion volume to get your files back.
Board-level recovery of soldered T2 or Apple Silicon storage isn’t a service we offer — on Macs from 2018 on, the flash is soldered to the board and locked to the Secure Enclave, so there’s no chip to lift out and read. If the Mac still powers on and you know the password, a logical recovery is sometimes doable; on older Macs the drive comes out and is usually recoverable. Either way we’ll be straight with you, and there’s no charge if we can’t reach it.
Often, yes. A ‘disk not readable’ message usually signals a corrupt APFS or HFS+ file system rather than a dead drive. We image the drive read-only and rebuild the file system, recovering your files from that copy.
Usually recoverable if you move quickly. Emptying the Trash clears the file-system entries, not the underlying data, so stop using the Mac and we can image the drive and reconstruct the deleted files.
A single Mac drive is a flat £300 + VAT; a Fusion Drive — two devices making up one volume — is £550 + VAT flat. Both begin with a free diagnostic and a written quote, and most jobs remain no fix, no fee.
On most jobs, yes. Mechanical or clean-air work takes a 50% deposit with the balance due only on success, so an unrecoverable drive never costs the full fee — and soldered storage we can’t reach isn’t charged at all.
All of them — MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, iMac Pro, Mac mini, Mac Studio and Mac Pro, Intel and Apple Silicon alike. Removable drives and Fusion Drives we recover directly; soldered storage we assess and then tell you honestly what can be done.
Yes, provided you have the password or recovery key. FileVault encrypts the entire volume, so the key is what unlocks it — with it in hand, we image the drive, unlock the volume and rebuild the APFS structure to recover your files.
Stop using it and don’t put it on charge. Where the MacBook has a removable drive, that drive is usually fine even when the board isn’t — we take it out, image it and recover the data. Get it to us as soon as you can, since corrosion only worsens over time.
Most Mac recoveries wrap up inside three to five working days. Failing drives and Fusion Drives that need extra work run a little longer — roughly three to four working days on the mechanical side.
If the drive is removable, take it out and post just the drive to our Guildford address; on a Fusion Drive, send both the SSD and the HDD, clearly labelled. Or drop the Mac in Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, and we’ll take the drive out for you.
A free diagnostic, a flat £300 + VAT per Mac, and no fix no fee on most jobs — MacBook, iMac, Mac mini and Mac Pro all recovered, with a straight answer whichever way it goes. Start your recovery today.