Logic board failure

Ideally the tech should have confirmed whether you had a backup before proceeding with the repair. However, If you know you need the data recovered, then you need to make absolutely sure the tech knows this before proceeding with the repair. An Apple tech is then supposed to assist you in sending the bad Logic Board (or drive) to an approved professional data recovery service to attempt data recovery. The recovery service will return the Logic Board (or drive) to the tech after they are finished so that the tech has the core to return to Apple. The tech actually has to alert Apple that data recovery is needed so that the tech is not penalized for returning the core part late. At least that is how it is supposed to work (and did for us when we had a defective storage device where the regular backup did not capture all the needed files). The tech is correct that it is impossible to get the bad part back now that it has been returned to Apple.

Things get tricky with SSDs. USB-C Macs get even more tricky since the SSDs are integrated into the Logic Board which requires a professional data recovery service to access the chips for the SSD directly (if possible) or in the case of a Mac with T2 security chip (2018+ models) it even requires the recovery service to attempt to "fix" the Logic Board so that they can decrypt the data stored on the SSD, otherwise the data is permanently lost.

Like @leroydouglas mentioned you should always have frequent and regular backups. In fact if the data is extremely important you probably should have more than one copy/backup.

JOReilly1000 wrote:

My Macbook Pro Mojave gave up working last week , i brought it to our local Apple service provider who told me the logic board had failed , i was told it needed to be replaced and that they would try and save any data they could , €795 later i got a completely wiped macbook back , when i requested the old logic board back the next day i was told it was gone back to apple and there was no way of getting it back , surely this is not the case ? i have a provider who reckons he can retrieve some data off it , its very important i get it back

This is not possible.

If you value your user data, do not wait for a catastrophic failure to get the backup religion —this is your responsibility not Apple's.

3-2-1 Backup Strategy: three copies of your data, two different methods, and one offsite.

— How to create a boot clone https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-10081

—Back up your Mac with Time Machine: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201250

—off site backup service

JOReilly1000 wrote:

why can i not get my logic board back ? its mine , it was not under warranty or part of a apple plan , as for a backup system , i had one , but not all info was backed up , i did not blame apple for this , i simply want my property back

"i was told it was gone back to apple and there was no way of getting it back"

Call Customer Support  (800) MY–APPLE (800–692–7753)

JOReilly1000 wrote:

I,am based in Ireland , is that the number from Ireland ?

Outside the USA—Contact Apple for support and service by phone

See a list of Apple phone numbers around the world.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201232