MacBook Pro 2019 16” logic board failure. Is data recovery possible for this?

Currently your two options are to either have Drive Savers attempt to recovery the data for you. Our organization has used Driver Savers several times many years ago. We were satisfied with Drive Savers (sometimes they could not recover data and we were not charged). We have not had any recent experience with Drive Savers since our organizations implements much a much better backup policy these days. Drive Saves is one of the best and most respected data recovery specialists around and I've even heard other professional data recovery services will even send stuff to them at times.

The second option is to find someone who repairs Apple Logic Boards and hope they are able to get the Logic Board functional enough to allow the T2 chip, SSD, and USB-C ports to operate. This won't be cheap either and some people who claim they can repair Apple Logic Boards really don't know what they are doing as I've seen one well respected repair center in NYC (basically the only one with nearly 5 star reviews) show YouTube videos repairing other repair shops' mistakes since those other shops don't know how to read schematics. Plus there are some parts on a Mac Logic Board that cannot be purchased so if any of these components are damaged, then no repair will be possible (blame Apple for blocking the sale of these parts to independent repair shops).

If you have data that was not backed up, then I suggest in the future that you have the backups performed more frequently. You may also want to save another copy of any critical files to external media as well so you have more than a single copy of the file(s). Keep in mind this can be dangerous as well since if you overwrite the copy on the external media you may end up corrupting the old version if the new version is not properly saved. Yes, I'm paranoid about my very important critical files.

abhijit49 wrote:

Your earlier answer said “I guess it may be possible if you were in a lab and had the tools to access a soldered drive and it was not the drive that was fried. “

This is now inconsistent with what you are tell me so I am the one who is missing the point.

My discussion post is *only* for folks who have had this issue with a MacBook Pro 16” logic board. If you don’t own one or never owned one, no point wasting your time on my thread

The post by BobTheFisherman above is on point:

[My "real" experience is that data is not lost if you maintain a backup.]

Computers with a T2 chip—including your 2019 16" MBP

Since 2018+ MBP with a T2 chip not likely to have the data recovered since it must be able to use the DFU restore mode where Apple or a AASP must use a special service utility to read the data from the SSD...

This requires a functioning Logic board—T2 security chip the Logic Board must be repaired at the board level in order to allow the T2 security chip to communicate with the SSD in an effort to decrypt the data on the SSD

Apple does not do board repairs. There are but a few shops doing board level repairs..

NYC shop does lots of board level repairs:

https://www.rossmanngroup.com/

Possible:

https://drivesaversdatarecovery.com

I haven’t used DriveSavers, but apparently they have an agreement with Apple that whenever they work on internal drives in their cleanroom, that work doesn’t void your Mac’s warranty.

For most services listed, there is no charge if they cannot recover the data, so that’s good. My only concern is if they treat recovering encrypted data without the keys as success, when such should actually be considered failure (since that data is inaccessible without the keys). In other words, they may successfully recover the encrypted data, but what good is that data if the T2 chip refuses to use its keys? Ideally, DriveSavers should verify that the T2 chip still unlocks the recovered data so that it is useful to you.

The real question at stake here boils down to three parts:

1. What data did you store on your Mac? How valuable is that data?
2. Of the data stored on your Mac, how much of it was also stored elsewhere (such as in iCloud)?
3. The most important question: How valuable is just the remaining data that was ONLY stored on your Mac?

If the data in Q3 is worth more than the fees charged, you should try DriveSavers.

Best of luck in recovering your data.

abhijit49 Said:

"MacBook Pro 2019 16” logic board failure. Is data recovery possible for this?”

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Based in Personal Experience:

To recover this may cost $500-$1500 USD. So, look into data recovery, rather than just blow it off. (it’s you call). Contact a retailer or an AASP. Ask them what they offer.

Protection Plan:

Getting an external hard drive from a Retailer, you’d likely be offered a protection plan of sorts for data recover. ($14.99 or so). So, if you were to back up a Mac again, get an external hard drive and see if you can get a protection plan of sorts with it for data recovery. It would save you lots, that’s for certain, should it fail.

If a logic board is fried, there is no way to retrieve data that was on the drive or in RAM. I guess it may be possible if you were in a lab and had the tools to access a soldered drive and it was not the drive that was fried. Very expensive and not a reliable way to try to retrieve data. Incremental backups are the way to preserve your data and to ensure data access in the event of a hardware failure.

abhijit49 wrote:

Your earlier answer said “I guess it may be possible if you were in a lab and had the tools to access a soldered drive and it was not the drive that was fried. “

This is now inconsistent with what you are tell me so I am the one who is missing the point.

My discussion post is *only* for folks who have had this issue with a MacBook Pro 16” logic board. If you don’t own one or never owned one, no point wasting your time on my thread

Sorry I tried to help you. I've only supported or owned thousands of Macs and other computers. Your data is gone, irretrievable. I'm sorry you won't accept this response. If you have access to a forensics lab with specialized and expensive equipment I guess it may be possible to recover some data, but this expensive proposition is not guaranteed or likely.

Hopefully someone will drop in and tell you that your data is recoverable since that is the response you seem to be waiting for.

abhijit49 Said:

"MacBook Pro 2019 16” logic board failure. Is data recovery possible for this?: To the question: Just how old is this MBP? This is a Jan-2020 purchase (and Apple launched this currently (as on date) sold 16” model in Nov-2019)"

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Thank you for clarifying.

Get this Serviced:

So, take this in for service, as the hard drive is soldered in, and is not removable by the consumer.

They told you what went dead, the logic board. Data storage, RAM, charging system, ports, and all other components are integral to the logic board. Components are not independently analysed because they are integrated and not separately serviceable.

I'm sorry but I guess I'm missing your point. The logic board fried. You did not have a current data backup. You now want to retrieve your data from a fried board. That is not possible.

abhijit49 wrote:

Hi All,

Contacted DriveSavers and was given the below quote on the basis of the model (MacBook Pro 16” 2019 launch) and the storage capacity (512 Gb). I have read good reviews online of their service and they also claim to be Apple recommended. The Sales guy seemed quite confident as they had encountered several such cases recently.

But I am hesitant after hearing all the above expert comments.

Is there anyone who has used DriveSaver specifically for this MacBook Pro 16” and tasted success?

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/b529e4dc-da83-4ed2-b8f8-28a1e32523d9

?

I don't get it. You want your data back—because you have no other backups. It is a rarity for anyone who values their User data to have no viable backup plan in place.

Directly from DriveSavers image above—

It clearly states if no success, no charge..(?)

What else are you looking for here? What are your other options I wonder...

abhijit49 Said:

"MacBook Pro 2019 16” logic board failure. Is data recovery possible for this?: [...]For others who have experienced this, were you able to recover the data when you had similar failures? Any pointers from real experiences appreciated instead of generic support article links"

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Soldered-in Hard Drives:

Just how old is this MBP? Nowadays (and since 2015 or so), hard drives are soldered onto the LogicBoard. So, the only way to get it off of such a device, is to have Apple or an AASP(Apple Authorized Service Provider) unsolder it.

Recover Through an AASP:

Contact an AASP: 

1. Go Here: Find Locations - Apple Authorized Reseller
2. Click: Service & Support
3. Enter: your location information
4. See: if there is an AASP nearby
5. Contact: an AASP that shows up, and find out more about the services that they offer to fix the iPhone