2020 MacBook Air Data Recovery

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Level 1

57 points

2020 MacBook Air Data Recovery

I need to try to recover data from a Retina 2020 MacBook Air which is totally dead - power button does nothing. There is another new in box 2020 M1 MacBook Air that I want to restore the data onto. There is a TM backup on an external drive, but when I try to use Migration Assistant during the setup process, it says it can't be completed, but no reason is given. The TM drive seems to mount fine.

So I need to find a way to get the TM backup to work to migrate the data, or get the data off the soldered on SSD in the dead Retina Air.

Any suggestions? I'm guessing we're looking at sending it to Apple for recovery.

Thanks.

Posted on Jul 23, 2024 5:42 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

djborden Author

Level 1

57 points

Jul 24, 2024 2:15 AM in response to BobTheFisherman

Thanks. I think I got it to work. I entered recovery mode on the new MacBook Air and reinstalled the system. It upgraded it from Big Sur to Sonoma. I believe the old machine was on Big Sur still when the most recent TM back up was made, but Sonoma on the new machine doesn’t seem bothered by that. Now migration assistant seems to be working properly, although it still has five hours to go in the restore. Fingers crossed!

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Answer 2

kaz-k

Level 9

51,102 points

Jul 23, 2024 9:05 PM in response to djborden

Hi,

You can't restore different Macs' TimeMachine back up to other Macs, since it's machine specific.

You'd better contact Apple Support to tell them the circumstance you face with now.

Official Apple Support

Or take your dead MacBook Air to your local retail AppleStore, Genius Bar or Apple Authorized Service Provider to rescue your data from dead MacBook Air.

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

Find Locations

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Answer 3

Jul 23, 2024 9:13 PM in response to djborden

djborden wrote:

I need to try to recover data from a Retina 2020 MacBook Air which is totally dead - power button does nothing. There is another new in box 2020 M1 MacBook Air that I want to restore the data onto. There is a TM backup on an external drive, but when I try to use Migration Assistant during the setup process, it says it can't be completed, but no reason is given. The TM drive seems to mount fine.

So I need to find a way to get the TM backup to work to migrate the data, or get the data off the soldered on SSD in the dead Retina Air.

Any suggestions? I'm guessing we're looking at sending it to Apple for recovery.

Thanks.

Are you following these instructions to use migration assistant and Time Machine?

Restore your Mac from a backup - Apple Support

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2020 MacBook Air Data Recovery

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