I have an old iMac that I want to recycle at the Apple Store. When it stopped working and completely died, I bought a new iMac. Because the old one no longer turns on, I’m not able to wipe clean. So I’m hesitant to turn it in. Do you recommend that I remove the hard drive?
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
As Rudegar said, it's really up to you and how sensitive the data on the drive might be. If you had FileVault set up, then there is no need to remove or otherwise worry about the drive. If not and there's sensitive data on it, such as plain-text copies of your account passwords, then erasing the drive becomes more important. You can see if perhaps you can get that old Mac into Target Disk Mode:
Transfer files between two Mac computers using target disk mode - Apple Support
If so, then you may be able to mount that drive on your new Mac and erase the volume. If not and the information is truly sensitive, you can disassemble the Mac and remove the drive and then either find an adapter to connect it so it can be erased or just smash the drive with a hammer.
But before you do all that, you might just ask the Apple Store what their process is for recycling a Mac. I'm sure they've dealt with the issue of remaining data on a Mac when the Mac won't boot, so they may be able to ease your mind.
Regards.
As Rudegar said, it's really up to you and how sensitive the data on the drive might be. If you had FileVault set up, then there is no need to remove or otherwise worry about the drive. If not and there's sensitive data on it, such as plain-text copies of your account passwords, then erasing the drive becomes more important. You can see if perhaps you can get that old Mac into Target Disk Mode:
Transfer files between two Mac computers using target disk mode - Apple Support
If so, then you may be able to mount that drive on your new Mac and erase the volume. If not and the information is truly sensitive, you can disassemble the Mac and remove the drive and then either find an adapter to connect it so it can be erased or just smash the drive with a hammer.
But before you do all that, you might just ask the Apple Store what their process is for recycling a Mac. I'm sure they've dealt with the issue of remaining data on a Mac when the Mac won't boot, so they may be able to ease your mind.
Regards.
claus237 wrote:
Jeg ville ikke turde at at sende min gamle 2013 iMac til Recycling i en Apple Store eller andre steder?
Der ligger så mange følsomme oplysninger om os på vores computere ,som kan gendannes med den rette Software!
Kill Disk virker på en Pc ved ikke om noget samme kan fåes til mac?
Men jeg ville ikke personligt turde løbe den risiko!
At skille en iMac ad i stumper for at komme ind og fjerne Harddisken er for besværligt,
så jeg ville nok smadre skærmen og den vej komme ind og afinstallere Harddisken og derefter smadre den,
med en stor Hammer.
That´s just my opinion!
macOS usually has storage encryption enabled, which usually makes disposal far less risky. With no decryption key, the sensitive user data is inaccessible.
If no storage encryption is configured, or if there is added concern, then overwriting (once) is the usual approach. That’s effectively the re-install suggested by the Apple documentation.
If the data is just too sensitive (but also wasn’t encrypted), then paying for data destruction is an option.
If the Mac still works and no encryption is currently enabled, one other option is to enable storage encryption. That’ll churn away for quite a while (particularly on slower hardware) replacing the data with encrypted data.
If SSD storage is configured, overwriting doesn’t work the same as on hard disk drives, and either an SSD-level command is used, or a whole lot of data is written, or (easier) the encrypted storage data’s decryption key is discarded.
Here is: What to do before you sell, give away, trade in, or recycle your Mac - Apple Support
And if the data is very sensitive, pay to get the Mac disk, or quite possibly the whole Mac, well, shredded.
It's not easy, but there are lots of guides and videos that can help you remove the HDD.
Once the HDD is out, then it is safe to drop off the iMac at any one of your local E-Waste Recyclers.
Jeg ville ikke turde at at sende min gamle 2013 iMac til Recycling i en Apple Store eller andre steder?
Der ligger så mange følsomme oplysninger om os på vores computere ,som kan gendannes med den rette Software!
Kill Disk virker på en Pc ved ikke om noget samme kan fåes til mac?
Men jeg ville ikke personligt turde løbe den risiko!
At skille en iMac ad i stumper for at komme ind og fjerne Harddisken er for besværligt,
så jeg ville nok smadre skærmen og den vej komme ind og afinstallere Harddisken og derefter smadre den,
med en stor Hammer.
That´s just my opinion!
As everyone else has said, that decision is yours to make based on your situation. My point of view is the data is pretty safe when you recycle through Apple. The reason why I think this way is Apple knows they are a HUGE financial target for lawsuits because they have so much money. Because of that I think they take more than adequate caution with others data because they know if something bad happens with that data and the transgression is traced back to Apple then who are you going to sue, Apple of course. Knowing Apple I wouldn't be surprised if part of their staff (and third party partners) training for those that handle "trade-ins" take is data security and destruction.
That's just my opinion though.
it's up to you, think it would be a concern if you recycle it with apple and your data would in danger though
Should I remove the hard drive before recycling my iMac
