Macbook Air SSD failure?

And I did contact AppleCare. Neither AppleCare nor Apple Store found Ny replacement coverage for this issue. $290 to fix. 90 day warranty. Not happy. But everyone who has this problem must call or go online to AppleCare and report the issue...today

Picked my 2013 replacement up today, 3 days after they said the repair would be completed if I chose that option.

Think I've got a SanDisk hdd now, read a few bad things about them but got a whole years warranty so hopefully be alright, not to mention got a better spec and got to keep my old charger, so pretty happy right about now!

By reading some of these it sounds like repair times are speeding up so good luck to everybody!

I have had another very long phone call with Applecare UK. They said exactly the same again - nothing is showing on their system about failing SSDs, and if I am not willing to pay for the repair the only thing I can do is make a consumer law claim.

LowLuster wrote:

Then tell them to Check Again.This is a Wide Spread problem that seems will affect all mid 2012 MBA models that have a Toshiba SSD.

I would contact Apple directly by calling the Applecare phone number for the UK.

PLazarou wrote:

That's not what they're telling me (Apple UK). I pointed out various threads discussing the issue and the guy told me that nothing was flagged on their systems as being a widespread problem.

LowLuster wrote:

If you read through this thread you will see Apple is covering it out of warranty.

nutthwut wrote:

My 2012 MBA's SSD just failed today, out of warranty just 2 months. Found many users have ploblem with their SSD of 2012 MBA, any responsibility from Apple??

My ssd failed after 1 year and 1 month. it was the toshiba 128 sandforce drive. they told me it would be a "few" days and ive been waiting over a week without my computer. she told me that they had to wait for parts so its just collecting dust while I wait for another crappy toshiba drive. If i knew I was getting a samsung drive I wouldnt mind but it makes me agry that I have to wait an extended period of time only to have the same faulty drive put in. I didnt buy a mac to take it in every year.

I had applecare and the girl said to me that the repair would have been 450 dollars without applecare. this is usa store. she gave no indication that if I didnt have applecare she would fix it for free. she acted like it was a new problem. I didnt see any other laptops being diagnosed while i was there just a 2010 imac that needed a lot of stuff.

mark1179 wrote:

I had applecare and the girl said to me that the repair would have been 450 dollars without applecare. this is usa store. she gave no indication that if I didnt have applecare she would fix it for free. she acted like it was a new problem. I didnt see any other laptops being diagnosed while i was there just a 2010 imac that needed a lot of stuff.

That's because Apple typically handles out-of-warranty repairs on a case-by-case basis if it's not due to a mass failure like some NVidia graphics chips.

In short, if you're out of warranty, it never hurts to ask and escalate to Apple Customer Service; like asking a supermodel for a date, all they can say is "no" but you may be very happy should they say "yes," and you won't know either way if you don't ask. 😝

.

Hi all,

I posted here earlier on about my MacBook Air Toshiba SSD which died like all the others in this discussion. Bought my MBA in June 2012 so it was out of official warranty time and I had no AppleCare. My wife went to an Apple Store near by (France, Parly2) and after a short discussion they will be exchanging the SSD without extra charge. The recipt mentions:

I know that the european law obliges to 2 years waranty under certain circumstances. It's the rule in Germany for example.

Anyway, I'm postig this to let you know that it's possible to get the SSD fixed out of waranty in France. They don't acknowledge any known issue officially but it still works if you explain that an SSD is not supposed to break after one year.

Good Luck.

I posted on the biggest Chinese Apple BBS -- Weiphone about the SSD 2012 MBA issues.

I got many replies, and further discuss about it.

Seems the Sandforce controller is fine, just as guys mention in this topic before -- firmware!

Just before many TOSHIBA SSD from MD231 died, we almost had filled the SSD, and then we run software, while the VM or cache or whatever comes out, over the capacity. Obviously the firmware didn't deal well about this problem. It didn't just like windows -- a blue screen, then wei can restart and deal with it, it's just killed all of out data!!

SSD of Intel have the similar issues before, but as long as the warranty is 3 years, it's okay. But most Mac is only one year...

So many Chinese users were firghten by the freaking high fix price(I wasd told to pay 5000 CNY-- $800) and no OWC SSD in stock in China, that so many users have to buy the unknown coming(maybe second hand, maybe the flawed ones from Foxcon) TOSHIBA SSD for MBA, when I searched "md231 ssd" I saw 30+ purchase on the 64G TOSHIBA SSD, 90+ 128G sales FROM ONE SHOP!!!!!Poor guys as me just change it themselves without complaining to Apple, guess the GB guys were not nice...

To sum up, I think Apple should stand out and recall those potential bad driver in case users lost their datas(there is no sodding way to use simple software to fix it),and update firmware ASAP.

And to all of the still OKAY TOSHIBA SSD 2012MBA USERS, don't even try to fill the drive! Always leave 10+ GB!!

OH I wish Apple respond to this soon, I really need the computer for study.

This is my repair confirmation of my MBA 2012 without Apple Care, hope this help

Genius Bar Work Confirmation

Parts and Services

I also went to Apple Store in Köln for this problem and have it repaired without any cost though my macbook air was 70 days out of warranty.

The guy at Genius Bar checkd on his iPad the price of the repair of my MacBook and it was 0 in their system !

hope this experience helps.

I would like to add another MacBook Air 13" (Mid-2012) to the list, from India. It is 78 days out of warranty.

How it happened?

Was reading something on Wikipedia, the system hung. Cmd-opt-esc didn't work. Powered it down using the power key. Upon rebooting, the same flashing folder.

What I did?

Tried resetting PRAM and SMC, no effect. Booted into Internet Recovery, Disk Utility didn't show my SSD, just a 33kb Sandforce (which perhaps is the controller).

Called up Apple's hotline, got disconnected after a few minutes, received a callback. Upon explaining the situation, I was forwarded to a Senior.

After making a case for myself, I was asked if I was aware of the AppleCare available, I didn't know about it, now that I have encountered this problem I read it on these forums, so silly of me..

Then, I was asked if I owned any other Apple products. I do own some other Apple products. I was asked to e-mail their serial numbers to the senior.

Now the next day, I was called by the same senior technician to ask whether I could take the laptop to the local Apple service provider the same day. I did.

Recieved a call when I was at the service provider, the senior asked a couple of questions to the service provider, which I want able to hear. Basically, the service provider asked for some time to fully diagnose the problem. The time was two days, actually one working day.

I was asked to leave the laptop with him for diagnosis. The senior technician told me that I'll receive a call from them when the report is mailed to them. There's one full day left..

Let's see, if the laptop gets a one time exception.

The Apple customer support and the Apple service provider have both been very polite till now. To anyone who experiences a similar problem, try booting into recovery and reinstalling. If it doesn't work, please do call Apple and let them know. Be polite while talking with them, as it was not them who designed/manufactured this SSD.

They want to help you out as long as you have a valid case.

P.S. Will post an update tomorrow about the situation.

my MBA 13" 128GB ssd just gone kaput, bought last august 2012, sent to maccity service centre (Melaka, Malaysia), quotaed for RM2000+ for replacement of ssd, **** expensive without warranty! Currently waiting for OSW Aura Pro 120GB (US189.99) for DIY, anyone has experience?

This is an upate to my earlier post. I recieved a call from Apple Customer Support telling me that the MacBook Air was checked by the local Apple Service Provider, the reason for the the flashing folder was the failure of the SSD. Moreover, there wasn't any Accidental Damage or Water Damage. So, they granted me one time exception. See, this is the reason I stick with Apple.

I, then asked the senior technician if she could have it replaced by a Samsung SSD rather than a Toshiba one, she told me that she'll have to check with the local service provider.

Then, I called the local Service Provider to inform him that this case has been granted a one-time exception.( I do think he was informed already, but still I decided to make the call.) I asked him if he could request Apple to send a non-Toshiba SSD, to which he told me that I need not worry, now Apple is using Samsung SSDs to replace those models.

He told me that I will have to wait atleast 3-4 days (with a special emphasis on atleast), before I can get my MacBook Air back and that I 'll receive a call when its ready.

So, till now, its been a wonderful experience with Apple's customer support and service provider. Will post an update once I get the laptop back.

Again, to anyone else facing the same problem. Try and reinstall once from the recovery, if it doesn't work or drive doesn't show up there, just make a call to Apple, whether in warranty or out of it. Explain the situation and you will be appropriately helped!

Well, a big burden off of my head now!

I have the same issue - ssd failed.

My macbook is 2012 mid MBA ,the worst part is it's out of warranty period.

i need to spend money to replace SSD.

just 1year plus 2 months !! and it's broken!

how could that happen !?

As my case, I'd claimed my 2012 MBA to the Smart Bar in Thailand then they'd sent my case to apple Singapore but Apple Singapore rejected to change my SSD because they said there're no article in their system..!! How can I do next..??

PS. My Case No. 518140284