Macbook Air SSD failure?

The new firmware update have killed my drive. Now I'm without a PC.

I've had exactly the same problems with my MBA Mid 2012-Mid2013 model.

Ran the Firmware Update 1.1 a week ago (Fri 18th Oct) The results came in and confirmed I owned a model with a faulty drive and so needing replaced. I was encouraged to make a Genuis store appointment which I dutifuly did for the first availiable next day. At my appointment the member of staff ran the tests: it passed the first, failed the second (which the staff member informed me was likely to happen before we even began the test). Turns out my MBA contains the Toshiba model 128GB SSD. Immediately the part was ordered as they had no stock, and at this point I was not too worried as the computer was still fully functioning as far as I knew. I was informed it would be 3-5 days for the part to come in but was likely to be availiable as soon as 3. As the computer was still running fine I continued to work happily on the computer through the weekend until the Sunday evening.

I booted up the computer the next day (Mon 21) only to be greeted by all I can describe as an "Off White Screen of Death, followed by a flashing Question mark of mystery". So apparently 2 days after the scan my drive has managed to fail totally. So I am now left without a computer, which I need for work as I am a frequent commuter and the MBA is was the perfect asset to me. Unfortunately now I have had to get the dust off an old hefty VIAO and become a windows user once again.

The store is now waiting on the part to arrive and although I was initially advised it would take 3-5 days, it's now onto 7 with no sign of improvement. I went to my local store (Glasgow, UK, Braehead) and discussed it with them, making my point the computer is absolutley necessary to my daily working life, without it I'm loosing time and money. I asked in the mean time could they give me a computer as a loan so I can continue working with the files I have on my Time Machine until they can fix my own MBA.

The store told me that under no circumstances is it's Apple's policy to give out 'loan' or replacement machines. So You can see I'm now very surprised upon reading this discussion that this is infact what some people have received.

Since this is obviously a major flaw in an Apple computer and what ultimately amounts to a product recall, should Apple not be pulling out all stops to make sure it's customers are suitably supported and be able to fix effected computers immediately? Because I am now a very frustrated and seriously let down customer with no idea when my computer is likely to be fixed. I was considering Apple's as a viable replacement to Windows in my working environment but I'm now seriously starting to doubt that will ever happen.

My case continued like this. The day I had my second and this time total failure of my SSD, it was the day that Apple announced the replacement program. So, the next morning (18th October) I went again to the Apple retailer store. They were already informed about the program and said that they needed only to confirm that my MBA was eligible for the replacement. They did, but on the 22nd October they replied that I should wait until after the 3rd of November. Fortunatelly, I created a clone of my disk to an external USB drive, after the first failure of my SSD. I had reinstalled Mac OS and the applications I had before, reconfigured my setup and restored any files I had saved to an old backup. This is what saved me, since in the Apple retailer store aggreed to give my MBA back during the waiting period for the new SSD, so I could continue to work booting from my external disk. Of course, I did not manage to recover the data I lost because of the first failure. Now, I keep my fingers crossed for my external drve and I hope to get noticed before the 3rd of November.

SSDs do fail, often due to firmware, controller used, combination of both, lack of TRIM, low free space to trim and for garbage collection to function. when they go they can brick, why always have an image, a clone so you can restore, run trim in disk utility.not if, but when.AAlmost any nrw model, new SSDs have had Apple firmware updates. 2011 was horrible for transition to SATA3 SSD controllers and firmware, PC and Macs.

I am exactly in the same position as the rest of the guys who have posted here already. My MacBook Air which I bought in July 2012 died last week. Same indications, grey screen with a folder icon and a blinking question mark. My wife brought it in to the nearest Apple Store last week and was told that it would take about 3-5 days normally to replace but may depend also on the part being available. It's now looking like it would take weeks although the Apple Care guys never want to admit to it.

I am very DISAPPOINTED to say the least that they have let this issue of not having enough stock of the SSD tarnish their reputation of providing good products and a good customer service. Surely, when they did the testing prior to the release of that Firmware update that they have captured this as an issue and have made the necessary arrangements in anticipation of the influx of replacement requests. Also, what happened to making every firmware update backwards compatible to earilier versions of the hardware so that such issues do not happen?

Good thing I don't use my MacBook Air for work, otherwise I'd be even more screwed. I could only imagine the students and those who use their MacBooks as the primary tool for getting things done. I wonder if someone has considered a class action suit against Apple on this mess? Anyone?

GerwinC

DISAPPOINTED to say the least that they have let this issue of not having enough stock of the SSD ........ Also, what happened to making every firmware update backwards compatible to earlier versions of the hardware so that such issues do not happen?

Two points there,.... as you know a year ago is 'ancient' in terms of technology, a SSD is an insanely complex piece of hardware,....to shut down production of X,......to go back to making "M" takes both time and tremendous effort, also newer SSD are PCIe,........yours is Micro-SATA, another issue of mfg.

Firmware cant fix a broken/corrupt controller, .......firmware only goes so far, you cant "put water into a bucket with a hole in the bottom".

None of this tarnishes Apple,...theyre paying for the new hardware, and as fast as they can.

If $300,000,000 satellites can fail (and does) then I expect no better 'perfection' from Apple, .......the nature of technology.

😊

For the record, adding my story (also told in pictures on my blog):

Mid-2012 MBA bought in Berlin on September 22, 2012, died in Tokyo on September 28, 2013, in the same way as described by other posters.

Went to Apple Store Shibuya, where a genius ran tests on it for half an hour. He concluded SSD failure (Toshiba 128 GB) and offered to replace it free of charge despite the warranty had just ran out and it was bought in Germany. It would take 2 weeks and they would keep the old SSD.

I couldn't wait that long, and I also didn't like the idea of Apple keeping my old drive, so I had to decline his offer. Instead I went to Akihabara to search for a new SSD. It wasn't easy with the air's special connectors, but I finally found a OWC 240 GB (smallest size available) for 37,000 yen ≈ 275 euro ≈ 377 usd. Installed it myself and everything works fine since then.

Some notes:

I had done some update shortly before this death happened, but I can't remember exactly what it was.

I had very little space left on the drive.

I used FileVault.

Some posters mention that the part of the Toshiba SSD that failed was the Sandforce controller. Now I just checked my new OWC SSD. It also uses Sandforce. Does this mean I can expect another year before next death? Or am I safe as long as no firmware update? (Though I guess no new firmware will be pushed to a third-party part.) Would it be stupid to update to Maverick? (I definitely won't do it until I'm back in Europe and have made tons of backups at least.)

I've contacted Apple regarding a refund, since they write:

"If you believe you have paid for a repair or replacement due to this issue, contact Apple regarding a refund."

Yes, I think I "paid for a replacement due to this issue" when I bought the new SSD, but no, I will not get a refund according to the German support. (I think I might actually try with the Japanese support too, you never know.)

As a last note: When death happened I tried to boot in terminal mode and doing so I could actually browse the folders and delete files using unix commands. This bogged the Genius at Apple Store too, since it implied the SSD wasn't totally dead. But maybe this is because of that Sandforce thing. The actual data might be undamaged, but the way to get to them is f-cked.

Oh, and even though I think it's good that Apple has done a recall, keeping our computers for 2 weeks is unrealistic. Since they know about the problem, they should stock up with replacement SSD's in all stores and exchange them while the poor customer is waiting, or overnight at worst. Why can a tiny electronics store in Akihabara stock these items, but not Apple themselves?

Sure technolgy has issues and can suffer failures due to the cutting edge nature of the product.

However, in the instance of this I do not feel it can be seen as a reasonable excuse for Apple to get let off Scot free or not taking the brunt of the derision of myself and any other customer. When you boil it down to the cold hard reality without considering the complxity of the product, I have bought a piece of equipment, costing over £1000, that equipent is to operate as a portable personal computer. When it stops working after 8 months and no longer functions as it was sold to do, Apple have broken their contract of sale and are expected to offer a reasonable solution within a reasonable timeframe.

As things stand things are dragging on (the computer still un-reapired) where the Stores and Apple Care are unable to offer a reasonable time frame in which to repair the computer. For this reason it wholly unnaceptable for a company like Apple (or any company) for keeping their customers on a leash like this especially on products that are effectively under recall.

I need the computer for my daily working life and this has caused me no end of problems.

Unfotunately, my confidence in the company has taken a huge knock. While the computer was great when operating, I am now likely to return to a Windows based system for my next computer purchase, considering I've been working with PC's for 10 years up to this point with no major issues or when there was it has been fixed quickly and efficiently. Frankly Apple seems like a company only interested in grabbing new customers and not taking care of it's existing.

"Two points there,.... as you know a year ago is 'ancient' in terms of technology, a SSD is an insanely complex piece of hardware,....to shut down production of X,......to go back to making "M" takes both time and tremendous effort, also newer SSD are PCIe,........yours is Micro-SATA, another issue of mfg."

To be honest with you, as a customer and a consumer, I do not really care. Having said that, I can appreciate the effort that they have put in to design and get these products manufactured. And I never said anything about shutting down anything. All I'm calling out here is that reports of this failure have come up as early as September 2013 (maybe even earlier), Apple has recognised the issue but it seems that they haven't made plans on how to address the influx of request for replacement.

"Firmware cant fix a broken/corrupt controller, .......firmware only goes so far, you cant "put water into a bucket with a hole in the bottom"."

I take your point. What I meant to say there was more about the testing of the release and whether this issue might have been captured a little earlier thus avoiding one of the consequences of the issue identified.

"None of this tarnishes Apple,...theyre paying for the new hardware, and as fast as they can.

If $300,000,000 satellites can fail (and does) then I expect no better 'perfection' from Apple, .......the nature of technology."

That is your opinion. For me personally, how they are managing the replacement program somehow tarnishes the good reputation of Apple in terms of customer service. I never said anything about expecting perfection from Apple products. It's not about the product that I'm having issues with, it's the customer service and support that I'm getting right now that is disappointing me.

I echo your sentiments monkey9000.

I think if Apple were to conduct a NPS (Net Promoter Score) survey now, their score would be dragged down by the number of detractors particularly from people like us who have been affected by this replacement part stocking mess. In a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest, I would probably give them a score of 1 which indicates that I will not recommend Apple to anyone else at the moment.

Reference: NPS - http://www.netpromotersystem.com/about/measuring-your-net-promoter-score.aspx

Hi PlontinusVeritas, I appreciate that your intent is to be helpful with your posts. Sometimes they may have the opposite effect by comming across as cheerleading for Apple when folks are frustrated with the SSD failures and problems with SSD replacement stock.

My drive has not faled -yet. I have the 128 Toshba in a mid 2012 Air. If (when) it does fail I would not be comforted by links and sattelite comparisions. I would need my computer for my daily work. I am not in a position to purchase a back up unit to use while Apple tries to locate parts. Providing loaner is not unreasonable in this situation. Refurbished stock could be used.

I am very concerned about my SSD. Each time I boot I am relieved to hear the CM cord. I never felt this way about a Mac before. I'm religious about backups. That's new for me too. I have an old iBook running Panther that has never been backed up and it holds some files I could live without but prefer to have.

Thank you for your forum contributions. There seem to be a lot of unhapy folks in the Support Communities presently. The iWorks forum is particularly distressed.

Just my .02.

I appreciate members who are trying to help. But believe me, Plotinus Veritas is one of a kind. He always sounds like a current/ex Apple employee. I remember during the early stage of this posts that he constanly denies that a widespread failure of SSD is not possible and these occurences are just merely incidental. Now Apple have recognized the problem, so it is not just merely incidental as other people perceive it. So to console Apple users who suffered the same fate with the SSDs, just try to ignore Plotinus Veritas posts (at least about this issue). Cheers!

Status updating: I got SSD changed in exact 1 week of time in Delhi Apple Center. It's again from Toshiba however the firmware update and check said its fine and functional. I am using my MBA now for the last 5 days without any trouble, updated it to Mavericks and everything looks good with SSD now. Finger Crossed 😉

I also got my macbook fixed by now. Took a while before the apple store in manchester had the spare part but after 9 days i could bring it in and get it fixed the same day. Great service!

I did check and also I found a Toshiba drive in here.. So thats a bit harsh on the nerves. Since then installed mavericks and had 2 freezes so far.. Not sure if thats due to software or hardware though!

Good luck people! And i'd say, wait for the 2014 air and sell this baby asap before **** hits the fan again!

After fialing on the firmware update 1.1, I took my MBA to the Genius at the Apple Store here in SoCal who informed me he had not heard of this issue before. He ran a diag test and low and behold there was an issue even though nothings crashed...yet. They took down my info and told me they'd receive the part in 3-5 days and that I would have to leave the computer at that time for another 3-5 days for repair. 😟 I need this machine for work as I don't have a usable spare. I asked if I could take it to a third party for replacement and bill Apple--no. Could I upgrade as at least part of this inconvenience -- no. Why did I have to go to the store to be told all this when this problem is well known (even though the Genius "never heard of it") ? My Genius was sure to note on the "Work Authorization" that my 1 year old MBA had a "few scratches on bottom Arendt (sic) edge"and a "couple of stickers on the bottom" and "over camera." Seemed to me he noting all that was an obvious attempt to possibly shift blame for the problem on this issue that 25 pages and quickly counting on this topic. I felt treated as some sort of scammer rather than the long time customer that I am. (Mac128k-1984)

So know I have to look forward to Apple replacing the defective drive with the exact same part number? That just doesn't seem right.

Item Number Description Price Amount Due
661-6618 Card, Solid State Drive, 64 GB $ 305.68
S1490LL/A Hardware Repair Labor $ 39.00
Total (Tax not included) $ 344.68

Amount due $0