Macbook Air SSD failure?

Sorry to report another failure on a 2012 MBA...

Usual situation... Froze upon awakening from sleep then question mark.

We're extremely stick without it. We run a business and half of the work is performed by one of us on the Mac. Essentially half of our tasks are currently not possible.

The infuriating thing has been Apple support here in the UK...

From fault diagnosis on the phone, we were told it should be a same-day replacement, under warranty.

Dropped off at Apple store and time crept to 3-5 days.

Then told it needed a part to be ordered.

This was 21st Sept.

Told part ordered Saturday

Told part ordered Monday

Part still on order Tues, due Weds

Today, Thu, part still not available, maybe tomorrow, Fri 27 Sept...

We NEED to at least know a timescale so we can plan, or borrow a laptop.

My worry is that no one at the Apple store seems to know anything about parts logistics.

It seems it could go on indefinitely with no one able to tell us if there is a problem down the supply chain?

1) Does anyone know if there is a real SSD shortage?

2) As we are within warranty, is there any mileage in pursuing a replacement MBA. I know everyone's individual case is urgent, but I can't stress enough how critical the MBA is to our business's day-to day operations. It is causing huge stress. Given we only chose this Mac over a conventional laptop for the reliability...

I'm surprised the Apple Store didn't advise you to call AppleCare. They would most likely have covered the repair as it was only a few days out of warranty.

I'm from the UK too, was also told it was overnight delivery for the part and half an hour to fit, on the 8th day now, but when phoned up 2 days ago they still didn't have the part so who knows on the shortage.

Meadowhall shop btw.

So let's add another SSD failure.

I have a 13in mid 2012 MBA model that I bought in December 2012, so it's about 10 months old now. Today it froze just like everyone is describing.

I checked and the ealiest Geniur Bar appt is for NEXT WEDNESDAY !!! Is there a way to get this looked at sooner, considering it´s quite clear what the problem is? 6 days waiting for it to be looked just means the SSD will take 6 extra days to arrive!! 😟

Only thing I can suggest for you is to keep checking each day as some people cancel appointments therefore an earlier one may be available

thanks

so if I just go to the apple store this weekend they will refuse to look at my broken laptop? 😟

Keep checking online for appointments. We were lucky and got a cancellation.

The issue then is parts...

Thanks I will. That´s rather annoying since you can buy one of these internal SSD on amazon for 1 day delivery. (I just checked..)

I have found that a "walk in" is more likely to be successful (in terms of getting a Genius to talk to you) if you walked in towards the end of the day, near closing time. Try that if you have the time. My limited experience also suggests that the Apple experts are more patient and more willing to talk to you at length since there isn't anyone else in line after you.

If they suggest a long delay and you were to politely, respectfully, explain the critical needs of this computer for your business and you asked nicely, perhaps they will give you a loaner laptop. Ask for that if you think this might be worth your while.

While waiting for apple Genius Bar appointment to come, I may have found a partial solution. If I charge my MBA to green (full) charge then I can actually boot up and see the hard drive. Unfortunately my access only lasts about 1-2 minutes. There is definitely an issue with the computer, though been able to boot up twice in the past hour. When not fully charged it would not find the hd.

That's a really interesting find. I would test it but I've sent off my laptop already. If someone can recreate this fix, that would be great.

I have been able to recreate it 4 times tonight. Laptop will only last 3-10 minutes after power down and 30-60+ minutes charge past 100%. Unfortunately cannot restore software in 10 minutes, though open to any other suggestions (have full function).

I don't have any suggestions but it sure is a way to retrieve files albeit in short bursts. :)

Thanks, good luck with your replacement, after hours of trying to get some information we have finally found the part is not available and we have been now quoted 3 weeks for repair now! :-O Not good. We have paid £379 for the buisness service, so you get 'loans' out so we now we have finally got somewhere in getting the business off hold, but so not good if you're needing your macbook back urgently though.

I am not sure why the part is so rare....its the toshiba one that is the problem maybe we should tell them amazon have them in stock 😉

PlotinusVeritas wrote:

I forward, correctly, that this board is a magnet for those with problems that come here for resolution of a problem. As it is designed to be.

That you can find "10 posters on another board with a failed SSD Toshiba" is not surprising. Nor does same constitute an issue with the Air whatsoever out of countless endless 100's of 1000s of Airs out there.

distinctions should be made between the use of the term "issue" :

A: "I have an issue with X part which failed, and so does Bob, and Suzy"

B; "X product has an issue with X part inside (in general)"

To forward from 10 people, or 20 people which constitute A, ....that this someone also posits B, or implies B is false.

There is no parameter set in stone for B on any product made.

Suffice to say as per the SSD reported by an extremely limited number of people its certainly MORE than 1, and FAR FAR LESS than 0.2% of total product (200,00 ~ 300,000 +)

As such demanding 100% absolute perfection in 300,000+ highly (incredibly so) complex products is beyond the pale unrealistic.

If a 500 Million dollar satellite put together by the finest international minds on earth can burn up in Mars re-entry due to an insane mistake of a software line of code (as was the case a few years ago), ...........then maybe some REALISTIC PERSPECTIVE should be shed in the arena of incredibly complex computers covered by Apple with #1 customer service.

You seem to miss the point...

What's relevant, is that from all of these 20+ (I'am sure this thread alone has even more reports now) faulty SSDs, each is from 2012 and made by Toshiba.

MBA comes with SSD as standart for already almost 4 years and there were 4 manufacturers in total if I recall correctly. Now what are the odds of practically all reported SSDs being from the same year and made by the same company? It's pretty obvious that it's a defective branch from 2012, but how big it is, only Apple knows.

It would be awesome to know whether it is early late or mid 2012 MBAs affected.