SMART check on SSD unreliable

I have a MacBook Air (11-inch, early 2014, now using Sierra), which came with an SSD hard drive, listed as "APPLE SSD TS0256F", manufactured by Toshiba. My Mac works fine, and I have no problems at all, specifically, nothing which would make me suspect that my SSD has problems. However, some utilities I have, like TechTool Pro, do a SMART check, which always tells me that my disk is failing. I am aware that some, perhaps all, SMART checking utilities may give false readings for some, perhaps all, SSD's - Toshiba's drives have been named as being generally untestable, unless perhaps Toshiba provided a firmware update (of which I'm unaware). I have tried to get help or advice from Toshiba, but no one there (US, Europe) is willing/able to help, sometimes saying that they would have to have the Toshiba part number, which I have been unable to determine (the Apple part number is apparently different) Can anyone tell me if there is a reliable SMART check for this drive, and if not, is there anything more I can do to see whether the SSD's OK or not. While I'd hate to replace a perfectly good drive in a perfectly good Mac, my data is too valuable to risk. (Actually, I have regular backup clones on an external drive, so I'm relatively safe if my boot drive failed, but it would be pretty bad if it failed when I were far from the backup, as is often the case.)

MacBook Air, macOS Sierra (10.12), + other Macs & Apple stuff, etc.

Posted on Dec 1, 2016 3:48 AM

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5 replies

Dec 2, 2016 1:31 PM in response to gbdoc

Hi gbdoc,

Thanks for the question! I see you have a concern with the health of the SSD on your MacBook Air as a program is reporting that it is in need of service. While I can't speak for the reliability of that tool, you can utilize the built-in diagnostic tool to check for any issues with your hardware. Take a look at the link below for more information on using the Apple Diagnostics tool.

Using Apple Diagnostics

Please let us know if you have any additional concerns, and thanks again for visiting Apple Support Communities.

Cheers.

Dec 2, 2016 4:55 PM in response to jason269

Sorry, Jason, but that's no help. I ran the Apple Diagnostics (before, and now, again), and it reports that all's fine, but there's no indication of whether it does a SMART check at all, let alone on SSD's, let alone (and this is the heart of my problem) on a Toshiba SSD, or whether, if such a check is done, it's relieble. What really gets my goat in this is that neither Toshiba (who have essentially walled themselves off from any customer service - hard to reach anyone there at all, but when I do it's "that's not my department" on a product of theirs installed as OEM) nor Apple (who haven't even had the courtesy to respond at all) are willing to be of any help. It seems there's no reliable SMART check available for this drive, and no test results, whether positive or negative, can be trusted. All I can do is wing it, making frequent bootable clones, and never know whether my drive's on its last legs, or destined to simply become old and obsolete, but healthy - like me. Being a doctor, I've learned to live with this kind of uncertainty, but there's no comfort in it.

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SMART check on SSD unreliable

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