At Cardiff Data Recovery, we are proud to be Wales’s No.1 Apple MacBook data recovery specialists, offering expert recovery solutions for over 25 years. Whether your MacBook is unresponsive, has suffered a hardware failure, or files have been accidentally deleted, we have the technical knowledge and equipment to recover your data safely, quickly, and securely.
From the latest M-series MacBooks to older Intel-based systems, we provide a full range of mac data recovery services for every macOS version and storage type.
💻 Services We Offer – Apple MacBook Data Recovery
We provide comprehensive data recovery solutions for all Apple MacBook laptops and operating systems, including:
- MacBook Air & MacBook Pro (Intel and M1/M2/M3 chipsets)
- macOS data recovery from all versions (see list below)
- Solid-state (SSD) and hard drive (HDD) recovery
- Recovery from soldered and removable drives
- Encrypted FileVault drive recovery
- Deleted file and accidental formatting recovery
- Emergency and 48-hour critical recovery service available
All recoveries are performed by in-house Apple recovery specialists using advanced, non-destructive techniques and sector-level disk imaging.
🍏 Top 20 Best-Selling MacBook Models We Recover
We recover data from all Apple laptops, including legacy and current models. Below are some of the most common devices we work on:
| MacBook Model | Type |
|---|---|
| MacBook Air M2 (2022, 2024) | Apple Silicon |
| MacBook Pro 14-inch M1 Pro (2021) | Apple Silicon |
| MacBook Pro 16-inch M2 Pro/M2 Max (2023) | Apple Silicon |
| MacBook Air M1 (2020) | Apple Silicon |
| MacBook Pro 13-inch M2 (2022) | Apple Silicon |
| MacBook Pro Retina 15-inch (2015) | Intel |
| MacBook Pro 13-inch Touch Bar (2018) | Intel |
| MacBook Air Retina (2019) | Intel |
| MacBook Pro 16-inch Intel (2019) | Intel |
| MacBook Air 13-inch (2017) | Intel |
| MacBook Pro Retina 13-inch (2017) | Intel |
| MacBook Pro 15-inch (Mid 2012 – 2015) | Intel |
| MacBook 12-inch Retina (2016) | Intel |
| MacBook Air M3 (2024) | Apple Silicon |
| MacBook Pro 14-inch M3 Pro (2024) | Apple Silicon |
| MacBook Air (Early 2015) | Intel |
| MacBook Pro Retina 13-inch (Late 2013) | Intel |
| MacBook Pro 17-inch (Mid 2010) | Intel |
| MacBook Unibody (Late 2009) | Intel |
| MacBook Air (Early 2014) | Intel |
🖥️ Supported macOS Versions
We recover data from all macOS versions, including but not limited to:
- macOS Sonoma (14)
- macOS Ventura (13)
- macOS Monterey (12)
- macOS Big Sur (11)
- macOS Catalina (10.15)
- macOS Mojave (10.14)
- macOS High Sierra (10.13)
- macOS Sierra (10.12)
- OS X El Capitan to OS X Lion (10.11 to 10.7)
- macOS Server Editions
💽 Supported Interfaces & File Systems
We work with every type of drive interface and macOS-supported file system:
Interfaces:
- SATA / PATA / IDE
- NVMe / PCIe
- M.2 / U.2
- eSATA
- USB-C / Thunderbolt
- SCSI / SAS
File Systems:
- APFS (Apple File System)
- HFS+ (Mac OS Extended)
- FAT32 / exFAT (cross-compatible storage)
- NTFS (read-only Mac compatibility)
- EXT2/3/4 (Linux-formatted external drives)
⚠️ Top 30 Apple MacBook Data Recovery Issues & Our Technical Approach
| Fault | Recovery Method Summary |
|---|---|
| Mechanical Drive Failure | Heads replaced in cleanroom, drive cloned, file system rebuilt. |
| SSD Controller Failure | Chip-off or controller emulation performed, direct NAND access used. |
| APFS File System Corruption | File system manually rebuilt from volume headers and snapshot data. |
| Soldered SSD on MacBook | Logical board access via specialised tools, NAND chip imaging. |
| FileVault Encrypted Drive | Key or password used to decrypt volume image; secure extraction follows. |
| Accidental File Deletion | Metadata and journal entries recovered before overwrite occurs. |
| macOS Not Booting | Drive imaged externally, user data isolated and extracted. |
| Water Damage | Corrosion cleaned, board repaired; then chip-level access to extract data. |
| Drive Not Detected | Interface board tested/replaced; recovery proceeds from working image. |
| Partition Table Corruption | Manual GPT/APM table reconstruction using hex-level analysis. |
| Overwritten Files | Partial recovery based on fragment signature matching. |
| Slow MacBook or Freezing | Often due to sector failure; drive cloned, data extracted from healthy areas. |
| macOS Kernel Panic (Crash Loop) | OS bypassed, file system extracted via image mount. |
| Failed OS Update or Downgrade | Damaged system files isolated; user data recovered from previous state. |
| Deleted Time Machine Backups | Disk image analysed for snapshots and shadow volumes. |
| SSD NAND Wear (Degraded Flash) | ECC and wear-leveling algorithms used to reconstruct blocks. |
| SSD Firmware Bug | Patched with vendor tool, disk cloned before complete failure. |
| Dropped MacBook | Drive assessed for shock damage, donor parts used if needed. |
| Power Surge | Damaged components replaced; data cloned after stabilisation. |
| MacBook Stuck in Recovery Mode | Recovery partition bypassed, core data extracted externally. |
| “Macintosh HD Not Mounted” Error | Volume force-mounted or imaged raw for APFS rebuild. |
| iCloud-Linked File Issues | Local files and caches recovered even when iCloud sync fails. |
| Corrupted Photos or Libraries | Package contents restored using file carving and header repair. |
| Lost BootCamp Partition | Windows/Mac partition reconstructed via dual-boot volume analysis. |
| macOS Disk Utility Format Error | Recovery via hex signature scans of previous volume structures. |
| SSD Firmware Lock | Apple-configured SSD unlocked or imaged via chip-off methods. |
| External Drive Used with MacBook Fails | Interface bridged and imaged, volume mounted to extract contents. |
| USB-C Port Failure | Board-level repair done to regain read access to internal SSD. |
| Time Machine Drive Corrupted | Sparsebundle file rebuilt, historical versions accessed directly. |
| MacBook Battery Swelling Damaged Drive | Drive removed safely, data extracted externally with physical stabilisation. |
🧠 Why Choose Cardiff Data Recovery?
- Over 25 Years of Apple Mac Recovery Expertise
- Dedicated MacBook Data Recovery Engineers
- Support for All macOS Versions and Apple Silicon Devices
- In-house Cleanroom for Physical Drive Repairs
- Advanced Chip-Off and Monolith Recovery Capabilities
- Free Diagnostics with Transparent Results
- Critical 48-Hour Emergency Recovery Available
- Strict Data Confidentiality & GDPR Compliance
Whether you’re a student with a failed MacBook Air, a creative professional using a MacBook Pro, or a business running Apple endpoints — we’re your trusted recovery partner.
📞 Contact Cardiff Data Recovery Today
If your MacBook has failed, stopped booting, or your files are missing, stop using the device immediately to avoid further data loss. Contact Cardiff Data Recovery now for a free diagnostics and expert evaluation.
We’re here to help you recover what matters most — securely, efficiently, and professionally.