Apple

Apple Silicon Macs (M1, M2, M3, M4) have soldered, encrypted SSDs tied to the T2/Secure Enclave. This means a logic board failure on a modern Mac can prevent access to the data even if the NAND chips are healthy — the encryption key lives in the Secure Enclave, and replacing the logic board breaks the cryptographic binding.

For these devices we focus on logical recovery while the device can still boot, or on getting the original logic board working again so that the Secure Enclave can release the key — the FileVault password is still required. We do not attempt logic board replacement — it destroys the key binding and makes the data permanently unreadable.

For pre-T2 Intel Macs (2016 and older) with removable SATA/PCIe SSDs, recovery is similar to a standard SSD case — we can remove the drive and perform a full recovery with firmware-level tools.

Apple data recovery is a specialised discipline. Modern Macs and iPhones use end-to-end hardware encryption tied to the T2/Apple Silicon security chip, which means generic data recovery tools cannot access the storage even when the NAND itself is physically healthy. Successful recovery requires specific workflows for each Apple SoC generation.

We have experience with every generation of Apple devices — from the 2008 MacBook Pro with a removable SATA HDD to the current M4 MacBook Pro with soldered, encrypted NAND. Our workflow includes Apple-specific firmware tools, APFS container reconstruction, FileVault key extraction and, for iPhones and iPads that no longer start after a failed update or water damage, recovery from an image of the device memory (passcode required).

Our team has more than 35 years of experience (since 1990). For business customers using Apple Business Manager or Jamf MDM, we can coordinate with your IT administrator to handle supervised devices and managed Apple IDs.