“In 2016, when Apple introduced the first MacBook Pro with Touch Bar models, the repair experts at iFixit discovered the notebooks have non-removable SSDs, soldered to the logic board, prompting concerns that data recovery would not be possible if the logic board failed,” Joe Rossignol reports for MacRumors. “Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.”
“Apple has a special tool for 2016 and 2017 models of the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar that allows Genius Bars and Apple Authorized Service Providers to recover user data when the logic board fails, but the SSD is still intact,” Rossignol reports. “The tool is essentially a little black box that is able to transfer data from a failed logic board to a functioning MacBook Pro.”
“But, unfortunately, it appears the tool will not work with the latest models,” Rossignol reports. “Last week, iFixit completed a teardown of the 2018 MacBook Pro, discovering that Apple has removed the data recovery connector from the logic board on both 13-inch and 15-inch models with the Touch Bar… Multiple sources claim that data cannot be recovered if the logic board has failed on a 2018 MacBook Pro. If the notebook is still functioning, data can be transferred to another Mac by booting the system in Target Disk Mode, and using Migration Assistant, which is the standard process that relies on Thunderbolt 3 ports. The data recovery port was likely removed because 2018 MacBook Pro models feature Apple’s custom T2 chip, which provides hardware encryption for the SSD storage, like the iMac Pro, our sources said. ”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Sounds more secure to us.
We do not want hidden ports to which random people can hook up to little black boxes that siphon off data of any kind from our machines.
As always: Back up often and keep your backups in multiple secure places on- and off-site.
SEE ALSO:
The MacBook Pro’s T2 chip boosts enterprise security: Secure boot, even for Windows installations on a Mac – July 23, 2018
[Attirbution: LAPTOP. Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
