This article explains what you should do – when possible – before your Mac goes for service or repair, so that when it returns you can get up and running as quickly as possible. From setting up your device to recovering your Apple ID to replacing the screen, Apple Support has you covered.We all hope that it will never happen, but even Macs sometimes break. Get your questions answered by an expert via phone, chat, email, or even Twitter. In addition to the Genius Bar for hardware repairs, you have more immediate support options. For getting the right support, here’s a genius idea.
![]() If it goes straight into the macOS setup sequence, restart into Recovery Mode and open Disk Utility. That way, there’s nothing else to go missing.When your Mac returns, connect it to a minimum of essential peripherals and try starting it up normally. I generally avoid sending any cables, input devices, or anything else when the work is to be done on the Mac itself. Shut your Mac down using the Apple menu command, if you can.Pack your Mac carefully using its original packaging, if possible, and take or send it to Apple or Apple’s Authorised Service Provider. Turn FileVault on, encrypt or remove all sensitive files. Try this on an older model with a well-loaded SSD, and it could be many hours before the volume is encrypted.The only real complication with a T2 is when it comes to letting it boot from an external disk, if that is how you have decided to restore your internal storage when the Mac returns. In fact, those newer models have one great advantage: the ease and speed with which you can turn FileVault on prior to sending your Mac away. You can set macOS up as a new user, and migrate using Migration Assistant afterwards, or migrate manually if you really want to.Whichever you choose, you’ll want to ensure that your Time Machine backup or clone is connected by the fastest possible method, such as Thunderbolt 3, to make the process as rapid as possible.A lot of users seem worried about trying to do any of this on a Mac with a T2 chip. Remember to use the Startup Security Utility in Recovery Mode to allow this for a Mac with a T2 chip, if you want that option. Whatever happens, you can choose a bootable external clone as your startup disk, and use Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper to clone that back to your internal storage. If your Mac boots into setting up macOS, you can follow the setup, and opt to migrate from the external clone or your Time Machine backup. Zip file name for macNo matter how careful Apple and its providers may be, that puts a great deal of trust in technicians never being tempted to access sensitive data. If no boot volumes were encrypted, Apple and its Authorised Service Providers could automatically clone every internal disk on receipt, and restore those they needed to prior to despatch of the repaired Mac.There are several snags with this, most obviously the fact that it would risk giving service technicians access to all your files. All you do need to do is enable your Mac to boot from an external disk, something which is by default disabled on T2 models.If you do allow a T2 Mac to boot from an external disk, don’t forget to restart in Recovery Mode, open Startup Security Utility, and return its settings to normal, once you’re happy that your migration is complete and your Mac boots properly from its internal storage.Yes and no. Setup A Time For Repair Apple Password Is SufficientDon’t fall into the wrong hands. It is well established that the encryption provided by FileVault with a robust password is sufficient to demonstrate that you have met your legal obligations in that respect.The other is your own concerns to ensure your bank details etc. The first is that much sensitive data is covered by data protection legislation, and you as the custodian of that data are expected to take reasonable precautions to prevent its inadvertent disclosure. Thus you couldn’t trust such cloning to have been performed correctly, and it would offer no real improvement to the user.I think that you’re going way over the top here.There are two related issues. The broken logic board goes back to a factory where it is tested for faults, any possible repairs are made to it, and it may then return as a remanufactured logic board for use in a future repair. They simply don’t have the opportunity, nor would they bother with a MacBook Pro, say, from a regular user.If your internal storage is removed as part of (e.g.) replacing the logic board, then Apple does have standard procedures for ensuring that data stored on it are cleaned, as far as I am aware. There’s no risk that they will try to crack your encryption – especially with T2 FileVault, which as far as I know has never been cracked – nor to put it into a forensic rig and start trying to recover deleted files. If you leave sensitive data in plain view on your internal storage, there is always the small risk that a technician might be tempted to steal it. I understand what you say, but one thing is that as far as we know… whatever, and other thing is that something is impossible. If you want to ensure that your data are not recoverable, encrypt them – that is the whole purpose of encryption.Thanks. If you’re passing your Mac on to someone else, the standard procedure for reformatting and installing macOS is absolutely fine too. If it is passing back into a remanufacturing chain as with Apple’s, that takes steps to ensure that data are wiped fully. I still cannot see any use for it: if the SSD is broken, it is much better to physically destroy it. There is no case on record as far as I know that anyone has ever been able to recover data during or after that process.Some time ago, someone asked me to write a tool to ‘sanitise’ an SSD in the way you propose. Even if the device is available and the password is available. What I meant was a method which made impossible to access such data. One of them is to gain access to the device and even the password.I think that I did not explain properly. Do you know if there is such application? If not, it would be great if you could make it. That is what I meant and it would be great if an application could do it automatically (simply filling the disk overnight, duplicating a file a said above). Simply because such data does not exist any longer.One way is to physically destroy the disk, but that may not be desired or possible (cannot easily open device, like current iMac, unless using special tools, with danger of breaking Mac and voiding warranty).Other is to format disk and fill it completely leaving 0 bytes left.
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