MacBook & iMac repair
Won’t turn on, screen, battery, keyboard, liquid damage, SSD and RAM upgrades.
Mac laptop · 2018–2020
Repairing a 13″ MacBook Pro from 2018 to 2020 in Barcelona: the T2 chip and your data
This is where storage stopped being a part and became part of the board. It changes what anyone can promise when a machine will not boot.
4,6 out of 5 · 138 reviews on GoogleRepair quirk
The rescue port that vanished in 2018
The 2016 and 2017 Touch Bar MacBook Pro had a connector on the board built for one job: pulling the user’s data off when the machine no longer booted. From the 2018 generation onwards, Apple stopped fitting it. It is a small change on the board and a huge one in the conversation with the customer.
At the same time came the T2 chip, which as well as handling secure boot encrypts the storage in hardware. The memory chips are soldered to the board and the keys live in that particular board’s T2, so unsoldering them and reading them in another machine does not return files: it returns noise.
The practical consequence is direct: on these machines, data recovery depends on getting the board to show signs of life again, even just long enough to copy. That is why, when one of these MacBook Pro walks in dead, the first thing we ask is not what happened to it but whether there is a backup.
Where all this comes from
What we see most on this model
It will not power on and there is work inside
This is the urgent case on this model. The sooner it arrives, and the less it is forced on, the better the odds the board gives us the window we need to copy.
Liquid spilled over the keyboard
The keyboard sits on top of the board. Do not switch it on or plug it in “to test”: that is what turns a clean-up into a board repair.
Butterfly keyboard until 2019
The 2018 and 2019 units still have it, with the usual symptoms. The 13″ went back to the scissor mechanism in May 2020.
Before you bring it in
The backup is the cheap repair
On a machine with soldered, encrypted storage, an external drive with Time Machine is worth more than anything we can do afterwards. Do it today, not when it fails.
No workshop can promise you the data
Not us, not the official channel. What can be done is trying to revive the board long enough to copy, and telling you honestly what the odds are in your case.
The service this belongs to
This page digs into one specific model. If you want the full picture of what we do with this family of devices, start here:
Similar models with their own page
MacBook Pro 13″ (Intel) 2016–2017
It collected two Apple service programmes: one for the keyboard and one for the display backlight.
MacBook Air 13″ (M1)
The memory sits inside the M1 package and the storage is soldered: none of it can be upgraded.
Frequently asked questions
Can the data be recovered if it will not turn on?
Only if we can get the board working long enough to copy, because the SSD is soldered and encrypted by the T2 chip. We look at it and tell you frankly what room there is before you decide anything.
Can the storage be expanded?
No: the memory chips are soldered to the logic board and paired with the T2. The only possible upgrade is external, over Thunderbolt, and for many uses that is plenty.
Does my unit have a butterfly keyboard?
If it is a 2018 or 2019, yes. The 13-inch MacBook Pro went back to a scissor keyboard in May 2020, so units from that year onwards no longer have that problem.
Shall we take a look?
Tell us what’s wrong and we’ll tell you what it is, what it costs and how long it takes. No obligation, and the initial diagnosis is free.
4,6 out of 5 · 138 reviews on GoogleCarrer de Fontanella, 14, bajos · 08010 Barcelona — or drop by Fontanella 14, next to Plaça Catalunya