Some Macbooks, Macbook Pros, and Mac Minis at risk of Hard Drive Failure


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According to Techworld, the Seagate SATA hard drives used in the MacBook, MacBook Pro and Mac mini may be subject to a flaw that can cause massive data loss.

“The read/write heads are detaching from the arm and plowing deep gouges into the magnetic platter,” Retrodata Managing Director Duncan Clarke explained. “The damage is mostly on the inner tracks, but some scratches are on the outer track — Track 0 — and once that happens, the drive is normally beyond repair.”

The problem is with the Seagate 2.5-in drives with model numbers ST96812AS and ST98823AS. To check and see if your system is one of the ones that could be affected, go to your System Profile, look under Serial ATA, and check to see if your firmware version is 7.0.1 – if it is, you may have a problem.

I would suggest calling Apple and getting their take on the situation. For Leopard Users, I would certainly turn Time Machine on.

via Computer World


Kossi Adzo

Kossi Adzo is a technology enthusiast and digital strategist with a fervent passion for Apple products and the innovative technologies that orbit them. With a background in computer science and a decade of experience in app development and digital marketing, Kossi brings a wealth of knowledge and a unique perspective to the Apple Gazette team.

6 Comments

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  1. I bought a new MacBook, and the hard drive quit after five days. Took it to an Apple genius, he re-seated it, and it worked for another two weeks before failing completely. I was given a new computer, but I was treated like a criminal. The person who did the exchange said nobody else had experienced the problem.

    Thanks so much for the info!

  2. I have an infected Mini with AppleCare. I just spoke to Apple tech. He told me that there is no preventative measure yet offered by Apple. The drive has to fail first, then Apple will cover it.

  3. Had also some problems while the installation of Leopard with my “TOSHIBA MK2035GSS”, Version “DK021B”. Do you know of that problem too?

    I heard a lot of HD failures in MacBooks… Hope this issue gets solved soon – it would be very bad for the Apple brand to call back all those machines…