2014 MacBook Air Hard Drive Failure

wyliecoyote1

Hello all,

I bought my MacBook Air in 2014 in Vancouver. It has been cherished and never dropped or mishandled.

Few days ago, I got the question mark folder upon startup and tried to locate the hard drive and failed. However, the MacBook does intermittently start up and will run for 30mins before it slows down and crashes again.

I brought it in to get repaired and they said it could be one of two things. Hard drive failure (big bucks) or hard drive cable (low bucks).

While in the shop I was informed that if I had bought my MacBook in the European Union I could avail of a six 6 European consumer law warranty whereby a failing hard drive would be repaired free of charge but because I bought it in Canada I cannot avail?

Is this entirely true? I don't feel I should have to fork out big bucks to repair something of this age ? Something I paid a bomb for to initially buy and it's already failing me ?

If it's the connection cable then fine, I can deal with that but what if it's something more serious like the hard drive.

Regards

whiterebel

wyliecoyote1 wrote: »

Hello all,

I bought my MacBook Air in 2014 in Vancouver. It has been cherished and never dropped or mishandled.

Few days ago, I got the question mark folder upon startup and tried to locate the hard drive and failed. However, the MacBook does intermittently start up and will run for 30mins before it slows down and crashes again.

I brought it in to get repaired and they said it could be one of two things. Hard drive failure (big bucks) or hard drive cable (low bucks).

While in the shop I was informed that if I had bought my MacBook in the European Union I could avail of a six 6 European consumer law warranty whereby a failing hard drive would be repaired free of charge but because I bought it in Canada I cannot avail?

Is this entirely true? I don't feel I should have to fork out big bucks to repair something of this age ? Something I paid a bomb for to initially buy and it's already failing me ?

If it's the connection cable then fine, I can deal with that but what if it's something more serious like the hard drive.

Regards

It's not a European consumer law, it's Irish consumer law and you have up to 6 years to make a claim, which may mean having to go through the small claims court, if contested. You would have to check if Canada offer anything similar, but even if they do you would have to ship it back and forward at your own expense. It's the downside of buying outside Ireland. Only thing you can do is try Apple a customer Service and ask them nicely if they will do anything.

Btw, there is a dedicated Mac forum here for future reference: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=108

If you have a look through that forum, I think this has been discussed before. Maybe try a search on "MacBook pro"

Oafley Jones

I can't see Apple offering to help you out (even if you ship it back) given that Canada's warranty is one year. What price are you being quoted? MBA compatible SSD upgrades weren't too bad in terms of price last time I checked (and that was two years ago).

wyliecoyote1

Thank you all for the replies

I fully understand that Canadian consumer law can't be used if I'm Ireland

I haven't been quoted for repair yet as it has to be diagnosed first, I'm just preparing for worse case scenario

Has anyone had any experience with good will gestures from apple?

I don't think it is fair for a premium brand like apple to expect customers to pay to fix something after three years. The MacBook was not heavily used.

The Canadian consumer law does state that goods "will be durable for a reasonable amount of time". Maybe I could use this a leverage . Once again I am aware that this is Canadian consumer law

Thanks

beauf

Did you ask Apple? They might offer some goodwill gesture.

wyliecoyote1

beauf wrote: »

Did you ask Apple? They might offer some goodwill gesture.

Not yet, I'm waiting to hear back from diagnostics

wyliecoyote1

beauf wrote: »

Did you ask Apple? They might offer some goodwill gesture.

Not yet, I'm waiting to hear back from diagnostics

wyliecoyote1

Ok, so diagnostics complete. Compub quoting 480 as SSD as completely failed.

These seems extortionate. Having a look around the web it's looks like this can be carried out for half price. Please see link below to make sure I'm reading this correctly.

It looks like 79 Euro for OS reinstallation and 68 euro for 500gb hard drive ?

Am I reading this correctly?

Also, mods, is it possible to move this to the MacBook section please. I wasent aware one existed

https://www.ielectron.ie/repair-services/laptop-computer-repairs/os-reinstall

jamesd

A solid state drive (SSD) is more expensive, have a look here for a price http://eu.crucial.com/eur/en/storage-info , then say another €100 on top to fit it and install the OS.

wyliecoyote1

jamesd wrote: »

A solid state drive (SSD) is more expensive, have a look here for a price http://eu.crucial.com/eur/en/storage-info , then say another €100 on top to fit it and install the OS.

Thanks for reply. I've looked online and seems simple enough to replace. I may try and do it myself

Only issue is reinstalling os

Do you know if it's possible to reinstall directly from the computer itself or do I have to reinstall via a USB stick ??

jamesd

wyliecoyote1 wrote: »

Thanks for reply. I've looked online and seems simple enough to replace. I may try and do it myself

Only issue is reinstalling os

Do you know if it's possible to reinstall directly from the computer itself or do I have to reinstall via a USB stick ??

Came up on a Google.


Before removing your existing hard disk, follow the steps given below:

Download El Capitan (OS X 10.11) from the Mac App Store.
Create a bootable installer for OS X. For this you will need a USB flash drive.
Both of the above steps are outlined at the Apple web site: "Create a bootable installer for OS".

Once your new disk is installed, do the following.

Insert the flash drive in a USB port on your Mac.
Start the Mac and hold down the option key.
Select to boot from the flash drive.
Use the Disk Utility application to create a single partition to install El Capitan (OS X 10.11).
Quit the Disk Utility application.
Select "Reinstall OS X".

whiterebel

I replaced the SSD in my Macbook Air. I bought a Transcend SSD, with a USB3 enclosure included. I could back up the HD onto the new SDD in the enclosure, and then transfer the SSD into MBA. I then have the old 128GB SDD in the enclosure as a back up.

lotmc

I recently replaced the hard drive in a 2012 macbook pro, with a 128GB ssd that I bought from Amazon.com for $55. The old hard drive was completely dead (damaged by a very strong magnet - another story), so I could not do a back-up.
It was simple to take out the old one and put in the new one. I followed a youtube guide on what screws to remove etc but it was very easy (and I am not techy).
Once I booted it up, held down command and R buttons and it went into recovery mode. Was then able to install ios on the new ssd without any licences / codes / disks. Then I was able to update the ios to macOS Sierra (free, and no licence / codes etc). All very easy.
Only regret was maybe not spending a bit more for a 500GB one, but I was not confident that it would work so limited my spend to the minimum.

wyliecoyote1

Brilliant, im gonna try it myself.

Can anyone recommend anywhere to buy one?

Ideally, i would like to upgrade to 250gb.

Prices on amazon seem expensive and anywhere else i look is also quite expensive

Oafley Jones

wyliecoyote1 wrote: »

Brilliant, im gonna try it myself.

Can anyone recommend anywhere to buy one?

Ideally, i would like to upgrade to 250gb.

Prices on amazon seem expensive and anywhere else i look is also quite expensive

Bare in mind that the MBA doesn't have a traditional SSD form factor like that of a traditional HD as used in a older MBP. It's like a proprietary PCIe card, hence the cost.

Blazer

wyliecoyote1 wrote: »

Brilliant, im gonna try it myself.

Can anyone recommend anywhere to buy one?

Ideally, i would like to upgrade to 250gb.

Prices on amazon seem expensive and anywhere else i look is also quite expensive

here's guide to it..as said above macbooks use pci-e ssd hence are more expensive than the normal sata models.

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Air+13-Inch+Early+2014+Solid-State+Drive+Replacement/24754

wyliecoyote1

Blazer wrote: »

here's guide to it..as said above macbooks use pci-e ssd hence are more expensive than the normal sata models.

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Air+13-Inch+Early+2014+Solid-State+Drive+Replacement/24754

yeah ive seen this one, seems idiot proof.

Only struggle is trying to find one thats not expensive