AppleInsider Staff
Apple on Thursday released an update for its MacBook Air lineup meant to test the thin-and-light laptop's solid-state drive for a data loss issue and, if no fault is found, install a fresh firmware version.
Apple's MacBook Air Flash Storage Firmware Update 1.1 specifically targets mid-2012 models, a "small percentage" of which was found to have flash drives containing an unspecified issue that erases data. As noted below, if a problem is discovered and the drive cannot be update, Apple will replace the affected SSD at no cost.
From the release notes:
Apple has discovered that a small percentage of flash storage drives in these MacBook Air models have an issue that may result in data loss. This update tests your drive and, in the majority of cases, installs new firmware to resolve the issue. If your drive cannot be updated, Apple will replace it, free of charge.
It is unknown how widespread the issue may be, though a quick search of Apple's Support Communities forum reveals multiple threads pertaining to SSD failures and data loss.
Accordingly, the company announced a recall on certain 64- and 128-gigabyte flash storage drives used in MacBook Air systems sold between June 2012 and June 2013. Running the new firmware update will determine if a user's system needs a replacement.
The latest Flash Storage Firmware Update 1.1 can be downloaded via Apple's support downloads webpage or Software Update and is recommended for all mid-2012 MacBook Air models.
Charles Martin
Christine McKee
Wesley Hilliard
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12 Comments
This is what I like about Apple. They really stand behind their products.
This is what I like about Apple. They really stand behind their products.
Each time there's a MacBook Air article like this I click on the headline hoping to read that Apple have done something about the 2013 MBA wifi disconnect and performance problem. Alas not yet.
Still, always good to hear that other issues are being resolved.
[quote name="sflocal" url="/t/160233/apple-issues-macbook-air-firmware-update-to-test-for-ssd-failures#post_2419077"]This is what I like about Apple. They really stand behind their products.[/quote] Yep, incentive enough to consider Apple products. To be honest though this is the first I've heard of this issue, so apparently its isn't wide spread.
I have experienced this issue with my 2012 MacBook Air back in September. Took it in to the Apple Store and got the SSD replaced (still under warranty). Luckily I was still able to backup my data in Recovery Mode when the SSD started failing. Glad to see Apple being proactive on this and prevent others from losing their data.
[quote name="acgmph" url="/t/160233/apple-issues-macbook-air-firmware-update-to-test-for-ssd-failures#post_2419195"]I have experienced this issue with my 2012 MacBook Air back in September. Took it in to the Apple Store and got the SSD replaced (still under warranty). Luckily I was still able to backup my data in Recovery Mode when the SSD started failing. Glad to see Apple being proactive on this and prevent others from losing their data. [/quote] Somehow it reads as you don't us TimeMachine. If true, is that because you're using a laptop? I don't know as I simply pop in a new HDD when the current one is full in my MP.