Fusion Drive and Time Capsule recovery

Two Apple storage products that fail in their own particular ways: the hybrid drive inside many iMacs, and the backup unit that was supposed to be the safety net.

Ask about data recovery Call 020 7237 6805

Fusion Drive

A Fusion Drive, fitted to iMac and Mac mini models from late 2012, is two devices presented as one: a small, fast SSD and a large hard drive. macOS decides which files live where and moves them around over time.

Because the volume spans both, neither half is readable alone. The hard drive holds most of the data, the SSD holds the newest and most-used files and part of the structure. When the hard drive fails, as it usually does first, both devices are copied and the volume is rebuilt from the copies.

Time Capsule

A Time Capsule is a Wi-Fi base station with a 3.5-inch hard drive inside, used for Time Machine backups. The early flat models in particular are known for power supply failures: the unit goes dead, and the drive inside is usually perfectly healthy.

The drive is removed and copied. Time Machine stores its backups in a sparse bundle, a folder of many thousands of small pieces that together form a disk image. That image is reassembled and your files, including earlier versions, are extracted from it.

Model	Years	Model number	Drive
Time Capsule, 1st generation	2008	A1254	3.5-inch SATA hard drive
Time Capsule, 2nd generation	2009	A1302	3.5-inch SATA hard drive
Time Capsule, 3rd generation	2009 to 2010	A1355	3.5-inch SATA hard drive
Time Capsule, 4th generation	2011	A1409	3.5-inch SATA hard drive
AirPort Time Capsule, tower	2013	A1470	3.5-inch SATA hard drive

What to do now

Do not split, erase or "fix" a Fusion Drive in Disk Utility or Terminal.
For a Fusion Drive, both the hard drive and the SSD are needed. Send the iMac or Mac mini, or both devices.
For a dead Time Capsule, do not keep reconnecting the power. Send the whole unit.
If the Time Machine backup is encrypted, have the backup password ready.

Recovery starts with a professional evaluation, charged at £94.80. It tells you what has failed and what can be recovered, and you then receive a fixed price for the recovery itself.

We collect drives and devices by insured courier from anywhere in the UK, or you can post yours tracked and insured, or bring it to the workshop in London SE1. See how to send a drive safely.

Common questions

The SSD part of my Fusion Drive is fine and the hard drive is dead. Is everything lost?

No. The hard drive is recovered as far as its condition allows, and the volume is rebuilt with the SSD. How much comes back depends on the hard drive.

My Mac died and my Time Capsule died too. Can you get the backup out?

Usually. The drive inside the Time Capsule is recovered, and the Time Machine backup on it is opened to extract your files.

Get a price from a technician

Tell us the make, the model and what has gone wrong. A technician replies with a price and the quickest way to get your laptop to us – normally the same working day.

020 7237 6805

Creative IT workshop
Unit 1, 80 Willow Walk, London SE1 5SY
Monday to Saturday, 9am–6pm