Apple aware some MacBooks contain flawed Seagate drives
Apple Inc. is acknowledging that some of its MacBook notebooks shipped with hard disk drives plagued by a manufacturing flaw that can result in permanent data loss even when used under routine operating conditions.
The issue, reported earlier this month by U.K.-based data-recovery firm Retrodata and subsequently covered by AppleInsider, is confined to Seagate 2.5-inch SATA drives that are manufactured in China and loaded with firmware Version 7.01.
The affected drives -- model numbers ST96812AS and ST98823AS -- are commonly found in notebooks such as Apple's MacBook or MacBook Pro, the firm says. To determine whether a MacBook has one of the affected drives, it's suggested that owners go to their Mac's System Profiler application and check the revision number under the Serial ATA listing.
If the System Profiler indicates that the computer is using a Seagate hard drive with firmware Version 7.01, Retrodata recommends backing up all data and then having the drive replaced.
The firm had previously criticized Apple as being "utterly irresponsible" for its silent stance on the matter and not immediately commissioning a recall of all systems that included the Seagate manufactured part.
While Apple has still not issued a recall or warning to customers, spokesman Cameron Craig said this week that the company is aware that there might be a problem. "We've received a few reports that some MacBook consumer notebooks may have hard drive issues, and we're looking into it," he told InformationWeek.
As part of its continued coverage of the vulnerability, Retrodata this week said it continues to receive "quantities" of the affects drives for recovery, nearly all of which display the same cause of failure -- the read/write heads appear to fail mechanically, quickly causing deep scratches to the platter surface, and rendering the drives practically unrecoverable.
A Retrodata image showing a bad drive head found inside one of the Seagate drives.
The bad drive head quickly causing deep scratches to the drive's platter surface.
The firm believes the problem is the result of a manufacturing flaw, and not in the design of the drive. Nevertheless, it says any sizeable manufacturer should by this stage be aware of such a problem and issue a product recall notice, or an offer to have the drive exchanged for a suitable alternative at their own expense.
"It's Seagate's problem, but it's Apple's responsibility to address the problem, since they're providing the part," said Duncan Clarke, managing director for Retrodata. "Apple needs to own up and take action."
The issue, reported earlier this month by U.K.-based data-recovery firm Retrodata and subsequently covered by AppleInsider, is confined to Seagate 2.5-inch SATA drives that are manufactured in China and loaded with firmware Version 7.01.
The affected drives -- model numbers ST96812AS and ST98823AS -- are commonly found in notebooks such as Apple's MacBook or MacBook Pro, the firm says. To determine whether a MacBook has one of the affected drives, it's suggested that owners go to their Mac's System Profiler application and check the revision number under the Serial ATA listing.
If the System Profiler indicates that the computer is using a Seagate hard drive with firmware Version 7.01, Retrodata recommends backing up all data and then having the drive replaced.
The firm had previously criticized Apple as being "utterly irresponsible" for its silent stance on the matter and not immediately commissioning a recall of all systems that included the Seagate manufactured part.
While Apple has still not issued a recall or warning to customers, spokesman Cameron Craig said this week that the company is aware that there might be a problem. "We've received a few reports that some MacBook consumer notebooks may have hard drive issues, and we're looking into it," he told InformationWeek.
As part of its continued coverage of the vulnerability, Retrodata this week said it continues to receive "quantities" of the affects drives for recovery, nearly all of which display the same cause of failure -- the read/write heads appear to fail mechanically, quickly causing deep scratches to the platter surface, and rendering the drives practically unrecoverable.
A Retrodata image showing a bad drive head found inside one of the Seagate drives.
The bad drive head quickly causing deep scratches to the drive's platter surface.
The firm believes the problem is the result of a manufacturing flaw, and not in the design of the drive. Nevertheless, it says any sizeable manufacturer should by this stage be aware of such a problem and issue a product recall notice, or an offer to have the drive exchanged for a suitable alternative at their own expense.
"It's Seagate's problem, but it's Apple's responsibility to address the problem, since they're providing the part," said Duncan Clarke, managing director for Retrodata. "Apple needs to own up and take action."
Comments
On the other hand, maybe this is a scheme to get everyone to purchase a second hard drive to back data up.
Scare the consumer into buying your product.
You would be joining that lawsuit had you lost all of your work or financial data.
On the other hand, maybe this is a scheme to get everyone to purchase a second hard drive to back data up.
Scare the consumer into buying your product.
Well their product is expensive data recovery so assuming you had a backup, you wouldn't need their service. On the other hand, I don't know anybody who hasn't had a "man I wish I had a backup now" moment. Mine was after a lovely pinball sound started coming from my desktop.
And with Time Machine, it is extremely easy to back up. I don't even think about it (although I do check to make sure it is there now and again). Having backups are always a good idea.
My Macbook didn't have a Seagate drive in it and I replaced it right away with a bigger Samsung so this particular problem won't affect me.
Also... FWIW, the new Santa Rosa Macbook seems to ship with Hitachi drives.
And now: Retrodata: just who are you? I love the fact that they think it is any drive that has a firmware version of 7.01. The firmware has NOTHING to do with the mechanical defects; it isn't even a good way to identify the drive, besides, bad drives can have a different firmware version. Apple and Seagate are looking into which batches of drives are effected. They will have Serial number series of effected drives, and not rely on a firmware number, and for them to call Apple "Utterly Irresponsible" for not issuing a recall on ALL MacBooks for simply having a Seagate hard disk is far more Irresponsible. The recall may only affect a couple thousand units and not the ENTIRE product line.
Once they have it narrowed down to which batch of drives have manufacturers defects they will have to cross reference with which Serial Numbered Machines have been affected: ONLY THEN can they issue a recall. It is rather clear that Retrodata has no idea how a recall process works, NO ONE issues a recall very quickly, sometimes it takes years.
Mark my words, Apple WILL issue a recall on those units affected and extend the warranty of the effected part for a total of 3 years. If you are freaking out about whether or not you have one of these units, buy a replacement drive, (might be a good time to upgrade) MacBook drives are user serviceable and easy to do, MacBook Pro users, not so easy.
Am I in trouble? I've been using this since it was introduced, a year and a half ago. It's the first Core Solo Mac Mini.
I had no problems with it..
Thanks
Hi, could those of you who have id'd the drive in their MacBooks list some of the information about your computer? My sister has a core duo MacBook bought a few months before they went to core 2 duo processors. So if the machines affected are limited to say core 2 duo machines I now she's alright, if not I'll want to address this. She has had some issues, but unfortunately she's not very computer savvy so it's hard to say if her little problems are related to just her along or her and hardware. It'd not be a problem if this particular product didn't have all the other issues associated with it.
Thanks
Until Seagate and Apple nails down serial number runs, you can't assume anything at this point. The model and firmware version that Retrodata is saying is flawed has been a model and firmware Apple has been using in models dating back almost 2 years. No one from that far back has really reported this issue.
I have a Mini CD 1.83 with one of the 'afflicted' drives. It has had minor data corruption issues since the day I bought it. I have a Mini C2D 1.83 with an Hitachi 80 GB drive that I've just replaced with a Samsung Spinpoint 120 GB drive. I'm putting the Hitachi into the CD Mini and hanging onto the Seagate until Apple decides to do something about this.
I'm tired of fixing the data corruption weekly and I do not want to wait until the dang thing fails suddenly.
To find out what drive you have installed, click on the Apple in the upper left, then About This Mac, then More Info, then Serial-ATA. If it's an affected drive, it will be either ST96812AS or ST98823AS with firmware 7.01.
My close work colleague has the 'known' issue of vertical lines of dead or discoloured pixels on his 17inch G4 Powerbook ...i'm going help him with his situation, but once again, Apple seem to not only ignore the problem...but delete threads on their own discussion!!!
There aren't many companies who actively censor their users and the experiences that they have.
Public dissent is controlled in politics and the media!, and then whitewashed with propaganda. Familiar?
Curious to know what the best way to resolve this is. I had a (well, several) 40gb non-photo ipod, a widely considered 'lemon' of the family. i showed an Apple 'genius' some not particularly scientific, but nonetheless real survey results i'd found that concurred that there was an issue with this model. Said 'genius' responded that Apple don't acknowledge or consider research not carried out by them. No! They just delete it.
If i find out that my two work MacBook Pro's have this suspect Seagate drive, and i'd only have normally found this out hardway, i'll be proper cross!
Come on apple, don't just send us marketing emails and mailshots...look after your 'valued' customers.
MacBooks, MacBook Pros and Minis all have the affected drives installed.
I have a Mini CD 1.83 with one of the 'afflicted' drives. It has had minor data corruption issues since the day I bought it. I have a Mini C2D 1.83 with an Hitachi 80 GB drive that I've just replaced with a Samsung Spinpoint 120 GB drive. I'm putting the Hitachi into the CD Mini and hanging onto the Seagate until Apple decides to do something about this.
I'm tired of fixing the data corruption weekly and I do not want to wait until the dang thing fails suddenly.
To find out what drive you have installed, click on the Apple in the upper left, then About This Mac, then More Info, then Serial-ATA. If it's an affected drive, it will be either ST96812AS or ST98823AS with firmware 7.01.
Oh for the love of Pete people:
Data corruption would be caused by a different issue than this, this is a Mechanical failure, data corruption is caused by other issues.
Oh for the love of Pete people:
Data corruption would be caused by a different issue than this, this is a Mechanical failure, data corruption is caused by other issues.
Agreed. If the heads were indeed diving down and gouging the platter, you would also be losing a significant amount of drive capacity. If you have had to reformat your harddrive after one of these corruptions and come up many GB short of what you expected, I would think that you might be one of the people affected by this issue, but if you recovered your drive and continue to routinely write data to your drives, the likelihood that you are having this type of catastrophic failure is probably pretty low.
Moving right along, seems to be an awful wide net they're casting for. A build-date would be handy. I've got mine on the receipt. I mean they can't be ALL bad right? I mean what's next - lead in toys from China? Contaminated Pet food? Pullleeze.
Lead is of-the-earth you know. Like nature's candy. Or Mercury - nature's LSD.
Also - hate to cast doubt because I'm not an Apologist for Seagate - but wouldn't a drive head exhibit such an effect if the laptop was dropped when the heads weren't parked?
I have a Mac Mini that has this model: ST96812AS - firmware version: 7.01
Am I in trouble? I've been using this since it was introduced, a year and a half ago. It's the first Core Solo Mac Mini.
I had no problems with it..
Usually there's no way to know the real risk of any hardware problem on the Internet because of the Internet Bullhorn Effect. Here, it doesn't seem to be very big. There's an occasional problem thread and statements by a repair company in the UK. That doesn't sound like much. Someone mentioned that no one seems to be tracking serial numbers, it could be isolated blocks of serial numbers but there isn't any information. For all I know, it's scaremongering in order to get attention and to sell replacement drives.
Even if you're in the clear, you should have a backup drive and update it often.
You all need to realize that the "reports" on this issue is still very new, Apple doesn't have to respond the first freaking second something is found, they need to work with Seagate to figure out if it is only a problem with a certain lot of them, they are aware of the problem, and so they have taken the necessary steps at this point. But you CANNOT expect them to do something the second they hear of an issue, they need to collect a certain amount of data and determine what steps are necessary. A Class action lawsuit should not happen and if it were to happen it would work against what Apple should do, (issue a voluntary recall, and extend the warranty for 3 years on this part) that is how it has always happened in the past, A Class action lawsuit will likely thwart this. Apple won't feel obligated to issue a recall and extend the warranty on the drive if they have paid out to a class action. BTW: Apple is NOT responsible for the customer's data backup strategy (or lack thereof)
And now: Retrodata: just who are you? I love the fact that they think it is any drive that has a firmware version of 7.01. The firmware has NOTHING to do with the mechanical defects; it isn't even a good way to identify the drive, besides, bad drives can have a different firmware version. Apple and Seagate are looking into which batches of drives are effected. They will have Serial number series of effected drives, and not rely on a firmware number, and for them to call Apple "Utterly Irresponsible" for not issuing a recall on ALL MacBooks for simply having a Seagate hard disk is far more Irresponsible. The recall may only affect a couple thousand units and not the ENTIRE product line.
Once they have it narrowed down to which batch of drives have manufacturers defects they will have to cross reference with which Serial Numbered Machines have been affected: ONLY THEN can they issue a recall. It is rather clear that Retrodata has no idea how a recall process works, NO ONE issues a recall very quickly, sometimes it takes years.
Mark my words, Apple WILL issue a recall on those units affected and extend the warranty of the effected part for a total of 3 years. If you are freaking out about whether or not you have one of these units, buy a replacement drive, (might be a good time to upgrade) MacBook drives are user serviceable and easy to do, MacBook Pro users, not so easy.
Everyone needs to calm down and listen to roehlstation. He speaks wisely.
Until Apple tells you your machine was built with a bad drive and they offer to replace it, just back up your data responsibly or replace the drive yourself (if possible). The rest smells like fearmongering to me.
Has Seagate admitted to a problem yet? Presumably they'd have to recall them first... or else Apple's literally eating the cost of replacing all of those drives, for what may or may not actually be a line-wide problem...
Also... FWIW, the new Santa Rosa Macbook seems to ship with Hitachi drives.
Is this really true? because I'm purchasing a new Macbook Nov. 30th so I hope it does have a Hitachi drive. Is there a way to make sure my Macbook has a Hitachi drive before I purchase it from my local Apple store
Is this really true? because I'm purchasing a new Macbook Nov. 30th so I hope it does have a Hitachi drive. Is there a way to make sure my Macbook has a Hitachi drive before I purchase it from my local Apple store
Not until after you have purchased the machine and have taken it home.
At this point though I wouldn't worry too much, go to a place that has a lot of traffic, a place that has likely sold any of those affected machines a long time ago. The fact that the previous poster has a Hitachi drive in his machine is likely coincidence and not necessarily because of this, Apple has always rotated OEM hard drive manufacturers for this very reason, they wouldn't have to recall an entire product line because of faulty hard disks. I would say even if you were to get a Seagate drive in a brand new machine, it is likely fine, because Seagate would already have pulled those drives from delivery to Apple.
Another thing to keep in mind, Retrodata is located in the UK. The UK does not necessarily get their Apple products from the same place the US does, there is more than 1 factory building these computers. At this point the number of bad drives out there are a drop in the bucket compared to the number of units sold.