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Apple releases Flash Storage Firmware Update 1.1 for mid-2012 MacBook Air, launches replacement program for affected drives

Apple has released a firmware update for the mid-2012 MacBook Air. The update attempts to resolve an issue that affects 64 GB and 128 GB models sold between June 2012 and June 2013. Apple says that the problem could lead to data loss. As this is a serious issue, the company has agreed to replace any affected drives that are unable to be updated. If the update installer detects that your drive is one of the models needing to be replaced, it will direct you to a page on Apple’s website that will allow you to obtain a replacement … 

Apple also warns that if you have an affected drive, you should not attempt to install any additional software or updates. Instead, you should immediately backup your drive and look into your replacement options.

IMPORTANT: If your drive is affected, we strongly recommend that you do not install any operating system updates or new applications. We also recommend backing up your data on a regular basis until you receive a replacement drive.

The firmware update is available on Apple’s support website or through the Software Update tab in the Mac App Store.

This firmware update is recommended for MacBook Air (mid 2012) models.

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

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Comments

  1. William - 10 years ago

    Reblogged this on William's iBlog.

  2. kensation - 10 years ago

    My hard drive literally died last night in my Mid 2012 MacBook Air. It’s at the Apple store getting fixed right now.

    • Andrew Greaney - 10 years ago

      My drive died last night. I have to wait a week for an appointment! Can you let us know if yours was replaced for free?

      • kensation - 10 years ago

        Luckily my MBA was still under Applecare. But I will see if they mention anything to me when I go and pick it up.

  3. I just bought an OWC SSD to replace the SSD that failed. I hope Apple can refund me some of that money.

  4. Timothée Gauthier - 10 years ago

    I already ended up losing data from this issue, nice to see apple resolve it now though.

  5. Vladimir Y (@vyarosh) - 10 years ago

    No such under Mavericks GM

    • Stephen Nostromo - 10 years ago

      I seem to have the same issue. Though I download the app from the main site, it says it’s not for this computer which isn’t quite true since it fits exactly from that time frame. Also, shouldn’t it just say, it’s ok or not? then why does it say it’s not from that batch? Makes no sense unless you can’t run it off of a Mavericks OS… ???

  6. Alexander Bogatskiy - 10 years ago

    My SSD failed just less than a month out of warranty. Since replacing it at an authorized center costs ridiculously much money (about $1000), I replaced it with one by OWC for $160, just this monday. And now nobody is going to return my money. And I doubt I need a second SSD even if they agree to replace. So it’s a big screw up. Buying this MBA a couple months later would probably have saved me a lot of money and adoration for Apple.

  7. Jim November - 10 years ago

    is it Affected or Effected?

    • NQZ (@surgesoda) - 10 years ago

      Affected. 90% of the time, it’s always affected :P
      “Effect” and “Effected” have limited use.

      • Jim November - 10 years ago

        Thanks
        I looked it up and you are right.

  8. Paul Maneesilasan - 10 years ago

    I wish this was posted about a month ago the ssd in my 2012 mba failed. It took at last a week before I finally got my mba back, luckily it was still under warranty. I highly recommend this to any 2012 mba owners, my drive totally failed without warning. If it does happen, you might have a chance go boot into recovery mode and from the terminal copy as much as you can to an external usb drive. I had only one opportunity to do this (which I did) before it never was never able to mount the internal SSD again (even in recovery mode).

    • beyondthetech - 10 years ago

      Wow, that’s exactly what I did with my 2012 MBA. Booted into single user mode, mounted a USB flash drive, and copied everything out.

  9. Stephen Nostromo - 10 years ago

    So, I’m running Mavericks (GM) on my MacBook Air which I got in April 2013, (it should also be part of this batch right?). Yet when I run the app it says this is not for this computer. What the heck? Is it because it’s not on MacOS 10.8? How else can I verify if my machine might be in danger?

    • Martyn Hanmore - 10 years ago

      I have the same question; the apple website and the software error message don’t give much comfort that I’m not about to lose data! Would be really appreciative of anyone who can confirm that the “not compatible” message means “not subject to the problem”!

  10. tuesdaydreams - 10 years ago

    Reblogged this on Tuesday Dreams and commented:
    Mine died end of August, luckily was covered still before they issued this. They couldn’t understand what happened, I guess now we know!