Had a 2018 MacBook Pro come in with a totally dead SSD, thought it was toast for sure.

Customer said it just died one morning. No chime, no recovery mode, nothing. I was about to quote them a whole logic board replacement, which is pricey. Then I remembered reading about a known issue with the T2 chip and SSD communication on some of those models. I tried a full SMC and PRAM reset, holding the keys for way longer than usual, like a full minute. It actually booted! The drive was fine, just a weird chip handshake failure. Saved the customer about $800. Has anyone else had a T2 Mac just pretend to be completely dead like that? What's your go-to reset sequence?

2 comments

2 Comments

jana_hernandez20h ago

Totally dead" seems a bit much for a reset fix. That's just a glitch, not a real hardware failure. Calling it toast was jumping the gun.

adams.faith18h ago

Well, a glitch that kills all signs of life is functionally dead until you fix it.