Reminds me of some encounters I had when I used to play RuneScape.

“I don’t think I’ve ever knowingly lied”

And this is how you immediately tell everybody you’re a liar.

Every now and then, I consider using a Google product, and then I remember this.

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Avoid the Apple silicone cases unless you’re getting a discount on them. Get a third-party case that supports MagSafe.

Good thing there’s an arrow pointing to the device, otherwise, I’d have no idea what he’s talking about!

/s

Hopefully it’s just a rumor.

Very interesting, thank you for the insight.

Those existed in 2012 MacBooks?

You’re most welcome.

Do you remember if FileVault was enabled? My understanding is that if it was, then the HDD’s contents will be encrypted and you’ll need either the Mac account’s password or FileVault recovery key to access the files. Without FileVault enabled, I’d imagine it’d be plug-n-play.

Make sure you follow a guide for getting the HDD out. There are comments on the guide, read them for helpful tips.

If the HDD seems to be dead (clicking noises, disk isn’t spinning, etc.) I’d highly recommend stopping whatever you’re doing in that moment and bring the HDD to data recovery specialists. They are not cheap, but for good reason. What they do is not easy and very resource-consuming even when all fails.

EDIT: typos.

I don’t know all the specifics about Macs, but I’ve done a little Googling and have replaced storage devices in PCs many times, so here’s my 2 cents:

• It seems like the HDD is just using SATA and is 2.5", so an enclosure for that would work, but I would NOT store things you care about on a 10 year old HDD with potential liquid damage. Just get a SATA to USB adapter to get what you need.

• If there are 2 HDDs, chances are only one of them has the personal data you care about on it.

• I don’t think it would be particularly difficult to open and remove the HDD, assuming you have appropriate tools.

• Linux may recognize the HDD. Otherwise, macOS will work.

EDIT: It sounds liku you may have the retina display version, which came with an NVMe m.2 SSD, which is not SATA.

… if you accept the quote, then yes, you’d pay $300. Otherwise, you can reject it and take home the un-repaired device.

No, at least, not in the USA.