Seagate Drives are Junk?

Question

My MacBook, one year and 10 days after I purchased it, just died. I learned that the drive, made by Seagate, was dead and all data lost and unrecoverable.
I am really ticked off because the Mac specialists who installed a new drive told me that these Seagate drives have been nothing but trouble and they've never been able to recover data once the drive crashed. Upon doing an internet search I discover quite a bit of info about this so Apple is not unaware of the problem. That's what makes me mad. There's no reason they couldn't have sent a technical bulletin to MacBook owners. I do back up on a regular schedule but still lost alot of valuable data; I'd have backed up alot more often if I'd have had some warning.
This really clouds my impression of Apple after 23 years of happily owning their products, supporting the company, and assuring everyone that "Apple held itself to higher standards with its products and its customer relations." That turns out to be bull.
I would sure like to have my data back, as well as my belief in a company that does things right rather than simply try to make a fortune off the backs of consumers. If anyone knows of a successful recovery of data from one of these dead drives, I'd like to know about it. In the meantime, quit reading messages and go back up your data!

Answer 1

Hard drives are incredibly complex mechanisms which have numerous vulnerable components. At one time or another every drive manufacturer has had a bad run of drives. It is true that in the past year one specific model made by Seagate has had higher than normal failure rates but not high enough to cause any manufacturer, including Seagate, to recall that one model.
Keep in mind that any hard drive, at any time, can fail - bad run or not. Further, keep in mind that with tens of millions of hard drives manufactured by Seagate every year, a very small failure percentage is going to result in a lot of failed hard drives. Reading online that lots of people have experienced hard drive failures without knowing exactly what model and lot number tells you absolutely nothing about the disposition of your hard drive.
And finally, keep in mind that it was *your failure* to keep a current backup. As a tech and IT instructor I have talked myself horse about the importance of frequent backups because it isn't a question of if your hard drive will fail, it is a question of when. Your real problem isn't with Apple. It is with yourself. Your failure to take responsibility for your inaction is the real problem. If you lost a lot of valuable data you don't have a regular backup strategy.