For anyone using a particular model of Apple's Time Capsule, it might be time to look for a new storage device, following a recent report of failure and data loss. Time Capsule is a wireless router with a built-in network-accessible hard drive. Apple no longer makes these devices, but they were sold within the last few years and offered a convenient way to back up one or more Mac computers using the Time Machine app included with macOS.
Apple had a whole line of wireless routers, the AirPort Base Station being the first of these and launching in 1999. The name became AirPort Extreme Base Station a few years later, boasting higher speeds and using the 802.11n wireless network standard, which is now known as Wi-Fi 4. Apple also sold network cards and standalone devices that were compatible with its base station routers, using the same naming scheme, AirPort and AirPort Extreme. The Time Capsule, later called AirPort Time Capsule, was an AirPort Extreme Base Station with a hard drive bundled in the same case to make a network drive.
According to a recent report from the German-language website, Dattenrettung Berlin, some models of Apple's fifth-generation Time Capsule product are suffering from a high failure rate and the recommendation is to back up data to another storage device and stop using these drives. Mac computers that rely on the network-accessible drive (NAS) might lose data with continued use. The data recovery service company said the affected devices contain a Seagate Grenada hard drive in capacities of 2 and 3-terabytes. The hard drive model numbers are listed as 'ST3000DM001' and 'ST2000DM001' but these match Seagate Barracuda, not Grenada drive model numbers. The 3-terabyte Seagate hard drive was the subject of a class-action lawsuit, but it was ruled that multiple classes were called for since the failure rate varied too much.
While there isn't an unusual number of problems with the Time Capsule appearing on Apple's customer discussion forums, the alert that there may be a problem combined with the tie-in to the Seagate class action suit is enough to warrant some concern. The particular nature of the flaw is described by Dattenrettung Berlin as a faulty parking mechanism. This is the process a hard drive uses when it sleeps or is turned off. A hard disk drive gets its name from the fact that data is magnetically recorded on a rigid disk that rotates at several thousand revolutions per minute, allowing quick access to a large amount of information.
The magnetic data is accessed via a read/write that moves in and out, hovering just a few nanometers over the rapidly spinning disk. If the head contacts the surface of the disk, large amounts of data can be lost or corrupted. This means a flaw in the parking mechanism can be catastrophic and particularly if Mac and MacBook Time Machine backups or other important information is stored there. With capacities of 2 and 3-terabytes, years' worth of data may be at risk. The affected Time Capsule models numbers are said to be 'ME177Z/A' and 'ME182Z/A.' While this information has yet to be confirmed by Apple, it would be wise to back up the data to another hard drive or cloud storage service, if possible.
Source: Dattenrettung Berlin, Top Class Actions
