All drives will ultimately fail, could be 10years, could be 10mins. If you don’t want to lose your data, back it up. Have a storage drive and a backup drive. Don’t both connected them to the router. Use an alternative method to connect , like to a computer and have run a backup protocol on a regular basis. As for 2.5 over 3.5, the 3.5 are usually faster but it probably doesn’t matter reliability wise.
I would second the bad disk. I thought bad permission but since since it seems intermittent, the bad disk is the better guess. It would be good to get more info like what’s it running on, is it an array, etc.
Y’a, it’s a total pain in the butt. Angled pliers do work best. Good luck with your fillings. Also having the iMac laying down on the workbench helps.
if the water damaged mac doesn’t turn on, the target made with a thunderbolt cable won’t work. You will have to take out the SSD. For your Mac, you will need a specific drive enclosure to match the SSD. You will also need 2 screwdrivers, a torx5 and a pentalobe for opening the bottom case. Check out owc/max sales. They have the enclosure and the screwdriver kit.
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MAU3ENVOYPRO/
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TOOLKITMBA/
If the drive is encrypted, when it mounts on the functioning mac, you will get a prompt for the user name and password for the main account of your partner’s laptop.
I would stick with the wired HDMI connection rather than wireless. Casting will just increase traffic on your WiFi network for no reason and wired anything is usually more reliable once setup properly. Another advantage is it will bypass all the possibly annoying smartTV ads or pop ups if your tv does that.
Edit for spelling
You may be able order the cable off eBay. Some of the cables have a connector on each end which means you can replace it. If you damaged the connector on the logic board side you are a bit more screwed as that will mean a board replacement. Don’t spend money on new screws, just use needle nose pliers to hold the screw while you screw it in.
They are lost. Even if they found them alive, they can’t transfer them off the vehicle. they are even bolted in. the shell is made from 5 inch thick spun titanium carbon fiber with a bonded ring and a metal cap on each end. the pressure vessel most probably shattered then everything got squished.
edit for spelling
Shit it took me so long to write this, it’s now totally redundant. I left it just in case you are bored.
I use a 2 year old iPhone, a 10 year old MacBook Pro as my daily driver, a 10 year old Mac mini attached to a tv and an apple tv. I also use a home build windows11 desktop for my home use and gaming, a hp mini running pfsense and a server running truenas core.
To touch on your points, You pay for the Mac hardware and the OS is included. This is just like you buy an Android phone or a dell Linux desktop. With windows computer you are paying for windows license within the price of the unit. the Yearly (pain in the ass)macos or iOS upgrades are free but they usually have a cutoff of 5-7 years because of hardware comparability. This does not mean you can’t use you mac anymore, it just means you just can’t upgrade to the latest version with whatever new features or fixes it contains.
The only bloatware is Apple software you might not need. Depending on the platform and the version you can remove it. Unlike an android pone manufacturer which will bake in some of its bloatware on top of Android, then the provider adding their own on top of that. This may or not be removable. Let’s not even talk about Microsoft and oems although at least with windows you can wipe the unit to reinstall with just the Microsoft bloat then take care of that separately… linux is free of that
Most of Apple software is integrated with their iCloud service (overpriced for sure). Windows users can do a very basic integration with iCloud for windows but it does leave everyone else out. You can still use iCloud on any system through a browser to access any of that data. Almost all their software is Mac only. If you buy Final Cut or Logic Pro and you want to keep using it because you like it, you will be stuck on Mac.(I didn’t really understand your point on this part)
Yes they do like to give names to stuff. A lot of companies do it to try to differentiate themselves other companies. Some of it is like grocery store calling their staff “associates“ instead of staff. I really don’t see that as an issue.
I am not fan of all the types of screws they use, I’m looking at you freaking trilobe. I do like the pentalobe though, never stripped one of those. I think using torx is superior to flat head or Philips as those strip more often when you get to smaller size screw heads.
I am of the view of using the best tool for you for the job. I don’t like to tinker with my phone and my laptop. I need them to be reliable. I tinker on my windows desktop My server is rock solid and so is my pfense router.
If you like what you use, that’s awesome you found the right gear for yourself.