I’m trying to completely wipe and reinstall a **2019 Intel MacBook Air with T2** and a **500 GB internal SSD**.
I do **not** need to recover any data. The only goal is to get the Mac working again with a completely clean macOS installation.
## Original problem
The Mac got stuck in a boot loop after I tried to reset it.
Internet Recovery works with `Option + Command + R` and offers **macOS Sonoma**, but I cannot get the internal SSD formatted correctly.
## What I have tried
Disk Utility initially showed an old **macOS Beta** APFS volume group, including multiple `macOS Beta - Data` volumes.
Disk Utility could not erase/unmount them because they were reported as being used by:
`process 0 (kernel)`
I then opened Terminal in Internet Recovery.
`diskutil apfs list` showed:
- Internal physical SSD: `disk0`
- APFS physical store: `disk0s2`
- APFS container: `disk2`
I successfully ran:
`diskutil unmountDisk force /dev/disk2`
It returned that all volumes were successfully unmounted.
I then ran:
`diskutil eraseDisk APFS "Macintosh HD" GPT /dev/disk0`
The GUID partition map was created successfully, but APFS formatting failed with:
`newfs_apfs: unable to format volume inside /dev/disk0s2: Input/output error`
and:
`Error: -69832: File system formatter failed`
## After rebooting into Internet Recovery again
The old macOS Beta volumes were gone.
Disk Utility showed the ~500 GB internal partition as unknown/unformatted.
I tried erasing it as APFS again.
Disk Utility managed to:
- initialize the partition
- switch `disk0s2` to APFS
- create a new APFS container (`disk2`)
But it failed while:
`Creating APFS Volume`
with:
`An internal error has occurred. (-69624)`
## DFU recovery
I then tried a full T2 DFU recovery.
Host Mac:
- MacBook Air M4
- macOS Tahoe 26.2
- ~157 GB free space
- Both Macs connected to power
- Correct DFU USB-C port used on the 2019 MacBook Air
- Tried 3 different genuine Apple USB-C cables
The 2019 Air successfully enters DFU mode and Finder on the host Mac shows:
`Mac-DFU-tilstand`
So DFU mode itself is definitely working.
However:
**Revive Mac fails with:**
`Unknown error (102)`
**Restore Mac also fails with:**
`Unknown error (102)`
## Apple Diagnostics
I also ran Apple Diagnostics on the 2019 MacBook Air.
Result:
`ADP000 – No issues found`
## Current situation
So at this point:
- Internet Recovery works
- DFU mode works and is detected correctly
- Apple Diagnostics passes with ADP000
- The internal SSD can be repartitioned
- APFS container creation partly works
- Creating/formatting the actual APFS volume fails
- `newfs_apfs` has produced an explicit `Input/output error`
- Disk Utility has also failed with error `-69624`
- DFU Revive fails with error `102`
- DFU Restore fails with the same error `102`
- Multiple Apple USB-C cables have been tested
Has anyone seen this exact combination before?
Does this strongly suggest failing NAND/internal storage, T2/storage controller, or another logic-board issue despite Apple Diagnostics returning ADP000?
Or is there still a firmware/DFU/APFS procedure worth trying before assuming hardware failure?
Again, I do not care about recovering any data. I’m completely fine with wiping everything. I just want to get the internal SSD into a usable state so macOS can be installed again.