3 Trackpad stops working, even after full wipe/recovery install
So there's a ton of questions and answers on here, many coming down to possible issue with ribbon cable for track pad, or update to newer version of OSX, etc. Basically, on a friend's 15-month old MacBook Pro, trackpad just stops working (no haptic response when using it, no movement no pointer, etc). I did a clean wipe/install/updated her to High Sierra, and after about 8 hours, it finally reoccured after laptop was closed. Weirdly, then I plugged in a USB mouse, and 30 seconds later ... trackpad was responsive again -- and at the same time the computer brought up the mini pop up saying keyboard wasn't recognized, even though i did not attach an external keyboard. Does this particular behavior indicate anything to all the smart people who know this stuff much better than I do?
One quick addition: If this is a loose cable, it's pretty amazing that it worked all day and then stopped and then, without computer moving a hair, started working again.
Is this a good question?
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Did your friend buy this system used or reconditioned? It can't be 15 months old if he bought it new ;-}
by Dan
Well he bought it for his daughter who started high school last September ... so that's around then! He bought it new from the Apple store here near us. Thanks for the email below, I did read about the ribbon cable, i found it online. I wonder what the genius bar will say -- and what they'd charge to fix/debug ... thanks again!
by jctracey
Sounds like he got it just before the 2016 models came out. Did he get AppleCare for it? If he did then he might want to let Apple fix it (free)
by Dan
Alas, no AppleCare. They do have an appointment for the genius bar in a few days (very busy this time of year) to see what Apple says. Today it locked up totally, keyboard and trackpad. Are they both affected by the same cable, do you know? Also, it seems so strange that if it's a bad cable, that ... resetting the NVRAM would fix it temporarily (which it did). Oh well ... thanks again for our help, I found the cable and ordered it and if Apple says this will be a $600 repair or something, I'll give that a shot first most likely.
by jctracey