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MacBook Pro - doesn't boot - magsafe stays amber without battery

Hello, I have an issue with my mid-2014 13” Macbook Pro (A1502)

On Tuesday, I reached my computer after it was left charging for a while, opened it, woke up with fans spinning at full throttle, nothing on the screen, and after 30 seconds or so, it shut down by itself. Tried to restart it a number of times, with various results ranging from “no life at all” to “fan at full speed, apple logo on the screen, booting up for 15 secs and then shut down”. Tried SMC reset, successful (magsafe turning green then amber), but no change. Impossible to do a NVRAM reset, boot into recovery mode or diagnostics mode as the mac would just shut down before booting macOS.

Yesterday, it just didn’t want to start anymore… no sign of life except for a little noise in the case when i powered it on (it was the fan - see next paragraph).

Tried charging it, Magsafe turned amber, little heat coming from the case, but it stayed in that state for hours, longer than it usually takes for a full charge (even though it was probably at approx. 90% charge at least when I plugged it in). First weird issue.

Today, I decided to have a look inside, took out the motherboard, didn’t see any kind of visible damage. No water, nothing except a certain amount of dust.

Cleaned it up. Tried to boot. The computer actually reacts to the “power” key on the keyboard (so that’s not the issue). What actually happens is that the fan spins at slow speed (close to being silent), but that’s it. Tried booting with the battery disconnected, no change BUT I noted the MagSafe port turned amber… seems weird if there’s no battery to charge.

From my research and gut feeling, I would guess a shortage in the motherboard, but I do not have the knowledge and tools to diagnose further if that’s it. And it’s a 2014 MBP in a not-so-great shape (right speaker needs a replacement, screen is worn out…), so I’d rather upgrade for a new computer than spend hundreds on getting it fixed. Is there anything else I can try that’s reasonably cheap?

Thanks in advance ;-)

L.

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Follow this guide to disconnect the battery MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Mid 2014 Battery Replacement follow it to Step 6.

Now with nothing plugged in press the power button for a good 15 secs. Now carefully plug in your MagSafe charger the system should spontaneously start did it?

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4 Comments:

Hi! Tried that already, yes it starts (fan spins), but there’s no change in behavior. Fan spins slow, no noise of any kind, no response at all, blank screen etc.

I’ve also tried with an external monitor plugged into the HDMI port, in case it could be a screen issue, but nope.

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Sadly this is sounding like your logic board is gone. The logic board might be repairable you'll need to find someone with the deeper skills, tools and parts to fix it or you could just replace it.

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@danj That's what I was thinking.

My local Apple reseller shop asks for €560 to repair, more than the computer would be worth if I sold it in a working condition... and they're not even sure they can locate a board for me (it's considered "vintage" by Apple, so they don't guarantee available parts any more).

I'm in a rather remote area so finding a third party technician to fix the board is a dead end. Found offers online to repair, but it's like €300 + shipping back and forth... I feel like it's still too much given the overall condition of the computer.

I'll just wait for the ARM MacBook due at the end of the year, I guess... unless I can locate a cheap used board I could try to swipe in.

Thanks for the input, Dan!

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@lilianjvn - That reasonable! Let's see what Apple intro's next month. I'm very interested as well!

FYI: There are parts suppliers which sell recycled parts which are a bit banged up but still usable!

Even still your system has worth even for its parts!

Don't forget to accept the answer - Thanks!

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Lilian will be eternally grateful.
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