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The April 2014 update of the 11" MacBook Air packs refreshed dual-core i5 and i7 Haswell processors and slightly increased battery performance.

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Battery is not charging

The battery on my Macbook Air is not charging, even though the power cord is connected. The LED is unlit on the MagSafe connector. Trying different outlets and a spare power adaptor made no difference.

The battery indicator in the Status Menu Bar shows the power source is the power adaptor and the battery is not charging.

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However, the battery system preference says it is charging when the power adaptor is connected.

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If I unplug the power adaptor, it shows this.

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I replaced the battery and and it still didn’t charge, even after resetting the SMC several times. As long as the power adaptor is connected the battery level currently remains steady at 47%. Next, I replaced the I/O board, which other posts suggested might be the culprit, and still no go. I did reset the SMC again several times after the I/O board replacement.

Any ideas on what the issue might be and next steps?

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Inspect your MagSafe cord for damage like:

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Also inspect the pins

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As well as the systems contacts and the insulator area make sure both are clean

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Use some isopropyl alcohol and cotton swabs (Q-Tips) to clean both. You may need a fresh pink pencil eraser to polish the contacts

Did that fix things? If not you’ll need to inspect your connections focus on the I/O board MacBook Air 11" Early 2014 I/O Board Replacement you may need to replace it if the contacts look burnt like this one

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6 Comments:

@Dan. I did inspect the MagSafe cord for damage and there was none. I even tried a new spare cord and power block on a different power outlet with the same results.

I originally cleaned the contacts and that didn't help either. I purchased an I/O board from IFIXIT and installed it earlier today (I replaced the battery last week) neither of which resolved the issue. I'm kind of stumped at this point.

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@mevangelista - Not good ;-{ The charging logic on the main logic board has a problem. This will need someone with deeper skills to troubleshoot and replace the damaged SMT devices. or you could just replace the logic board:

∙ 11" MacBook Air Logic Board - 1.3GHz i5 8GB, Apple P/N 661-7470

∙ 11" MacBook Air Logic Board - 1.4GHz i5 8GB, Apple P/N 661-00061

∙ 11" MacBook Air Logic Board - 1.7GHz i7 8GB, Apple P/N 661-7472

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@Dan - I was afraid it was the logic board. Having already purchased and replaced the battery and I/O board, I don't think its worth sinking any more money into a 7+ year-old MacBook Air. This one served me well. Time to get a new one.

In hindsight, I do recall a couple of times recently where the bottom was getting unusually hot and I could hear the fan revving quite loudly. It may have overheated and damaged the logic board. Thank you for your suggestions and evaluation.

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@mevangelista - Sorry to hear that. anyways... Can you score the answer and accept it - Thanks!

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@Dan - I didn't see any way to adjust the default score prior to or after accepting the answer, but I did accept it.

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