I’m trying to revive an Early 2013 MacBook Pro (15" Retina, i7/16GB/512GB). It previously had power issues, and a 2015 battery was forced into it (not by me). The machine worked for a bit, but now it’s completely dead.

Current situation:

• No battery installed at all
• MagSafe LED is amber, not green
• No chime, no fan twitch, no display
• SMC reset does nothing
• Battery connector pins look normal
• Power button does nothing
• I’m trying to make the Mac boot, even once, to recover data, NOT buy an adapter or external enclosure

I know amber with no battery means the battery sense line might be stuck low. I’m looking for actual repair advice, not “just buy an adapter.”

I just want my dad to get his MacBook back and he really doesn't care about it being portable. As a last resort I'm willing to buy a battery but I wanted to know If there was a real fix.

Board: MacBook Pro 13" M1, A2338, 820-02020 (no donor board available, all other parts duplicated)

History

• Board was fully working on the bench (booted, 20V negotiated) while I swapped it into a donor chassis.
• During final assembly I screwed the USB-C bracket down without the USB-C flex being connected. After noticing and connecting it properly: stuck at 5V.
• Replaced port flex/port board with donor parts → bare board briefly negotiated 20.52V / 0.089A. After reconnecting battery + BMS cable it dropped back to 5V and has stayed there since, even without battery.
• With battery A connected it occasionally negotiated 20V / 0.8A. Pressing the power button then made the USB-C meter reset and fall back to 5V.

Current state (USB-C meter)

• No battery: 5.1V, 0.135A → drops to 0.03A
• Battery A: constant 5V / 0.4A
• Battery B: dead or in protection (1.5V on PPBUS with only B connected)
• Same behaviour on both ports, with original and donor port flexes

Voltages (charger only, no battery unless noted)

• PPBUS_AON: 12.3V (CC340) without battery, 11.9V with battery A
• PP3V8_AON 3.8V | PP5V_S2 5.0V | PP3V3_S2 3.3V | PP1V8_S2 1.8V | PP1V25_S2 1.25V
• PP3V3_UPC0_LDO / UPC1: 3.3V / 3.3V | PP1V5_UPC0_LDO_CORE / UPC1: 1.5V / 1.5V
• PP1V8_AON_MPMU 1.8V | PP1V5_VLDOINT_MPMU 1.5V | MPMU_VREF 1.0V (C8204)
• PMU_ONOFF_L (R8324): ~1.8V, goes to 0V when the button is pressed → button OK

Diode mode (red on rail, black GND, cheap 3½-digit meter, values in V)

• PP1V8_AWAKE 0.163 (rising) | PP1V25_AWAKE_IO 0.733 | PP1V25_AWAKESW_VCCQ 1.896
• PP1V2_AWAKE_PLL rising to OL | PP2V5_AWAKE_NAND ~1.0 rising | PP0V88_AWAKESW_NAND 0.8
• PP0V88_S1 0.8 rising | PP0V805_S1_VDD_FIXED 0.5 | PP0V764_S1_SRAM 0.52
• PP0V6_S1_VDDQL 0.362 rising | PP1V06_S2SW_DRAM 0.06 | PPVDD_CPU_SRAM_AWAKE 0.82
• PPVDD_DISP_S1 0.080 | PPVDD_DCS_S1 0.53 | PPVDD_ECPU_AWAKE 0.08
• PPVDD_SOC_S1 0.029 | PPVDD_PCPU_AWAKE 0.03 | PPVDD_GPU_AWAKE 0.026

Comparison at the test points (diode / reversed probes / ohms):

• TPU6B6 DISP: 0.080 / 0.185 / 64Ω
• TPU6B2 ECPU: 0.081 / 0.079 / 73Ω
• TPU6B5 SOC: 0.028 / 0.034 / 20Ω
• TPU6B7 DCS: 0.53 / 0.303 / OL

→ I don’t see a hard short anywhere. DISP looks similar to ECPU.

DFU attempts

• Windows host with restorekit, known-good data cable, DFU port (left, closest to hinge)
• Manual DFU: power + L-Ctrl + L-Option + R-Shift, and “hold power while plugging in”
• Tried with and without battery, with the charger in the second port
• No USB enumeration at all (no Windows connect sound, nothing in Device Manager)
• JF600 and port flex look fine under the microscope

Questions

1. With all S2 rails and the UPC LDOs present but stuck at 5V and no DFU enumeration: what are the usual suspects on 820-02020?
2. Does anyone have reference diode values for PPVDD_DISP_S1 / ECPU / SOC on this board?
3. Is it worth trying DFU from an Apple Silicon host (restorekit dfu / Configurator), or does the missing enumeration on Windows already point to hardware?

Thanks!

Something got jammed in the back of this MacBook and damaged the ribbon cable. Trying to identify what the cable is for before continuing. The display is not coming on any longer but I went through the iFixit teardowns and it looks like the display might be a different cable. Just wanting to double check. Thanks for the help! This is a MacBook Air (M1, 2020)

My friend dropped my MacBook Air M1 on a straight surface, i told him to hold my slevve bag, i put my mac in it, and he justs drop the entire sleeve w my mac inside, well the sleeve kinda helped not cracking or damaging the display itself and only got a dent but still not an expert in this so can you guys tell me what should i do? Or is this fine?

If its fine, will it cause any issues in future? Or should i do something about it?

My water leaked in my school bag and now its literally under the screen. Its fully working (charging and everything) . Anyway to fix this at home?

Hi! I accidentally broke my screen while putting on a case last night. You can see exactly where my finger slipped 🤦🏼‍♀️ I’d like to fix it and maintain True Tone if possible as well. I’ve only had it 3 weeks and it was a gift so I’d like to repair it. I can’t recall if I really used True Tone, but I use it on my phone and like it so I probably had it on. I mainly use it for homework so I know it’s beneficial.

I think just LCD is broken not the backlight. I’ve looked at replacing the entire display but found that True Tone won’t work.

Then I saw some people just replacing the LCD which is a tedious task but I’ve done worse. Will doing this maintain True Tone? Or would I have to replace the LCD and take off the new camera and keep the old to keep that connection?

It probably won’t be worth having Apple repair it due to cost. Unfortunately it’s intel chip so I can’t use the built in feature to reconfigure that came with Tahoe. This was a nice upgrade from my 2015 Air and I’d love to keep it if I can figure out the most logical repair!! Thank you!!!

I received this Mac sight unseen as it wouldn't boot. Swapping the HDD for a SSD seemed to fix that issue as it would not show up on Disk Utility. But now with a working Operating system nothing shows up under the sound settings or under system identifier. I've tried resetting the SMC & NVRAM and plugging in some headphones to reset the switch but still nothing. I've read that I/O boards are common to go bad on these things.

Bought a 2nd Hand 2021 M1 Pro, 16" for £375 and it's in great condition, only problem is the battery is at around 674 Cycles & 83% Health. I'd love to replace the battery myself as I have done similar repairs before and after reading the iFixit Guide it definitely doesn't seem like the most difficult job, just have to be careful really.

Does anyone have any recommended Battery suppliers they would recommend for this? I was looking at the iFixit Kit but not sure if there is something better out there.

I think a battery replacement through Apple is £245 ($323) which seems so very high compared to how much I paid for the laptop.

Also, just feel like I have to say this, but this is my first ever MacBook and I am really enjoying using it, it's still lightning fast for everything I use it for. Really awesome laptop.

Bought this from a very close and trustworthy friend about a year ago, im pretty sure its a 2020 m1 chip macbook pro. Has given me no problems whatsoever until yesterday when I opened it up, turned it on, left the room for a few minutes and when I came back it was like this. I have taken it out of my house maybe 5 times since I got it and it usually just sits on my desk in my room. Does anyone know what might be wrong or if I can fix it myself? I have no computer repair experience and really dont have any money whatsoever to get it fixed by a professional, any and all suggestions are appreciated

Hi! I dropped my MacBook Neo a few weeks ago, but only noticed an issue a day or two ago. There’s a yellowish/greenish haze along the left edge of the display, most noticeable on dark backgrounds and at 100% brightness.
I also recently discovered that the display lid and body might be slightly misaligned. When closed, the gap along the left side gets progressively narrower toward the hinge, then opens up again at the very edge. The metal edge seems to go inward around the middle and protrude outward again near the hinge. The body also appears slightly bent, and the lid feels subtly misaligned when I run my fingers along the edges. I don’t feel any scraping or resistance when opening or closing it.
I initially thought it was just a screen issue because the physical damage isn’t noticeable during normal use. I only realized the body was bent and the lid was slightly misaligned when I took it to a technician. They explained that because the screen is so thin, damage from a drop might not become noticeable immediately and could appear days or even weeks later.
My theory is that the drop may have shifted the hinge or bent the casing, pushing the screen too close to the body. Could the edge have been pressing against the body when opening and closing, eventually bending it further and possibly causing the display issue?
I’ve dropped the laptop around three times in total. I also used a fairly thick plastic hard-shell case to prevent dents, but sometimes the display part of the case would pop off, and I’d snap it back into place. The technician suggested that forcing the case on might have contributed to the bending.
The screen is still usable, and I can use the laptop pretty much normally without noticing the defect most of the time. I’m mainly worried about whether the damage will remain stable or progressively get worse, even if I continue using it normally. I decided to not get it repaired by the apple store because it costed more than half of the original price of the laptop itself
**For anyone familiar with MacBook repairs:**
Could the drop or hard-shell case have caused the bent casing and uneven gap?
Could the display edge be contacting the body even if there’s no noticeable resistance?
Could the yellow/green haze spread or become worse over time?
If the laptop is still functional, is it reasonable to keep using it as it is, or could that risk further damage?
Would you leave it without a case or use another type of protection?
I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who’s experienced something similar. Thank you!

I have a MacBook Air M1 (2020) with sudden display corruption. Vertical coloured stripes appear at startup, and the lines change or disappear depending on the screen angle. Screenshots look normal, and Disk Utility First Aid completed successfully. The MacBook has never been opened or repaired.Screenshots look completely normal, and at certain lid angles the physical display also looks normal

Could you inspect the display assembly and its connections before recommending a screen replacement?

After a repair for which I had to remove and reinsert the trackpad, the trackpad noise produced by the Taptic Engine is a lot louder, higher-pitched and more hearable in general.
What could cause this and how could I mitigate it?
The screws holding the trackpad are tightened.

My power button doesn’t work as it was broken by a friend, this past week I opened my laptop and it was just stuck on this screen, I can move the mouse but it’s just the rotating rainbow circle. I can’t click anything, I can’t type, I also can’t turn it off because again the power button doesn’t work. I need this laptop for uni, I’ve contacted Apple, they adviced draining it of battery. I have done so twice, the first time I left it for 10 minutes after it died, same issue continued. I tried it again and let it die for 5 days, opened it today and still the same issue. I have no idea why this is happening. I contacted Apple and they’ve quoted me about £600 to get it repaired, as a student whilst working I physically can not afford this. Does anyone have any idea what I could do to fix this, literally any advice is appreciated! Even if it means wiping the laptop completely, I have everything backed up but a new laptop isn’t an option unfortunately:(

Hello friends, I need some help regarding a repair of my personal MacBook Pro M4 Pro 14“.

While screwing in the screw that holds the battery connector while finishing up, the screw head broke off.

How do I best fix this keeping in mind the screw shaft is now stuck in the screw hole?

I am ok with a fix that is not perfect but that works.

Thank you for your help.

Just wondering if anyone has experienced this before. My MacBook won’t charge even when the MagSafe indicates it’s connected/charging, I can’t charge with usb c either. Shortly after discovering this my MacBook now always restarts after a few mins after logging in.

I’ve tried disk utility to repair but seems all good.

My battery health is still normal although 86% after 256 cycles since last June.

I can’t update since I can’t connect the battery.

Safe mode also restarts after a few mins being logged in.

I have AppleCare+ and I hope it will be fine but I’m going to be in Sri Lanka for 6 months and although they don’t have an official Apple Store they do have some authorized repair services?

The AppleCare covers battery past 80% so I’m hoping this is still covered as I am assuming it’s a faulty battery?

I have MacBook Air 13-inch 2020. Since a few days ago I can’t watch any video on it. I have tried different platforms and different search engines, none of it works properly. Every time the imagine is glitchy, has bad quality and moves slow. I have already tried troubleshooting in different ways seems like my computer has the issue. Besides this everything else seems to be working just fine. Any advice? Is anyone having the same issue since the last update?

• MacBook Pro 13-inch, 2018
• MacOS 14.6.1
• What is the issue? For years now, the computer does two things: makes an intermittent faint but noticaable clicking /crackling sound from inside the laptop AND gets super super hot when on SLEEP mode. Sometimes I'll put it on sleep when it has 80% battery. I come back in the morning, the laptop is dead. I feel like it is running something in the background or working too hard when it's supposed to be sleeping, hence weird sound, very hot laptop, etc.
• No pictures necessary because....it's not anything with screen or hardware that is visible.

Brought it to the genius bar a few years ago. They said they replaced some part of the keyboard to fix the clicking issue that runs inside. It still happens.

i’ve tried wiping it down with water on a microfiber cloth, and i also used hand sanitizer on a tissue (which i just found out i shouldn’t), but it still won’t go away.

i also tried to lightly scratch it with my nails, it did come off a bit but i don’t think that’s a good solution as i’m afraid it might damage the screen even more.

if anyone knows how to remove it, please let me know. thanks!

So, 2 months ago I bought a used 2019 13" MacBook Pro 4 port with Touch Bar. After a week the touch bar no longer shows anything, it's black, but I can still touch it and it works. Then suddenly my top left USB port stopped working, so I started charging with the bottom left, then that one stopped working, so I started using the button right, then THAT also stopped working... So far the top right USB port is still holding on. Yes, I'm using the original Apple brick and cord. I've tried an SMC reset and PRAM... Any other considerations? I haven't dropped it, gotten it wet, abused the USB ports (it sits on my desk and doesn't get moved), so I really can't understand why 3 USB ports AND the touch bar all died. Any suggestions are appreciated!!! :)

Hey everyone, looking for board-level insights on an A2141 logic board (820-01700) with a T2 chip stuck in an exact 21-second watchdog power loop. Data preservation is the #1 priority (cannot Restore/wipe keys).

\### The Behavior:

\- When plugged into a genuine 96W charger, the trackpad clicks (haptics active) for \~21 seconds, then goes completely stiff for 1–3 seconds, then clicks again. Loops indefinitely.

\- The behavior is 100% identical with the battery connected or completely isolated (flex ribbon unplugged + terminal isolated).

\- Crucially, this 21-second power-cycling loop persists EVEN WHEN THE BOARD IS IN DFU MODE.

\- In Apple Configurator 2 (host: M3 Air via front-left DFU port), "Revive Device" downloads the firmware, writes, and hangs on "Waiting for Mac response" for \~90 seconds before throwing AMRestoreErrorDomain error 6. Screen stays black throughout; nothing ever displays.

\### Thermal Background / Clue:

\- Two days ago, it refused to turn on cold in the morning.

\- After sitting plugged in, it booted up and worked flawlessly the entire day under load (watching video, etc.).

\- Turned it off at night. Next morning after cooling down, completely unresponsive again, and now permanently stuck in this 21s loop. Classic thermal contraction / cold solder joint symptom.

\### Multimeter Measurements Taken:

\- No dead shorts to ground on primary rails (PPBUS_G3H, CPU core, GPU core, or SSD lines).

\- Inductor L9080 (marked "150" for PP2V5_NAND_SSD0):

\- Resistance across coil: 0.6 ohms continuous (coil is physically unbroken).

\- Resistance to ground: Healthy (no short).

\- LIVE VOLTAGE during the 20-second awake cycle: Reads 0.00V. The 2.5V rail never comes up.

\### Questions for Board Techs:

1. Does this exact 21-second timeout in DFU mode correlate directly with the T2 watchdog killing power due to missing PGOOD / feedback on the SSD power rails (specifically PP2V5_NAND)?

2. Between the TPS62180 buck regulator (U9080), its enable circuitry, and the main PMIC (U7800), what is the most common failure point for this intermittent/thermal 0V symptom on the 820-01700?

3. If U9080 is replaced/reflowed and 2.5V is restored, should the T2 be able to complete a Revive without touching the existing APFS volume / master encryption keys?

Any guidance from technicians who have diagnosed this specific rail on T2 boards would be greatly appreciated!

(MacBook Air M1) Bottom bezel had a crack in it from a few years ago so I finally got around to trying to replace it in the hopes of perhaps selling this laptop... ended up doing this instead. Very sad and disappointed in my skills. I'm sure there isn't any way to fix this but if there is anything I would love to hear. Thanks in advance and you are free to poke fun at my sad sad mistake