First of all hello to everyone, I just joined this community in search of a desperate solution to a problem and also hope to be helpful to others with my own experience. Thank you all in advance.
So let me get you guys up to date.
I have a 2012 (if i remember correctly) A1466 Macbook Air. During it's lifetime I've only changed it's battery in 2017. Also, not long ago, I took off the back cover and now can't find it.
Beginning of 2018 I started having problems with my keyboard, POWER button appeared to be "stuck" and mac would try to shut down every 5 sec. (I fixed this sticking a paper in a F5 key so it would override the action).
Later on, my WIFI/Airport stopped working too. So I took it to a shop. Not official service, but also not some dodgy cheap place, they seemed to be proper tech support guys.
As I suspected it was a problem of water getting into the system, so according to the shop guys, the following parts needed fix/replace in the computer:
- northbridge
- keyboard
- WiFi Bluetooth AirPort Card
They give me a budget, and I decline since they had a quite expensive charge for "hand work". Now after this it took me almost 2 months to get back the computer and when I got it back, I noticed some strange things.
A) The computer is not working, or turning on. First of all, because of the locked POWER BUTTON, I sometimes had to short the power-on pads on the motherboard to start my computer (that's why I kept the back cover off), but THE COMPUTER WORKED. (The shop guys say that, maybe the liquid problem extended and now the computer stopped working).
B) The battery is not the one I had. Since I had the back lid open, I remember that the battery had some imperfect folds on it's surface and when I saw the battery after getting it back it looked different. And also, the MAGSafe power doesn't seem to be charging it because an orange light stays on, or sometimes not any light. The final proof of the BATTERY EXCHANGE was that when I bought a battery in 2017, it wasn't an original one but compatible, and it was 5200mAh instead of the 6700mAh that the geniuine ones have, just like the one I see on my macbook. And I have a box that is proof of my 5200mAh. They've said that maybe there was a mix up but probably I'm mistaken because THEY DON'T have any other bateries in their storage, duh
C) My motherboard appears to be different. Now maybe "appearing different" is not enough to be suspicious but the battery exchange alerted me so I checked a photo I had of the computer from 2016 that I took of the SSD memory, and aside from the SSD you can see some other chips and components. SURPRISE, some of the CHIP numbers and serials are DIFFERENT!!!. What was the answer to this from the shop? "We changed some of those chips to make sure that the problem was only with the northbridge OK, and you did this for free? Never mentioned. People that usually charge for every single minute of work, decided to change my chips for free, since they needed to know for sure to give me a budget. "Yeah it's our loss of time and effort", he said. I think it's ridicoulous.
Anyway, the SSD card seems to be the same, the fan, keyboard, broken AirPort, case... But Motherboard and battery I believe they were changed, used as repair parts or sold. I gave them the idea that this computer had no use to me, and maybe they thought that I wasn't gonna even pick it up, or if I did, I'd assume that it was broken and never try to use it.
SO, I'm attaching you guys the photos I mentioned where you can partially see my motherboard back in 2016(first photo) and how it looks now (second photo). In that period of time, and even never, it was sent in for any type of repairs. Now I'd like to be wrong, and if yo can help me clear this up I'll go to the shop the very next day and apologise. But if you think I'm right, I'd need some help finding more proof that these components have been stoplen and replaced.
THANKS
So let me get you guys up to date.
I have a 2012 (if i remember correctly) A1466 Macbook Air. During it's lifetime I've only changed it's battery in 2017. Also, not long ago, I took off the back cover and now can't find it.
Beginning of 2018 I started having problems with my keyboard, POWER button appeared to be "stuck" and mac would try to shut down every 5 sec. (I fixed this sticking a paper in a F5 key so it would override the action).
Later on, my WIFI/Airport stopped working too. So I took it to a shop. Not official service, but also not some dodgy cheap place, they seemed to be proper tech support guys.
As I suspected it was a problem of water getting into the system, so according to the shop guys, the following parts needed fix/replace in the computer:
- northbridge
- keyboard
- WiFi Bluetooth AirPort Card
They give me a budget, and I decline since they had a quite expensive charge for "hand work". Now after this it took me almost 2 months to get back the computer and when I got it back, I noticed some strange things.
A) The computer is not working, or turning on. First of all, because of the locked POWER BUTTON, I sometimes had to short the power-on pads on the motherboard to start my computer (that's why I kept the back cover off), but THE COMPUTER WORKED. (The shop guys say that, maybe the liquid problem extended and now the computer stopped working).
B) The battery is not the one I had. Since I had the back lid open, I remember that the battery had some imperfect folds on it's surface and when I saw the battery after getting it back it looked different. And also, the MAGSafe power doesn't seem to be charging it because an orange light stays on, or sometimes not any light. The final proof of the BATTERY EXCHANGE was that when I bought a battery in 2017, it wasn't an original one but compatible, and it was 5200mAh instead of the 6700mAh that the geniuine ones have, just like the one I see on my macbook. And I have a box that is proof of my 5200mAh. They've said that maybe there was a mix up but probably I'm mistaken because THEY DON'T have any other bateries in their storage, duh
C) My motherboard appears to be different. Now maybe "appearing different" is not enough to be suspicious but the battery exchange alerted me so I checked a photo I had of the computer from 2016 that I took of the SSD memory, and aside from the SSD you can see some other chips and components. SURPRISE, some of the CHIP numbers and serials are DIFFERENT!!!. What was the answer to this from the shop? "We changed some of those chips to make sure that the problem was only with the northbridge OK, and you did this for free? Never mentioned. People that usually charge for every single minute of work, decided to change my chips for free, since they needed to know for sure to give me a budget. "Yeah it's our loss of time and effort", he said. I think it's ridicoulous.
Anyway, the SSD card seems to be the same, the fan, keyboard, broken AirPort, case... But Motherboard and battery I believe they were changed, used as repair parts or sold. I gave them the idea that this computer had no use to me, and maybe they thought that I wasn't gonna even pick it up, or if I did, I'd assume that it was broken and never try to use it.
SO, I'm attaching you guys the photos I mentioned where you can partially see my motherboard back in 2016(first photo) and how it looks now (second photo). In that period of time, and even never, it was sent in for any type of repairs. Now I'd like to be wrong, and if yo can help me clear this up I'll go to the shop the very next day and apologise. But if you think I'm right, I'd need some help finding more proof that these components have been stoplen and replaced.
THANKS