Trouble Turning on Macbook Air

[Rise Axelrod]

I have a Macbook Air A1465 with a weird issue. With the charger plugged in, if I try to turn the computer on, the magsafe light turns green for a second and then back to orange and the computer doesn't turn on. Very rarely, the computer will turn on successfully but when I shut it down it goes back to the same issue. I have tried replacing the I/O ribbon and the whole I/O board to no avail. Anyone know what the issue is here? Thanks.

 

[pigoo3]

What happens when you run the MacBook Air (reboot it or a cold start with the power button)...whe running on battery power?

- Nick

 

[Rise Axelrod]

The computer never turns on when the charger isn't plugged in. The rare times I do get it to turn on, the battery shows 100%.

 

[pigoo3]

The computer never turns on when the charger isn't plugged in. The rare times I do get it to turn on, the battery shows 100%.

The reason why I asked the battery question was I was suspecting that there may be an issue with the battery. Starting with...maybe the MacBook Air's battery is shot/basically dead. And in some laptop computers...if the internal battery is a goner...then the computer does not operate properly (turn on).

As far as the 100% number. 100% is not really a very reliable figure of "quality". When a laptop battery is brand new...100% can equal 7 hours of battery runtime. When a laptop battery is "well-used"...100% charge can mean 5 minutes or less of runtime.

Thus my first thought is (with the info provided so far) this MacBook Air's battery needs replacing.

Just checked...and an A1465 MacBook Air is from 2012...so we would think that it wouldn't need a new battery already...unless this MacBook Air was used lots & lots on battery power throughout its life so far.

- Nick

 

[Rise Axelrod]

Okay, I will try that and report back.

Iv'e never heard of the magsafe light being used as any kind of indicator for issues (other than charging/fully charged) so I wasn't sure if that was some kind of notification when the light does that.

 

[pigoo3]

Okay, I will try that and report back.

If you have a local Apple Store that you can visit...they may be able to more easily test/examine your computer to see if the battery is worn out. If it is...then it's a simple matter of opening the wallet...and paying for a new battery.

Here's something else you can try (if you can get the computer to start up). There's a free app called "Coconut Battery". If you download it, install it, and launch it...in the Coconut Battery window there's a "Loadcycles" statistic. This would be a very important number to know/share with us.

coconutBattery 3.1.2 - by coconut-flavour.com

Iv'e never heard of the magsafe light being used as any kind of indicator for issues (other than charging/fully charged) so I wasn't sure if that was some kind of notification when the light does that.

I hope that you're not replying with this info based on anything I've said so far. I haven't based any of my responses on what the Magsafe charger (in this case) is or isn't doing. I was strictly guessing that maybe the computer isn't turning on due to a depleted/worn out battery.

- Nick

 

[Rise Axelrod]

No worries about the light. I guess I was hoping to see a response say "when the light turns green when you hit the power button, it means...." or something like that. It was a shot. I have extra batteries so it's not a problem.

I put a different battery in and it turned on first try. After I let it run for a bit, I shut it down and it is doing the same thing as before right now.

Quit teasing me, computer!

 

[pigoo3]

No worries about the light. I guess I was hoping to see a response say "when the light turns green when you hit the power button, it means...." or something like that. It was a shot.

Ok no problem. I thoght maybe something I said was confusing.

I have extra batteries so it's not a problem.

You must be a repair person of some sort. The average person does not have I/O ribbons, I/O boards, or spare MacBook Air batteries just laying around!

I put a different battery in and it turned on first try. After I let it run for a bit, I shut it down and it is doing the same thing as before right now.

Well that stinks! Sounded promising at first...but then not!

I guess this begs the question...How "good" is the replacement/different battery?

- Nick

 

[Rise Axelrod]

I am a repair person but I mainly deal with simple hardware stuff so this one is perplexing me.

The battery I put in it was working in a different MBA so it should be "good".

 

[pigoo3]

I am a repair person but I mainly deal with simple hardware stuff so this one is perplexing me.

As a repair person...you know that there's really not a whole lot of parts inside an Apple laptop computer. You've replaced a few things so far...and maybe there's a few more small things that can be swapped out to see if it helps.

But eventually you end up with just one BIG part remaining...and that's the logic board. And this is one expensive part to replace if this is the problem. If you don't have any good logic boards to swap in (and this problem is the logic board)...then this computer just becomes a "parts computer"!

I have two more ideas in case you haven't tried them yet:

1. Have you tried an SMC Reset? Although...a battery swap pretty much accomplishes this when it is done.
2. Does this model MacBook Air have a separate DC-In board (Magsafe board)? If so, you could try swapping it.

- Nick