⟐ Commented March 29, 2026 at 11:16 MST

⟐ Commented November 14, 2019 at 2:17 MST

I purchased a 2015 MacBook 12" Retina for a trip to Asia. I was traveling extensively via Plane, Train and Boat so I wanted something compact.

It arrived used from eBay, but working perfectly.

I was in and around China for 1 month and had absolutely zero issues with the unit.

I arrived back in the states and still, zero issues.

I was leaving for NY for a few days and placed the MacBook on my kitchen table, plugged in to charge.

After arriving home I unplugged the unit and attempted to turn it on and nothing. No bleeps, bings or flashes... absolutely nothing.

I believed it may have been improperly plugged in so I left it to charge again... nothing. Changed charger and cord... nothing.

Something was obviously wrong and all Apple Support Documents say remove the battery. So, I opened the unit and displaced the battery from the logic board. No luck.

I replaced the KeyBoard Ribbon Cable, USB-C Port and even a new Battery... nothing.

So my question is, what happened? How does a unit go bad just sitting on a kitchen table?

Before any rants - I live alone, so no my kids didn't spill anything on it nor did anyone touch it while I was away. I tried all the SMC and PRAM reset methods too. Nothing works.

Please Help.

⟐ Answered September 05, 2020 at 1:47 MST

I have a MacBook 13 inch Retina from mid 2015 (MB PRO 13.3" RETINA 2.7 GHZ I5 - 256GB // 16GB ). My issues started slowly - after turning on the MacBook the screen stayed black. After a hard shutdown (power button for some seconds) and starting again, everything has been fine...

Some days later the screen stayed black again. Same procedure as before - everything worked again.

My problem is that the number of times that the screen stays black became more and more. Now, about 30 to 40 hard resets are needed to have a working screen.

If I light the screen from behind by a flashlight, I can see a picture.

External screens do work fine.

Do you have any idea, what could be the problem?

I did several SMC and PRAM resets - they didn't help.

I am really desperate - such an expensive machine just won't be useful anymore?!

Thanks for your support!

Martin

⟐ Answered November 21, 2024 at 5:10 MST

Replaced battery (purchased here) several days ago. Was careful to power the laptop initially with a low power source before I turned it back on. Once on, I let it drain to 0 and shut down on its own, then turned it back on and charged it up to 100. Shut it down after that and put the computer away, thinking I was done with the repair.

Today (several days after putting the laptop away, thinking it was fixed), when I turned the laptop on, battery shows either 0 or 1%, will immediately shut down if unplugged. Power source is confirmed as reliable as I use it on another MacBook that uses USB C.

My initial response was to try resetting the SMC and NVRAM, which I think I did successfully, but I have no idea of how to determine if the 'reset' commands took.

Anyhow, after that, I just let the computer sit, powered on and plugged in, and it is still showing 1%. When I click on battery at the top of the screen it says 'service recommended' and 'battery is not charging'.

I have heard on similar posts that the charging logic within the logic board may be at fault. I am curious if this sounds like one of those cases, even with what appeared to be a successful charging of the battery after the initial repair was complete?

Really at a loss as to what seemed to happen after I put the computer away after what seemed to be a successful battery replacement :/

***06.04.22 - updated to show coconutBattery screenshot

***

⟐ Commented April 27, 2024 at 19:30 MST

Is there a chance to get the keyboards key butterfly mechanism (2) and the keycap for the "Y" key?

My litte daughter already almost destroyed 2 buttons and I don't want to be missing my MacBook for 2-3 weeks bringing it to Apple to repair it!

Many thanks and best regards

Erich

⟐ Answer accepted September 24, 2015 at 4:35 MST

I have a 2015 Macbook 12'' - just out of warranty (3 yrs).

I was browsing the Internet and all of a sudden everything froze (screen / mouse / keyboard). I held the power button down, it turned off; Since then, I have been unable to turn it back on.

Have tried SMC reset, PRAM reset, holding the power button in for 20 seconds (and various combinations of without/with power etc)...Nada. Keyboard backlight won't come on either.

The weird thing is that if I leave it plugged in, after about a minute, I can feel the underside of the logic board getting warm. If I let it charge then unplug it, the underside will remain hot for a few hours, just as if the system is 'stuck' doing something and draining the battery down.

Have opened it to try and disconnect the battery completely, in the hope that it is just stuck in some deep sleep mode and cutting all power would reset it...Nope. I can see the white LED on if I have charged it up, so parts of it seem to be working...

Anyone have any ideas?

Many thanks!

This is what I see with the battery disconnected and the charger plugged in (you can see the white LED is on). The system will not start nevertheless...

The CPU? (big rectangle on the right) gets hot almost immediately...

Unfortunately it does look like an expensive repair :-(

Any ideas welcome!

Thanks

⟐ Commented March 01, 2022 at 3:24 MST

There is something wrong with the audio; Built-in Speakers, headphones and Built-in Microphone do not show up in macOS. Even in when reinstalling macOS. Also, there is no boot chime or sound when connecting the charger, which led me to believe that this is most likely not a software problem.

Also, FaceTime is getting a Temperature warning, most likely because of the high reading of the palm rest temperature sensor.

I ran trough Diagnostics, which returned:

• PFM006 - SMC Fault
• PPN001 - Power Management System Fault

It looks like TG Pro is getting normal temp readings, they are all updating nicely and they all make sense. But there is one sensor that i think might be faulty, the palm rest temperature sensor. It’s giving a constant reading of 50 degrees celsius, without any fluctuations. Even when i let the MacBook sit, powered down for a couple of hours, it will always return 50 degrees, which is abnormally hot.

UPDATE 24-06-2023 18:32
It looks like TG Pro shows a sensor that this MacBook simply does not have (palm rest sensor). I've tried another open source program (GitHub) which talks directly to the SMC, which is stating that the palm rest sensor functions normally. This program also shows two sensors that are not included in this line of MacBooks, the Memory Proximity- and RIO-sensors. Also, every post i came across, showing TG Pro on a MacBook A1534, will always state that the palm rest sensor is at 50 degrees.

END OF UPDATE

I’ve taken the Mac apart. I can see that the battery has been changed at some point. It currently has 31 cycles, the battery doesn’t get hot or anything like that. I’ve tried reseating all ribbon cables from the trackpad, right speaker and audio-jack port, without any success. I also co

uldn’t find any signs of liquid. I believe only the battery was changed since the black tape on the display connector was still stuck firmly to the little connector bracket.

Things i’ve tried so far:

1. Resetting SMC, PRAM multiple times, even after opening the Mac after reseating the ribbons.
2. Tried plugging in a 3,5mm cable, it didn’t show up in macOS.

I don’t know where the palm rest temperature sensor resides, my guess is the trackpad but i don’t know for sure. I simply don’t know what to check, there is almost no info about this Mac online.

Thanks for reading, i hope you guys may help me out.

UPDATE 24-06-2023 23:13
Well, i took the MacBook apart once again and completely disconnected the cable that goes from the logic board to the audio controller. At first glance, everything looks okay but on closer inspection, i could see a small point in the cable. I don't know if this is enough to completely loose connection tough. The audio board itself looks really clean, no burned chips. There is a small white 'sticker' on the board, i suspect it's for liquid detection. it's completely white.

Just to be sure, I've just ordered a new flex cable. Will update again with the results.

UPDATE 03-07-2023 16:01
I received the new audio flex cable today, installed it and started my Mac. It's still the same as before; no audio devices, FaceTime error. Tried multiple SMC and PRAM resets, but still no luck.

I'm about to buy a scrap MacBook with an audio board inside and a clean display for a nice price, going to sell the OEM display to cover the cost of the audio board.

⟐ Answered April 22, 2025 at 9:19 MST

Or are there differences?

⟐ Answered September 22, 2023 at 3:17 MST

For two months it worked perfectly with a fully functioning new battery.

Now without any obvious reason or warning the Macbook cannot find the battery anymore. In “About this Mac > System Information > Power” it just says “Battery Installed: No”.

Here's a snapshot of CoconutBattery.

With the power cord attached the MacBook starts and works normally. There is just no battery indicator at all and without the power cord it shuts off completely.

I've reset PRAM and SMC several times with no change.

I've opened it up and checked the connector from the battery to the logic board. Detached and Reattached it. The same for the usb C connector to the logic board. After applying low voltage again for about an hour (just to be sure) there has been no “power chime” until I've connected the normal power adapter. Then it starts up again normally.

However, still no battery found by the system.

Any suggestions on what I can check out otherwise or do about it?

⟐ Commented June 05, 2023 at 9:38 MST

I have used some kind of dust spray on it, the MacBook works besides some keys that don't respond.

Is it possible to replace the entire keyboard?

And how?

⟐ Answer accepted July 05, 2017 at 6:18 MST

⟐ Commented October 02, 2019 at 5:51 MST

⟐ Answer accepted July 11, 2015 at 0:09 MST

My LCD screen just went completely white after a few vertical bars popping on the screen. I see that the LCD screen is pretty cheap per se, whereas the display assembly can get expensive quickly so I would like to replace the former.

I have found many guides to replace the display assembly, but almost zero guidance on how to replace the LCD screen. Is replacing the screen of this MacBook something relatively easy to do? Are there any helpful guides how there that I can take a look at?

Cheers!

~Cesare

⟐ Answered May 08, 2020 at 8:27 MST

I replaced the battery and the unit won’t turn on - the little battery LED on the logic board lights (and blinks when I do the SMC reset) but that’s about all that happens.

Any ideas much appreciated.

⟐ Commented September 22, 2018 at 2:49 MST

⟐ Answered May 24, 2020 at 9:44 MST

⟐ Answer edited March 30, 2018 at 14:03 MST

When I first performed the battery replacement, I did not read the guide well enough and plugged it straight in to 12V power. I thought this had killed the logic board, as it would not turn on. So I purchased a donor machine (exact same model), which I confirmed worked before disassembly, and attempted a logic board swap. After swapping the logic boards between the two chassis and then back to their originals, neither one will power on. I have tried the 5V power trick to no avail.

I'm really stuck on this problem, as I now have two identical MacBooks with known working batteries that will not power on. I have tried different 5V power adapters, different USB-A to USB-C cables, and every combination of logic board and chassis. I have also repeatedly re-seated the USB-C port connector on each logic board, ensuring they are snapped into place correctly. I'm fairly certain all the rest of the flex cables are plugged in correctly, including the keyboard/trackpad cable.

When plugged in with a USB-C voltage reader, the readings are:

• 5.0-5.1V (as required after battery installation, depends on adapter used)
• 0.0475-0.07A (hovers depending on adapter and cable used, also varies slightly between the two machines)
• Average of 0.3W

With the wattage reading in particular, I've noticed strange behavior. I have attempted resetting both the PRAM and SMC, and only resetting the SMC seems to make a difference. When the SMC is reset, the wattage reading goes down to about 0.1W and then quickly returns to 0.25-0.3W. When the power buttons are pressed, the wattage spikes slightly as high as 0.4W. And, weirdest of all, there was one case where resetting the SMC and pressing the power button spiked the wattage reading to over 1W, but only for a second.

Anyone experienced issues like this? I've tried every troubleshooting step I've come across on iFixit and Reddit, etc., so new ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!

⟐ Commented January 30, 2026 at 10:50 MST

I know how to tighten the hinges on MacBook Pros but I'm not seeing many options when i tore this one apart. It looks like tiny rivets that hold the hinges together, But if you know anything about these, I would greatly appreciate the help.

Thanks!

-Charlie

⟐ Commented February 12, 2024 at 1:50 MST

This battery sign doesn't let me through any system. No BootDeviceManager, no Reinstall menu, no maintenance menu, No SMC reset, no NVRAM reset,...

Its just turning off after showing the red battery sign.

I would like to know, if I could bridge the battery contacts. So I could use it as a desktop PC and know if the logic board is broken or the battery.

Can someone tell me where I have to connect which kind of power?

What i found out:

• The big middle contacts seems to be the output pins with 8,59V.
• The Label on the Battery is telling me that it has 7,56V, which is the battery output?

I would assume that I could bridge the 8,59V pins to the pins on the right side next to the output, but I don't know if this is a good idea and if yes, which contact is plus and which is minus. And what is the single left pin for?

Would be cool if i can start this thing without the battery.

⟐ Commented June 01, 2019 at 19:18 MST