MacBook Air Battery Won't Charge

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Level 1

17 points

MacBook Air Battery Won't Charge

I have searched far and wide to try and solve this issue but have had 0 luck.

I have an early 2015 MacBook Air (A1466) that I've kept in great condition over the years. It's never really left my room/desk and I've gone far out of my way to keep it in this condition because of how much I like this computer.

So, it had been a few months since I last used it (new job, work computer, travel all the time) and I realized the charger had been disconnected at some point meaning the battery had been likely sitting there completely dead for days, weeks, possibly months which I understand is not great for a Lithium-Ion battery?

I just tried to power it on for the first time the other day and it boots up, while plugged in, and loads seemingly normal but when the computer is finally completely started up the battery is indicated as "not charging" when clicking on the icon from the taskbar and the percentage is stuck at 1%.

The orange light on the MagSafe charger is on when plugged in.

The steps I've taken so far.

Reset SMC a few times
Reset PRAM a few times
Option clicked on the battery to see a report and it shows as "normal"
Downloaded coconut battery and that also shows as "normal"
Checked the cycle count which is currently sitting at about ~310 which seems well under the expected failure point
Removed my battery and checked the inside of my computer for corrosion or any other type of damage, found nothing
Inspected the battery for any oddities or swelling, found nothing.
Tried multiple MagSafe chargers
Charged another Macbook using my MagSafe charger

A friend of mine had me take some photos of the IO board to see if he could figure it out and isn't sure but seems to think there might be something up with that? https://imgur.com/a/sXTcq8J - IO board pictures.

MacBook Air 13", macOS 10.15

Posted on Dec 23, 2019 12:03 PM

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Answer 1

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John Galt

Level 10

142,722 points

Dec 23, 2019 5:08 PM in response to smlksmth

The semicircular thing in the center of the first picture and also present in the others appears to be a piece of debris, which may or may not be conductive. Remove it.

... the charger had been disconnected at some point meaning the battery had been likely sitting there completely dead for days, weeks, possibly months which I understand is not great for a Lithium-Ion battery?

Yeah that's not great. Batteries need to be used and extended periods of disuse will kill them. That include long periods of being constantly connected to power.

If you decide battery replacement is warranted, have Apple do it: https://support.apple.com/mac/repair/service. They'll take care of everything including diagnosis and battery replacement, if it's justified. Batteries cannot be resurrected or fixed.

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Answer 2

smlksmth Author

Level 1

17 points

Dec 23, 2019 6:02 PM in response to John Galt

Thank you for your response! I'll open it up again and see if I can get that thing out.

Yeah, I know that's an option but from what I see online estimates are around $500 which is probably more than the computer is worth at this point. I just don't understand how the battery can be fried but none of the built in Apple battery diagnostics can detect ANY issues with it. Seems like if they can't detect completed bricked then those tools are useless.

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Answer 3

John Galt

Level 10

142,722 points

Dec 23, 2019 6:28 PM in response to smlksmth

What? No. $129 includes diagnosis, parts, labor, warranty. They'll do it while you wait. Where do these ideas come from.

It might not even require a new battery, but that's the reason for taking it to Apple. They'll figure it out.

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Answer 4

smlksmth Author

Level 1

17 points

Dec 23, 2019 6:53 PM in response to John Galt

I'm not sure why I would make that up. I don't have an Apple store near me, closest one is the about 1.5 hr away so this was done via chat and the invoice they sent me to pay was ~$515 for the fix when she hadn't even diagnosed the issue or what was causing it.

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Answer 5

John Galt

Level 10

142,722 points

Dec 23, 2019 7:31 PM in response to smlksmth

I would decline that offer. How were they able to determine that price? Did a Genius materialize before your presence, or was your Mac beamed over to them?

Battery replacement is exactly what I said it was. I've done it numerous times.

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Answer 6

smlksmth Author

Level 1

17 points

Dec 23, 2019 7:33 PM in response to John Galt

That's what my question is. They quoted me at this without being able to diagnose or determine the actual issue. The chat rep. said that if the repair ends up being cheaper than I would get notified of a refund which seems super odd.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to address this in person until I'm able to go pretty far out of my way to a store.

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Answer 7

smlksmth Author

Level 1

17 points

Dec 23, 2019 7:36 PM in response to smlksmth

Again, still seems odd to me that a battery can be rendered completely busted but the built in diagnostics on the computer cannot detect ANY issue. So that tells me either the battery isn't the issue or those tests are completely useless.

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Answer 8

John Galt

Level 10

142,722 points

Dec 23, 2019 7:46 PM in response to smlksmth

Keep it simple. Go to an Apple Store and tell them your battery won't charge. They will diagnose what's wrong for $0. If it needs a new battery (which it probably does) it will cost $129 plus whatever taxes are imposed upon you. If it needs more than that, they'll tell you exactly what's required so you can make an informed decision.

Until they can inspect it they're working on insufficient information. That's the likely reason for such an unreasonably high estimate.

Don't divulge too much information regarding what you've done, because they don't like the idea of people opening up their Macs. Keep it simple: your Mac won't charge. That's all they need to know.

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Answer 9

y_p_w

Level 6

17,654 points

Dec 23, 2019 10:28 PM in response to smlksmth

smlksmth wrote:

I appreciate your response but unfortunately that's not as easy as it sounds for me.

The reason why it's suggested is because it's far easier to explain things in person, and then discuss what is or isn't OK in terms of price and service.

There are Apple Authorized Service Providers, but they're not specifically Apple. Apple Stores don't charge for any diagnostic. An AASP probably will because it's costing them time. Apple Stores do diagnostics as a courtesy for Apple users.

As far as leaving a computer uncharged, I don't necessarily think that it's always that bad. It's just a crapshoot. I've had a battery that was likely at 0% for months, and it woke up and charged just fine. Last time I checked the battery was at 95% health. But yeah there's the possibility that it could go into deep discharge.

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