Repeated logic board failures on 2018 MacBook Pro

Just buy a new one. I’m now out 1400 dollars because my 2018 MacBook Pro logic board failed in September 2019 (two weeks out of year warranty and Apple refused to cover it). Now in January 2021 my logic board again is broken and my computer suddenly isn’t turning on (was working fine yesterday). Not sure how it isn’t being considered a part of the recall given the same part has been replaced thrice in a 3 year period.

I would contact Apple via online or email and explain the situation. 1.5 years is too close to warranty expiration and sometimes they will take it in consideration depending on who you talk too and the reasons for failure. I took care of the laptop, so the tech saw It did not fail due to my use.

Apple Service type Centers are third party support for places where Apple Stores are not available. If you go through them first, then they charge for their service in addition to Apple’s charges most of the time. Best to go through Apple support first with anything and let them assign the Service Center, including making the appointment if possible. People sometimes don’t know (most) that these centers are not Apple, though they have an Apple logo sometimes out front of their service centers. Glad to have them if like myself are 400 miles away from an Apple Store of course...but for major repairs, contact Apple Support via chat or email first so Apple Authorizes the repairs and it becomes an Apple authorized repair instead of a third party repair. Logic board repair will cost, so out-of-warranty pricing will cost $450+ anyway.

Keep your receipts and appointment emails etc. and keep a watch out for possibly a recall or something stated by apple about the MacBook Pro 2018’s faulty logic board. If many report the issues (and documented), then Apple may do something to avoid law suits etc. It is now a known issue, for many have reported it..but..not sure what the “many” meaning the total needed for Apple to act. I have had practically almost everything replaced on my $4,000 Laptop...so I have heard there are issues. Great Laptop...but..new technologies (at that time) have a lot of working, including mass producing cutting costs for more profit (Tim Cook is a master at this), so unfortunately..we the consumer sometimes get hit, and most of the time is costly.

Thank you so much for posting this.

I purchased a MacBook Pro on August 2019

Last month it went black, I took it to a certified apple service and they confirmed Logic board failure.

At 19 months, I was out of warranty and didn’t purchase apple care.

I received a quote of $1,000 US, and after reading your post I called apple service and presented my case.

I told them I was not comfortable paying 25% of the original cost after just 19 months of very light use.

They reviewed my case and agreed to take it as guarantee. Due to Covid I will have to wait one month for the parts to arrive, but I wont have to pay for it.

So thanks again, you encouraged me to make a case, and I’m proud to announce Apple lives up to their customer service reputation.

P.D. The guy at service shop, told me this failure is due too heating, and most cases its caused by long periods of sleeping while plugged, according to him.

Best wishes to everyone

I'm in the same spot. I replaced my mid 2009 MacBook Pro with an 15-inch 2018 with i9 processor. A few weeks after getting it the speakers started making and incredible loud noise out of nowhere and were damaged. Since it was still under warranty, Apple fixed it.

Now, two months after the warranty expired the logic board suddenly died. It would cost me €735 to repair but i'm not going to invest more money in a badly designed computer.

Meanwhile the 2009 still works fine. Apple should take responsibility.

In November (two years almost to the date my battery was defective in my i9 32GB RAM 1TB MacBook Pro 2018. They replaced the battery, the Touch Bar (which the power button was wobbly I noticed in the first replacement), the keyboard and the track pad. They also replaced the top of the case. They said that to replace the faulty battery they have to do all of that because everything is glued together (glued together on an over $4,000 laptop????). The Mac cost me $4200 when I bough it. I also had apple care too.

Then two months later one of the USB-C ports stopped working. I took it in again and they said, "Oh..we will probably just replace the port." I thought to myself (I am an old tech who probably knows more than the young tech - this was a 3rd apple service center since no Apple stores in 400 miles to go). I thought..."Ah...they will probably have to replace the logic board, everything is attached in one board, what is he talking about...?".

Well..a week later I get it back. I was told they replaced the Touch Bar and the logic board. The cost of the first battery replacement would have been over $800...Then...this repair cost would have been another $850. I had apple care (thank God) and I would have spent around $1,650 on an over $4,000 laptop I just bought just over 2 years ago...

I have about 8 more months on my apple care. I hope nothing else happens.

The tech joked with me a little nervously when he gave me back my laptop and said, we have replaced almost everything in your laptop except the screen (as he right after saying this bumped the screen as he was about to close it for me...said sorry). Showed me the costs as if I should be relieved that I had apple care... (apple care $300+ more at purchased). Yeah..just used parts probably taken out of a refurbished model. Why should I be pleased with the repair...?

It runs good now. Did not know about the faulty logic boards in these models (trend).

I am a bit concerned about spending over $4,000 on a laptop and then in two years have issues. If I have it for 4 years after first originally buying it lets sya...that means it costs me about $1,000 a year. If I did not have apple care the costs would have increased to about $2,000 a year for the next two years due to the out-of-pocket costs I would have had to pay for repairs if no apple care..

I like the laptop (including the Touch Bar and the keyboard is not bad - use to it now and the newer one seems to me mushy to type on). But now quality is no longer considered (major parts glued together) at Apple and it does not last anymore (this was two years)...?

I have a M1 Mac mini and runs about the same or sometimes better in FCPX rendering than my MacBook Pro 2018 close to maxed out (including cost) and is why I bought the M1 at 3/4 the price I paid two years ago....

Me-thinks that something is not right about this...

HELLO!

I finally managed to convince Apple Singapore to replace my logic board for free even if it's out of warranty already. You might want to try to contact them either. Blessings!

I have a 15” 2018 MBP. After 14 months I experienced overheating issues, then the computer didn’t charge and finally it didn’t turn on. The official apple repair service changed the logic board in warranty.

Now, 7 months later I’m experiencing the same issues (computer still works). I’ve sent it again to the repair service, but is really frustrating. Apple has to investigate this problem because doesn’t make sense that the lifetime of the logic board of 2.500 € computer is about 1-2 years.

Gregg Gandy wrote:

I am faced with repairing an out of warranty 2018 MacBook Pro with a Mac Service Center diagnosed logic board failure. My concern is will the new board eventually fail or since this has been reported to be a problem with this model can I expect the new board is more durable. Does anybody else have experience with this. My option is of course to repair it, almost a $600 repair, or buy a new Mac. I have not given up on Macs I have owned three MacBook Pros over the last 15 years and they until now been very reliable.

It will be replaced with the exact same board that it is OEM for that model. Luck of the draw if it last any longer.

You do not say what exact model this is 2018 MacBook Pro (?)

or what the issue is with the board— all parts are soldered and therefore require board replacement,

ex of SSD failure:

https://support.apple.com/13-inch-macbook-pro-solid-state-drive-service

battery failure:

https://support.apple.com/13inch-macbookpro-battery-replacement

keyboard failure:

https://support.apple.com/keyboard-service-program-for-mac-notebooks

backlight failure:

https://support.apple.com/13-inch-macbook-pro-display-backlight-service

Hello, my 1 and a half year old Macbook Pro 15" 2019 just got a new motherboard replacement because about a month ago it just died during the night and wouldn't turn on at all. I'm a Computer and Electrotechnical Engineering student and my computer is very intensively used due to program creation and testing (and also some gaming) and in the future for CAD work as well. That means that for most of its time turned on it is being used intensely and very hot. The Store that I bought my computer from didn't specified the reason why my motherboard failed but i think it was due to the weak cooling system and very intensive use. The replaced motherboard got a new 2 year warranty (minimum warranty time in my country) but i'm sort of afraid of pushing my mac to the limit for fear of it dying suddenly. Being 3 weeks without a decent pc while all of my classes and work have to be done throw it becomes really frustrating and harmful for my "job". It just amazes me that, from other reportes that i've read, this a common issue and apple doesn't come up with a solution to it. And I completely agree with @jantacor, that a 2500€+ pc (directed at professionals) having lifetime of 1-2 years without having a motherboard replacement is completely unacceptable.

If you did not contact Apple first before going somewhere for the repair you will always have to pay for replacements that do not have a quality program as of yet. Sometimes Apple may wave the fees depending on who you talk too or what is currently in their database about the issue. Not sure about Brazil, but I am in Japan. If I did not go to Apple first, I would have had to pay. I work in Japan, but from the U.S. (and bought the MacBook Pro 2018 there). I called first to the U.S. online service and they contacted Japan and made arrangements for the repair. I had Apple Care so it helped. I would recommend doing that first contact Apple in whatever country you are in and have them arrange to repair before going anywhere outside of an official Apple Store. If Apple makes the arrangements, then charges etc. may be different. Other than that...you are at the repair shops discretion, including their charges and fees.

As I said @Bertodem, some here on the forum say that the quantity is small, but if we take into account the lifetime calculated by us of the logic boards, around 2 years, the problems will start to appears now, between 2021 and 2022. Due to the amount of comments that have come up and the number of people who have the problem and do not appear here, it can be a big problem for Apple.

Another thing, your MacBook was repaired as I said above, similar to the Staingate problem, they know that they have a chronic problem, but they do not publish an official recall, only for those who complain. Imagine a global recall of logic board (that has a soldered SSD on the board), in an expensive famous notebook, shame. And one more time, the question, you receive 2 more years of lifetime or they really solve the problem, in my casa the logic board is the same, same manufacturer and model.

I bought a macbook pro 15" mid-2018 in March 2019. I started using it connected to an external monitor, which is why it was closed 80% of the time, working as a desktop. In October 2019 it stopped working and I took it to the authorized technical assistance. A defect was found in the logic board, which was replaced along with the ID board. Four months later, the logic board was defective again and the battery was dilated. In this repair it was replaced in addition to the board, the top case with the battery, and again the touch ID. I told Apple support that I was concerned because it’s expensive equipment and a problem that happened 2x could easily happen again, but they reassured me saying it’s not an usual case and that they would treat differently, regardless of the warranty. And in November 2020, for the 3rd time, there was a problem with the logic board, and then they inform me that I would have to pay for the repair, which would be the replacement of the entire logic board , absurdly expensive, I was outraged because it’s not the first Mac I have, but it’s definitely the last, and I’m going to have.

The people at the shop described that the MacBook 2016 and up have overheating problems when in sleep mode and thus cause logic board failure. I am no computer expert, but that is what they told me.

I have the exact same model and the exact same problem. The unit is just one year and 3 months old and Without warning, it just would not turn on. Never dropped. Never got wet. Apple repair said it is the logic board. For such an expensive machine, a logic board failure after just over year is very disappointing. Isn’t this a design flaw that needs to be recalled? My older MacBook pros were much more dependable, lasting 4 to 5 years without any problems. These new ones seem to be plagued by problems