Macbook Pro 15" 2017 TouchBar possible logic board problem?

christiana71 wrote:

Hello!

I have a Mackbook Pro 15" 2017 with Touchbar and recently, as I was working, the screen started to glitch, showing vertical colorful lines (fuchsia and turquoise if I remember well). I turned off the computer and turned it on again, and it seemed fine. Then, 20 minutes later, it started again. I turned it off and this time it didn't turn on again normally. It lit the screen (in black) but didn't show any information, only the "esc" key on the touchbar.

I called apple support and ran several software tests, with no success. I turned it off and took it to an Authorized Service near me. When I got there, the machine didn't turn on, not even when plugged in a charger. They analysed it and said it was an issue with the logic board and I had to replace it. I found their prices very high and decided to get a second opinion.

When I got to the second Authorized Service, the computer miraculously turned on, as if nothing had happened. The only issue was that the battery was draining fast and the percentage wasn't stable: it kept jumping, specially when I inserted the charging cable. (Exemple: it's at 12%, I insert the cable, it shows 11%, I take it off, back to 12%). So I decided to leave it for analysis anyway.

The technician found an issue with my keyboard and later replaced it (along with the battery). When I asked him about the Logic Board, he said that the tests did not show any issue (pictured, before replacing the battery).

Anyway, I got the computer back yesterday and when it was down to 10% I proceeded to charge it, and the issue with the percentage changing when I insert the cable was still present.

I would like to know if this could be indeed an issue with the logic board, since I already replaced the battery and it obviously isn't an issue. I wanted to know also if this test they run is accurate, or if I should demand further investigation onto the logic board.

Thank you!

P.S. I have already reset the SMC and put the Mac into security mode to resolve the battery issue but nothing has come of it. Also, I am running on the latest OS: Catalina 10.15.6

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/1a8d6f47-23a9-4559-87ab-0b1468d79918

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/1db44546-ec11-474e-b3d5-3f22a9b3f301

Yes the resetting is the SMC is fundamental to touchbar issues, there are however some NVRAM that comes into play.

Try resetting NVRAM/PRAM http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379

among others:

USB Device: Apple T2 Bus

USB Device: Touch Bar Backlight

USB Device: Apple T2 Controller

If no resolve then yes you can expect a hardware issue—

Call Customer Support (800) MY–APPLE (800–692–7753)

or on line https://getsupport.apple.com/

or call AppleCare Support at 1-800-APLCARE (800-275-2273)

Without being able to see or reproduce the problem easily makes it very difficult to troubleshoot. The power issue is most likely caused by the Logic Board and/or possibly the I/O Boards (aka USB-C ports) while the graphical glitch you mentioned could be caused by either the Logic Board or Display Assembly.

It definitely helps that the Top Case with Battery was already replaced I assume under Apple's free keyboard repair program.

Apple Diagnostics (or any diagnostic) with a passing mark doesn't mean anything. Diagnostics are really only useful if it actually finds an issue. The MRI diagnostic pictured is just a very basic quick test which does little more than check sensors, whether a piece of hardware is detected, and a quick memory test. Apple does have other more thorough diagnostics which take a couple hours to run instead of 5 or 10 minutes.

Unfortunately no. Only Apple and Apple Authorized Service Providers have access to the better diagnostics. The better diagnostics don't always help though since like I said the diagnostic must fail in order to be useful. Sometimes a tech needs to be creative and persistent in order to try and reproduce the problem or notice something else that may be abnormal.

If you can find something that tends to reproduce the problem more consistently it would definitely help the Apple technicians.