Keyboard stopped working after it was overheating

Hi my MacBook Pro keyboard stop working. After I was done with my work and closed the computer and left it in my bag for a couple of hours. I had been moving my computer bag and felt that it was hot and went to go check on my computer. It was overheating and I managed to turn it off but when I turned it back on the keyboard was unresponsive. I had it repaired a couple of months ago and I do not want to spend more money to fix it again.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.14

Posted on May 14, 2021 4:04 AM

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Posted on May 15, 2021 7:08 PM

Take your laptop back to the Apple Store or AASP so they can examine the laptop. You have a 90 day part warranty on the repair (sometimes you may have a 90 day warranty on the whole laptop if the laptop was repaired by an Apple mail-in repair depot).


A wireless keyboard may not work to activate the Apple Diagnostics because the keyboard may not become active early enough to register the special boot keys.


Try an SMC Reset which should power off the laptop. Then try to power it on again to see if it boots. Try accessing the Apple Diagnostics again after the SMC Reset. I think your laptop is powered on which is why it is hot and why it wasn't responding to the Apple Diagnostics when using the built-in keyboard.


You don't mention which exact model you have. Some of the USB-C models have known issues with the backlight on the Display. You can try pressing the Caps Lock key on the keyboard to see if it lights up which indicates the laptop is powered on and booted to the login screen. You can also connect an external display to see if any video is on the external display. You may need to force the video to the external display by putting the laptop into Clamshell Mode by connecting a USB keyboard & mouse and closing the lid of the laptop.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 15, 2021 7:08 PM in response to cate889

Take your laptop back to the Apple Store or AASP so they can examine the laptop. You have a 90 day part warranty on the repair (sometimes you may have a 90 day warranty on the whole laptop if the laptop was repaired by an Apple mail-in repair depot).


A wireless keyboard may not work to activate the Apple Diagnostics because the keyboard may not become active early enough to register the special boot keys.


Try an SMC Reset which should power off the laptop. Then try to power it on again to see if it boots. Try accessing the Apple Diagnostics again after the SMC Reset. I think your laptop is powered on which is why it is hot and why it wasn't responding to the Apple Diagnostics when using the built-in keyboard.


You don't mention which exact model you have. Some of the USB-C models have known issues with the backlight on the Display. You can try pressing the Caps Lock key on the keyboard to see if it lights up which indicates the laptop is powered on and booted to the login screen. You can also connect an external display to see if any video is on the external display. You may need to force the video to the external display by putting the laptop into Clamshell Mode by connecting a USB keyboard & mouse and closing the lid of the laptop.

May 18, 2021 6:57 AM in response to HWTech

I have the first version of the MacBook Pro and I have tried everything you mentioned and has not worked for me. I did get my computer repaired longer than a 90 days ago. I having been using my wireless keyboard to get on my computer and my school work done and the back light for the keyboard suddenly turned on which I didn’t before.

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Keyboard stopped working after it was overheating

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