Broken micro ribbon cable I/O Board

Question

Broken micro ribbon cable I/O Board

I have a 2015 MacBook Air Intel 2.2ghz 13” & I just replaced the I/O board and broke the small ribbon cable that attaches to the 3.5mm audio port. I figured I would not have sound but I have been having excessive fan & CPU issues. I’ve run a diagnostic and the error codes are: PFM006 & PPN001. I have booted in safe mode & reset the NVRAM & SMC. It’s obvious resetting the SMC should fix the problem, however I have tried resetting multiple times by removed the battery for +20 seconds and then pressing power button 5 times, holding each for 5 seconds and then reconnecting the battery. Nothing seems to work. Could it be the micro ribbon cable that broke that is causing the issue? Could it be the replacement I/O board? I still have the original I/O board I can swap back in but the reason I replaced it is because the power cable was overheating and burned the power connector & disabled the audio from excessive heat. I have the small ribbon cable tucked to the side, see picture.

Please help, I’m a programming and I have a tone of negative reviews on Fiver now because I don’t want to use my computer for fear I could damage my CPU.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 12.6

Posted on Oct 23, 2023 11:06 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 23, 2023 11:59 AM in response to madmathematics

So I just replaced the I/O board with the old one and ran a diagnostic. Everything is working again, even the speakers!!! I’m assuming the headphones won’t work but that’s ok. Should I buy another I/O board or just keep the original now that everything is working? Can I replace the small ribbon cable that goes to the 3.5mm jack? Does this look like the right ribbon cable?

https://www.amazon.com/Deal4GO-Microphone-821-1749-Replacement-MacBook/dp/B097YKC9N5/ref=mp_s_a_1_15?crid=1VV5KD62HEJE3&keywords=A1466+audio+board+ribbon+cable+speakers+3.5mm&qid=1697822882&sprefix=a1466+audio+board+ribbon+cable+speakers+3.5mm+%2Caps%2C214&sr=8-15

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Answer 2

Oct 23, 2023 1:03 PM in response to madmathematics

You can buy and install anything you want to on your property. The problem there is too many people start doing things like this not fully prepared.

If you feel confident, have at it ... it's your device, your money and your data that's at risk.

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Answer 3

Oct 23, 2023 1:21 PM in response to stumpy1946

I understand your point but you haven’t answered any of my questions. I’ve been doing some research and the cable appears to be called a “flexgate”. Here are my questions:

1) Is the cable in the link I provided a viable replacement?

2) Is it difficult to replace? (Seems to only require the removal of the battery)

3) Is there soldering involved?

4) Should I buy another I/O board replacement?

P.S. I looked at the packaging for the I/O board I purchased and it has all the correct information, including the correct model #. However, the year is wrong. It states that it’s a Mid 2012 I/O board and my laptop is a Early 2015.

5) Could the year effect the I/O board’s performance?

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Answer 4

Oct 23, 2023 1:46 PM in response to madmathematics

That's impossible to know. You'll have to ask the maker but remember that want to sell you a part.
Not if your experienced and have the correct tools.
Visual inspection of your Mac will determine that.
You can't. Apple doesn't sell parts to individuals unless the device is in this program: https://www.selfservicerepair.com/en-US/order 3rd party parts are always risky. caveat emptor
The year of the Mac generally affects everything to one degree or another, so yes in that it may not be compatible.

This community is not here to diagnose and fix hardware. You may get all sorts of opinions, but tinkering inside your Mac is something that puts you in the "you're on your own" situation.

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Answer 5

Oct 23, 2023 2:25 PM in response to stumpy1946

Thank you for the information, VERY helpful :) So I am scared my computer is still having problems. My computers fan started up strong again and YouTube videos stopped working with no video or audio :/ I powered off and ran another Diagnostic and got nothing wrong. I restarted and everything is working again. Is my I/O boar failing? Is there something else that could be wrong? What should I do?

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Answer 6

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,308 points

Oct 23, 2023 2:41 PM in response to madmathematics

These are fellow user supported community sites and the majority of us do not perform internal surgery on our Macs. Therefore, with minute possible exception, no one here can advise you on the real damage to your Mac, or how one or another cable is supposed to interact with the logic board, or where you go from here… other than replace the Mac.

Since your Mac is now 8 years old, Apple and Apple Authorized Service Centers will likely refuse to rescue your Mac back to full functionality.

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Answer 7

Oct 23, 2023 8:16 PM in response to VikingOSX

Well the majority might not be tech experts in this community but I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that one of them will respond. As for the 8 years comment, you are correct about Apple Support refusing to help or I wouldn't be seeking help from this community in the 1st place. However, you are wrong in your assumption that the computer is 8 months old since I bought it new on Amazon where there are countless dealers selling new computers that use outdated hardware.

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Broken micro ribbon cable I/O Board

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