echoladone wrote:
HWTech wrote:
There is a possibility the USB-C ports are damaged which is very common in my personal experience since it only takes a single drop/splash of liquid to enter the port & corrode it.....and no, you cannot always see the damage by peering into the port. It doesn't even take into account damage from connected accessories. Or it may be a hardware issue with the Logic Board, or possibly even the Battery. Testing with known good USB-C ports (aka I/O Board is the first step since an issue with one port could possibly affect all of the others).
I am very careful with all my equipment.
Perhaps, but if anyone else was near the laptop, they may have had an accident and never told you about it. I take really good care of my things as well, but even I have had the oddest accidents occur. And the physical damage to the port may not always be due to a liquid spill.....contaminants can get pushed in there as well.
All I know is that damaged USB-C ports are so common that I will check them every time even if the user does not mention any issues with them. Many times the contacts can be cleaned, but they must be removed from the laptop to be properly examined & cleaned.
Diagnostics at the service center showed that my ports are in perfect condition. This behavior is the same on all four USB-C ports. ...... So I'm hoping for a solution. I think it might be a problem with the SMC chip that occurred during the latest update...
Apple's diagnostics (even the service diagnostics) are a joke these days especially for the M-series Macs, but also for the later Intel Macs as well. Except for the cooling system check, most other checks are to see that the item is present. Plus if the issue settles down, then by the time the diagnostics boot & the test is run, the issue is probably already impossible to detect. The only useful diagnostic result is one which reports an actual problem. A passing diagnostic result is usually meaningless (there are a couple of exceptions).
You can perform an SMC Reset by using the link provided by @TheLittles....just make sure to read those instructions very carefully for the T2 Macs since the procedure is different from the earlier Macs. I personally like to have the laptop sit at the Option Boot screen when performing an SMC Reset because you know it worked since it will immediately power off when performed correctly.
Your best hope is that the USB-C ports are damaged even though it is a time consuming repair, the I/O Boards are cheap. Plus it is very easy for a tech to connect a known good I/O Board for testing while disconnecting the other one so it doesn't interfere with the test (this is a quick & easy test, that only requires removing the Bottom Case & being extremely careful with the jury-rigged system during testing since it is very awkward). Otherwise, the problem is most likely due to a Logic Board failure since Battery failures don't usually manifest with those symptoms, but a Battery cannot be ruled out completely.
You can try rotating the USB-C connector on the charging cable 180º upside down to see if that makes a difference. If that works, then it means the USB-C port is half bad ( could be anyone of the following is bad....I/O Board, MLB, charging cable, or Power Adapter).
However, the Battery is most likely worn out or failing if it is the original one from the factory. You may actually have two hardware issues here. Unfortunately except for the I/O Boards which offers a quick & easy test, it is not possible to quickly swap in a known good battery....in fact, an AASP would probably have to test with a different Logic Board since Apple does no longer allows AASPs to return a new battery used only for testing.
Unfortunately the techs which examined your laptop did not even rule out the USB-C ports (aka I/O Boards) which is very quick & easy to do which would leave you with the MLB and/or the Battery as a problem. In fact, a tech could disconnect the battery to see if the laptop can even power on & remain on sitting at the Option Boot screen with just the power adapter (it likely won't be able to boot, or if it does, it will boot extremely slow without the battery).
Like I said before, you are probably better off retiring this laptop. These are your options (SMC Reset & rotating USB-C connector) and the options available to a repair tech to attempt to identify if the I/O Boards and MLB are bad (I'm sure the battery is worn out, perhaps failing if it is the original from the factory).
FYI, Here is an Apple article for steps you should perform before selling or recycling a Mac:
What to do before you sell, give away, trade in, or recycle your Mac - Apple Support
