Q: Macbook pro not turning on, not charging

Old thread, but I wanted to post that it almost helped. My wife's MBP ('09, 13") has a similar problem. I followed the suggestion and got the indicator lights to come on (shows fully charged battery), but still doesn't start. I'm going to take it in Monday. Will update with what I find for future visitors with similar problems.

By the way, the steps you gave were easy to follow. Thanks for putting this out there.

Anytime. Did you also try an SMC Reset after getting the charge lights to come on?

I recall a certain batch of MacBook Pros had issues with motherboards /video cards. I had to send one back for a board replacement in 2009 after Apple posted a bulletin of a discovered problem which they would fix even if out of warranty if the issue surfaced in a certain time frame.

Let's know what you find out.

I tried the SMC reset. It did not work. I also learned after digging out the box that we bought it in 2010 so we are still covered by AppleCare. Unfortunately, there isn't much they can do when your son spills tea on it and doesn't mention it. (Well, he didn't spill it on it, but on the table and enough of it went up through the vent. You can see the line on the back cover. He wiped up the table and the case thinking it was good enough.) I didn't even notice the water spots when I took off the back cover the other night.

Electronics and liquids make terrible bed buddies!

Plunjer! You are a legend. Saved me from spending couple of hundered dollars

Very helpful advice / directions.  My 13" MacbookPro June 2012 with a 256 SSD experienced the same issues as described in this thread (not turning on, not charging, charger LED indicator light glowed a dim green and then stopped glowing).  Performing the steps of removing the bottom cover, unplugging and replacing the battery cable, reconnect MagSafe charger (LED lights up as intended), power up computer, perform SMC reset (at same time depress shift-ctrl-option-power button, hold briefly, release all at same time, and finally depress power button).  After those simple steps my computer was back up and working as it should with zero noticable impact on system performance or memory/storage. 

Thank you very much for taking the time to give this advice as it saved me significant time and potential money by avoiding a trip to the Genius Bar at our  Apple Store here in our Birmingham, AL.

Roll Tide !!!

Hi, I had the same problem with my macbook 13 pro mid 2010 (non-removable battery), so what I did to solve this is that I removed the cover and unplugged the battery from the logic board (without the charger attach), then with a heat gun I heated all the logic board (needs to be careful to not damage the cables), and that solve the problem. If that doesn't work for you leave the battery unplugged and reset the SMC controller and plug the charger (whitout connecting the battery) that also works (you need to replace the battery).

Also the battery needs to be replace but so far I have my mac back.

you can save around 700 USD by looking all options to solve this commun issue. But most of all is referring to a battery problem (some kind of a controller problem located on the battery).

I hope this works for any one who has this problem with the models that can't remove the battery (of course it can be removed).

Santiago

Hey,

We had a similar problem too.

What fixed it was doing the following steps;

1) with the charger connected, hold down the left shift, option, control key and the power button

2) let go of all the buttons and then press the power button.

The macbook turned on straight away. Hope this helps

I just realised this was already posted... sorry

Mine does this too, flip over the charger input that goes into the computer. Mine can only charge one way like that too.

Back from death

My Macbook Pro is a i7 13inches mid of 2012 and shutdown alone when i unplug my iphone usb cable.

The charger do not worked, the power botton do not repond and teh computer appers dead.

So i open the computer and unplug the baterry conector, i press the power button with battery disconnected to eliminate any energy on the main board , i reconnect the baterry in the main board e press power, POWN ! Returned from death !!

i used ths video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03cC79r5Dx4

Thank you all

Plunjer, how do I know that it is the mag safe connector and not the logic board?

I was offered a MBP 2011 i5 for a really good price, but it has a "charging" problem and I am trying to see if it is worth it buying it or not because of the cost of the repair.

My story is that the computer had a 50% battery so I plugged in the charger and the indicator had a faint green light, dimmer than usual and would not charge at all. It was still at 50% so I unplugged it and plugged back in for more than one time and the same thing happened. Then, the battery went low and the computer turned off. I took it to the store to buy a new charger, because I thought that was the problem, and so I tried a new charger at the store and it was still not charging so I took to the genius and he said that most likely it could be the battery or the mag safe connector(connector board).

K4L3L wrote:

 

with a heat gun I heated all the logic board (needs to be careful to not damage the cables), and that solve the problem.

A question to you, K4L3L, specifically is-  why do you heat your MacBook Pro's logic board?  And this is good, because for me the OP's solution, sadly, did not work for me:

K4L3L wrote:

If that doesn't work for you leave the battery unplugged and reset the SMC controller and plug the charger (whitout connecting the battery) that also works (you need to replace the battery)

________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________

In general response to the OP:  I have the mid-2010 13" MacBook Pro unibody with the same problem as most folk here.  In my case, though, it has already been condemned by the repair centre as probably needing a new motherboard or logic board.  Which means I am game for anything as I have nothing to lose.  Therefore I was perusing this thread with great interest as mine also:

• went off without warning despite being on charge and powered up (lid shut) overnight.  With my iPhone S charging on it,
• with all but one of the battery lights illuminated (ie still a goodly amount of charge which I was topping up) as I plugged in the charging cable.  And which I watched go amber as I am hyper-careful with it (it is pristine and looks like new).

What I do want to add is that the MacBook Pro had been in for a weird symptom (vowel keys did not work for about an hour three days before the hard drive ceased to be recognised, something which apparently was sorted by the repair centre putting in a new controller cable at the princely sum of £145) and which preceded THIS latest problem two weeks later by 24 hours.  Meaning- all was OK for about ten days and then I again lost use of the vowels and about 24 hours later- dead.

What has been tried is the reset for the non-removable battery model, the disconnecting by the repair centre and myself of the battery and that is about it.  I have not, myself, tried using it with the battery disconnected but would expect that the repair centre would have. 

Anything anyone else can add to this- please, please do.  I had spent, in all, £1300 for the MacBook Pro and a further £450 on the repair and the upgrades I had just done ((RAM to the maximum of 8GB and installing an SSD which ALL worked fine, thanking you kindly and which were done AFTER the repair as it was not clear that it wasn't the hard drive which had failed) and am still without a computer which works.  I cannot afford to have it repaired by the repair centre who state that in order to know what it is one must pay for the logic board and/or motherboard to fit them to work out if that is the problem.

Final note- the MacBook Pro, although pristine, was used long hours, daily.  It has been THE best Mac I have ever had and I loved editing on it with Final Cut Pro 6 with just Snow Leopard.  Stable as anything- NO crashes EVER.

This is a seperate user, I'm on my partners Macbook. I have a 13'' Macbook Pro Mid 2013. I have a similar problem but reached a solution and now have the same problem. My girlfriend broke her Samsung Mega and purchased a Samsung Note 4. As a favor I downloaded the latest version of Kies to transfer all materials from the phone to the new model. I plugged the phone in and began the transfer to the Mac. When It finished I looked in the folder where the files were dropped and nothing was there. So I reconnected the phone the second I did my Macbook shutdown with no signs of life, the battery indicator on the side wouldn't even work. I called Apple Care and they told me to hold SHIFT+COMMAND+OPTION+POWER for 10 seconds and hit the POWER button after to reset the Logic Board. Nothing happend, assuming I had to make an appointment I waiting 2 days to call. Before I did my partner brought his 15'' over (What I'm using now) and on a whim I decided to plug his charger in and out of no where the light was bright green and the Mac turned on. After a week of using the Mac with no problem I again plugged her phone in and the computer instantly went back into rigamortis. Now I'm a little suspect on the situation. I can't seem to revive it in any way. I tried everything I did before and I'm just hoping it's a time issue which logically makes no sense... FML

worked like a charm thanks after reconnecting battery connector the battery indicator lit up showing battery had charged booted laptop works perfect now thanks i

I would take the suggestion to do a SMC reset. But just to ask. Were you using the Macbook Pro without being plugged into the magsafe. The reason I ask is my daughters Macbook's magsafe also glows a faint green and shows very little in the way of charging. But it does charge. It just takes a very long time to do it. And if the battery is not in a charge state it will not turn on,even if the magsafe is plugged in. I know from checking it out, it's a problem in the logic board. But as long as there is a charge in the battery it is usable.  She has run it down and has had to leave it off and let it charge for three hour before it will turn on.

Hi,

I tried everything recommended however my mac still isnt coming on. Is there anything else I can try? The battery indicator on the side only lights up when i plug in the adapter.. it shows the computer has 70% battery remaining however the light on the charger remains green and doesn't switch to an orange.

Hope you can help

Thanks!