Smoking MacBook

Question

Level 1

8 points

Smoking MacBook

So, I have (or did have) one of the old Aluminium MacBooks (2.0Ghz).

However I was using it this Tuesday with my iPhone plugged in to the USB port transferring music and the charger plugged in charging the battery which was around 50% full.

All of a sudden the display flicked off, the laptop turned off and smoke started rising from the keyboard area.

Now the MacBook won't turn on at all, however the battery is still charging (according to the Magsafe charger LED anyway)

Just wondering if anyone may have any ideas as to what could have gone wrong and wether or not it sounds like it can be fixed, as to be honest I don't fancy spending at least £800 on replacing the thing!

Thanks all,

Joe

Posted on Sep 7, 2012 11:33 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Sep 7, 2012 2:44 PM in response to Joe.C

Any electrical item that 'smokes' is not going to be good, looks like at least one component on the logic board has failed ! so at the least it's going to be a new logic board and/or other components too unless you are any good at repairs at component level ? either way not cheap, Apple will charge you an arm and leg to repair it (unless you are covered by AppleCare) or you could get a logic board and fit it yourself - still not cheap here in the UK.

custom mini.

Reply

Answer 2

delta1.0

Level 1

65 points

Sep 7, 2012 4:52 PM in response to Joe.C

Holy crap, dude. Unplug that thing! Anytime you see smoke coming from anything electrical immediately unplug it. I'd open it up if it were mine. If it's not the motherboard or any onboard components like your processor or video card you might be in luck. Hopefully it is something like your hard drive (which would suck for data loss) so that you can replace it with the chance of some functionality.

Either way, if you're calling it a loss opening it up won't harm anything. It might be worth it to take a look. Let us know what you find out and maybe even get some pics for others to take a look and give opinions.

Reply