Want to highlight a helpful answer? Upvote!

Did someone help you, or did an answer or User Tip resolve your issue? Upvote by selecting the upvote arrow. Your feedback helps others! Learn more about when to upvote >

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

My MacBook Air (2013) won't turn on

This morning I was using it, and it was working fine. I came home this evening, plugged my MacBook into the MagSafe power adapter and went to power it on - and nothing happened. It is responding to the power adapter (ie lights up green initially and the orange) but I cannot get it to respond. At one stage I did hear a brief chime as if it was rebooting, but it cut off again.


I have tried everything I can find online - holding down the power button, holding down power, option and command, etc but nothing is working. I have only owned this laptop for a couple of months and I cannot think of anything that would have damaged it. As I say, it as working this morning.


I am desperate for help as I am currently abroad and not near an Apple Store and my laptop is essential for the work I am doing so any help would be greatly appreciated.

MacBook Air

Posted on Aug 9, 2013 12:17 PM

Reply
117 replies

Feb 17, 2017 9:56 AM in response to Camdenlily

4 years after you, I find myself in the same situation. I bought a refurbished MacBook Air after my MacBook Pro died(4 years with it, 0 problems!) well the laptop has been quitting by itself a bunch of times but nothing that can't be handle albeit the inconvenience, he worst is that the laptop wouldn't start for days after turning it off and then when bringing it to the store, it would start just fine by itself! I had to make a video at my house just so they would believe me in case I would book an appointment at the Genius Bar and the laptop would work just fine again. Every time I brought it in also they run the diagnostics and told me that everything was fine with it...on the third time, they finally couldn't make it start and had to send it to the mainland from Hawaii for a logic board replacement, 2 months later, here I'm again with the same problem, I travel a lot for work and can't have this happening while abroad or even here...at what point does apple return my money so I can buy something that isn't a "lemon"? I'm already over this computer that I can't count on...any ideas? The computer has been sent to the mainland again...

Mar 14, 2017 8:15 PM in response to Camdenlily

I can't believe what has happened. I bought a MacBook Air 13 inch a year ago on March the 6th. Well sure enough I wake up on the 8th to find my MacBook will not turn on. I tried resetting the SMC I think that's the right acronym but I also tried using a different charger. I have even tried unplugging the internal battery and plugging it back in trick. Nothing has worked. I would have called support but this is out of the 1 year range and the support app states my Mac's serial is invalid but I know it's not. I took my Mac to a local repair shop and they stated it's the motherboard and would cost $550. I paid $899 I should just buy a new one instead cause who is to say it won't happen again or something else go wrong. Please help! I'm at a complete loss :(

Jun 18, 2017 12:53 PM in response to Camdenlily

hi all,

i had the same issue with my late 2010 MBA 11", watched a movie in the night, closed it and in the next morning it was completely dead, even the Magsafe didn't light up. I've tried serval thinks, including all keyboard combination (SMC reset and so on), a different power supply from a 13" MBP, shaking like i mean it, nothing worked so far. But today, hot summer day, i placed it the whole afternoon in the car in the sun and suddenly it was working again.

Thanks alot at user ewrecka for the tip.


Last entry in the system log was:

Jun 16 00:01:19 unknown5855CAF8B8BD logd[66]: Flushing contents to disk due to sleep event

Aug 16, 2017 6:02 PM in response to Mjolnir4Life

I took to Apple this afternoon after my AirMac 2015 didn't start on , everything was black and any noise of a fan or anything. They told me I had to send to apple repairs bc my logic board was dead the rest was working good ... it could be a past spilled or dropped they didn't knew what it caused... i didn't dropped ....so total of repairs would be 500$ after taxes😮. I took it back home without repairing it and start to hit it with the palm of my hand upside down, and magically start working🤔 Very first time I did hit any laptop! Just thought would be it last chance since they told they were 100% sure the logic board was dead!

Sep 22, 2017 8:37 AM in response to Comraich

I last posted in this thread in January after my discovery that The Shake did indeed work - and it's been working ever since.


And my wife's 2015 (but brand new) MacBook Pro is doing the same thing - refusing to wake up. So we shook it - and it worked! So curse Apple for doing one thing wrong - probably in the software that's supposed to wake the computer up. But bless them for doing another thing wrong - not bolting everything down inside. If shaking works, that means something inside isn't screwed on tight and moves enough to somehow wake it up.


Either that, or they're using the iPhone design that lets you wake up the phone by shaking it. Maybe using it by mistake - because why should you have to shake a computer to wake it up? It's ridiculous. But thank god they're doing it because otherwise we'd all have computers in a coma.


One tip - all I've needed is one good sharp shake - not a kind of wiggling it around but a real jerky-type shake. Works every time.

Oct 6, 2017 7:43 AM in response to Bookie07

I am joining the chorus. MB13 early 2015 - type, bought by my institution, therefore brand new, therefore battery brand new too; same symptoms, dad to the world except mag, went on the internet, found Mjolnir's post from a few years back, gave it a good shake, and voilà! It turned back on —I confirm, thanks be given to the almighty Mjolnir. No heat or humidity by the way, nice and cool Fall afternoon in Paris.


Which means that

a) So-called geniuses at so-called genius bars are like the vast majority of the (underpaid macjob holder / shady small entrepreneur / choose one) doing computer repair I ever came across: they have no idea what went wrong, are not interested, and will order an expensive replacement as their default procedure just to (make you go away / steal more of your money / choose one).

b) Apple has gone full Microsoft —deny everything, admit nothing, and blame everybody else ("you are the only person who ever had that problem in the whole universe!" "you must have spilled something on it!" "It's your third-party software!" "you have offended the Gods, it's your fault!"). The only reason why I (we?) still cling to their overpriced products is path dependency, and loyalty to UNIX —which we should transfer to Linux, obviously. Good thing for them that Microsoft is still so awful, but this is beginning to look like a race to the bottom.

c) Since there are no SMS in fusion disks, the most probable explanation seems to me a fan issue —fans are mobile parts, can get stuck, and will get unstuck if shaken. Of course if Apple was even marginally interested in what's left of its computer customer base, or in the quality of its own products, it would investigate. I won't be waiting up at night for that to happen...


PLG

Aug 9, 2013 1:19 PM in response to Camdenlily

I have only owned this laptop for a couple of months


The good news is that is still under the one year limited warranty.


Startup your Mac in Safe Mode


A Safe Mode boot takes a longer than a normal boot so be patient.


Once you are in Safe Mode, click Restart from the Apple () menu.


If that doesn't help, see if you can access OS X Recovery.


Turn the Mac off, wait about ten seconds then startup while holding down the Command + R keys. Let go of the keys when you see the spinning progress indicator.


From there you should be able to access the utilities in recovery mode to verify and repair the disk if necesssary, or reinstal OS X.


Read before proceeding > OS X: About OS X Recovery


If you can't boot into recovery mode, contact Apple for instructions for sending in your Mac for service > Contact Us - Apple Store


My MacBook Air (2013) won't turn on

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.