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Level 1

13 points

Unresponsive trackpad and keyboard

Hi. I own an early 2013 MBP with Retina Display currently running on Yosemite 10.10.5. I went out of town a couple of days ago leaving the MBP in Sleep mode. Having done this numerous times in the past two years with no issues whatsoever I didn't think twice about it. It was placed in a sleeve during the duration of my trip. Upon my return, when I lifted the lid up, the screen came on asking me for my password. But, both my keyboard and trackpad were unresponsive. I dismissed it as being a rare glitch and shut down the computer using the power button. When it restarted, the keyboard seemed to be working fine, but the trackpad was still frozen (the cursor remains frozen). After almost 12 hours of trying various things to fix this (but to no avail unfortunately), this is what I have seen:

1). When I close the screen( close the lid) and re open it after a minute or two, both my keyboard and trackpad are unresponsive. I have to then restart or shut the computer down in order to get the keyboard to work. The trackpad is completely frozen in either case.

2). even though the keyboard works , it's sticky and it lags. I have to press the same key several times for the letter to appear on screen. I am typing this message on my iphone because it was practically impossible to do this on the MBP.

3). Apart from these two things, the computer seems to be working fine. I was able to use Skype for over an hour yesterday.

4). The cursor moves when im using a USB mouse. The computer also gives me intermittent messages about connecting a bluetooth mouse or keyboard when I don't own either one of the two and neither have I ever connected them to it.

5). I have not yet tried using an external keyboard.

things ive tried till now:

1). I've tried an SMC reset many times now.

2). A PRAM reset.

3). when the problem first occurred, I was not running the latest version of Yosemite. Thinking that it might be a software bug, I somehow managed to update to 10.10.5 but that didn't fix anything either.

4). I re-installed Yosemite via Apple Recovery Services. Even whilst doing that, the MBP showed me images of how to switch on my Bluetooth mouse or trackpad which makes me wonder whether its just not detecting the trackpad (if that's even an issue). Reinstalling Yosemite did not work.

5). after reading all possible threads about this issue, I even checked the underside of my

MBP for signs of a swollen battery but I can't figure anything out.

this is the very first time in over two years that my MBP is giving me such major issues. I didn't even face this bug in 2013 when it first appeared. Needless to

say I'm quite frustrated and feeling very helpless because I really don't know whether it's a software bug or a hardware issue. And if it's a hardware issue, how can it crop up suddenly without it being even used.

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

THanks.

Posted on Aug 17, 2015 10:01 PM

Best reply

metaweb

Level 1

40 points

Posted on Apr 13, 2017 12:58 PM

I have had the unresponsive keyboard and trackpad issue since October 2016 on am Early 2015 MacBook Pro. Here's the fix .. turn the laptop over and press firmly on the area below the trackpad ... this, since the cable gets unseated from the expanding battery. The cable runs across the battery. If out of warranty, open up the back and reseat the cable yourself .. otherwise, you'll pay a small fortune for such a small repair ..

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21 replies

metaweb

Level 1

40 points

Nov 14, 2016 3:36 PM in response to BeaverMC

Sadly, I too have an early 2015 MBP 13" that has a keyboard and trackpad issue. The ironic thing is that I treat my MBP better than a human baby. I keep it in a hard case that is inside a soft case inside that is inside another case when transporting. I am always super gentle with it. I am running Sierra, latest version 10.12.1.

I am a high school teacher and university professor that has to supply his own equipment, not funded by the school. As you can imagine, it's a near miracle for a Mexican teacher to be able to cover the cost of a MBP. I fear putting myself in a similar position purchasing another Macbook. However, my 2009 MBP still works after 8 years of continued use (a family member uses it now).

So, about 2+ weeks ago, I got to school after working an hour or so in Starbucks. Started up the computer, and the login screen is unresponsive to both the keyboard and trackpad. I was leaving on a cross-country flight that day as a speaker at a 4-day international conference. The whole time at the conference, I had no computer capability. Luckily, my presentation was on a USB drive. After I got back home, I did a Sierra internet recovery (cmd-R) and the keyboard and trackpad start working normally again. I thought all was fine and wrote it off to a software glitch. Two weeks later, I suffer the same problem. After going through the recovery routine again 2x, the functionality has not returned. I am now using a $2,100USD MBP with a bluetooth Logitech iPad keyboard and a cheap USB mouse.

Authorized dealers in Mexico charge outrageous fees not controlled by Apple Inc. They are just authorized to sell products and do repair work. So, I am going to take my MBP to Reston Town Center Apple Store in December when I visit for the holidays. However, after reading all these posts and seeing that my problem will still be costly (new top case) without long-term resolve, I am leery of continuing with this line of Macbooks. I just got rid of a 1999 Compaq laptop (no wifi of course) that still fired up and worked.

It seems fair to me that Apple should at least give us a huge discount on a new MBP. I paid 26,000 pesos for this one (about $2,100 USD at the exchange rate then). I can't afford a new one or even replacing a top case that won't solve the problem in the long-term.

Apple Support on Twitter was very professional and supportive, I must say. But when all was said and done, they just gave me a Case ID # for use if I go in for service. I guess that is what they do if they can't help you solve your problem.

If this is happening to so many customers with early 2015 MBPs (purchased just last year), then why are there no obvious or clear answers or solutions. I guess I am in the long list of frustrated people. I want to continue loving Apple products after numerous purchases of iPod, 2 Macbook Pros, 2 iPad, and an iPhone 6. And I won't event go into how much I've spent on ecosystem Apps and Applications. Not sure what to do now.

I hope there is a happy ending to this story for all of us. Macbook down, Trump as president-elect, what could get any worse?

🙂 Frank

Dec 1, 2016 2:46 PM in response to BeaverMC

I also have this intermittent problem with my MBP retina early 2015. Keyboard and trackpad unresponsive after sleep, especially after an hour or later. Once working I have had the Macbook on for days without a problem. Started off a few weeks ago and has only got worse. Initially shutting the Macbook and turning back on resolved the problem. Then that wouldn't work any more so SMC and PRAM resets were tried and they seemed to work. Then the problem occurred again, opening in safe mode seemed to solve the problem until it happened AGAIN and none of the above worked anymore. Having to connect an external keyboard and mouse is beyond a joke...... have tried a clean install of Sierra which hasn't helped either. Now it is working on and off but it I have to turn it on and off a couple of times while leaving the lid open. It only seems to have happened since I updated to Sierra too, was running Yosemite previously. Im a college student currently up the walls with assignments. Have it just over a year, warranty has ran out and am paying off a €2000 loan for it. It doesn't seem like a hardware problem. Have been told that downgrading the operating system might help but have yet to try.

Dec 8, 2016 4:58 AM in response to BeaverMC

I have the same problem. It used to be, the keyboard and trackpad would stop working until I did a SMC reset and/or PRAM reset.. now it just doesn't work at all. I've tried:

* Extended SMC reset (Left Shift+Ctrl+Alt+Power and then pulling out the power plug when it goes green

* Multiple normal SMC resets

* Multiple PRAM resets

* Reinstalling Sierra about 5 times

Still dead in the water. I need to plug in a USB keyboard and bluetooth/USB mouse in order to do anything!

I am certain this is a firmware/Mac OS X issue because I made a Linux live distro on USB stick and the built-in keyboard and trackpad work fine on Linux.

Apple needs to fix this!

OS X 10.12.1

MacBookPro12,1

Boot ROM Version: MBP121.0167.B17

SMC Version (system): 2.28f7

parthc

Level 1

4 points

Dec 17, 2016 9:25 AM in response to BeaverMC

I have been facing the exact same problem. I have a Macbook Pro Retina Early 2015.

My keyboard and trackpad freeze randomly. I have to restart multiple times to get them to start working. I took my laptop to the Apple Service in Mumbai, India. After a couple of days of assessment, they said that the "Top Base" needs to be replaced. Since my laptop is out of warranty, the cost was coming out to be Rs. 32,500 (approx USD 500) which is a lot for me.

Right now, I am using it as it is. Sometime I have to restart my computer 8-10 times to "unfreeze" the trackpad and keyboard. Hope Apple comes out with a solution to this soon since this is a Hardware issue.

Apr 20, 2017 8:56 PM in response to metaweb

I had the same issue for almost 10 months, and I finally decided to get a new trackpad cable from Aliexpress for USD10. Just replaced it a few hours ago and works perfect. Try it guys.

Apr 27, 2017 5:35 PM in response to metaweb

Holy mother! This seems to fix 😮

C'mon Apple this model of MacBook Pro is a joke!

Unresponsive trackpad and keyboard