My built-in keyboard and trackpad not working

Thanks pk321. This solution worked for me. Had been pulling my hair out and forced to use external keyboard/mouse. Was a little skeptical because of posters that found that the problem disappeared with linux, but I'm concluding that there might be multiple causes. Inspection of the old trackpad cable clearly shows a couple of places where it is dimpled in a way that could have broken the connection. I'm really disappointed in Apple's response to this situation.

The cable replacement worked perfectly for 2 weeks now, but sometimes for some reason the keyboard and trackpad fail to respond. However I tried this under Lubuntu Live usb and both keyboard and trackpad work perfectly!

But they only work intermittently under Mac OS.

Could some one else please confirm this?

For some reason, I managed to get my trackpad up and running by booting a windows partition. So, one could try holding the power and option key on a non-functioning internal keyboard and see if that helps.

The issue comes from a driver ( possibly the trackpad or keyboard driver).

How to find out which driver it is (and fix it):

• Install Windows without Bootcamp
• See that trackpad and keyboard work fine
• Find the latest Bootcamp files on the internet
• Run the setup.exe and install all Bootcamp drivers
• See that the trackpad and keyboard do not work anymore
• Start uninstalling the drivers one by one until your keyboard and trackpad work again ( might need rebooting after each uninstall) - You will then know which driver is ******* up
• Go back to OS X
• Be a OS X wizard and find out where this driver is and kill it with fire
• Enjoy

Only known temporary fix : Replace trackpad cable.

Alternatives : Run Windows or Linux on your mac , maybe even both if you want.

My solution is:

1 - sell it (OR)

2- install linux distro on it

Just got the issue in my MacBook Pro 2015 just after 15days after my warranty ended. And went to the Apple service and wanted to do a repair for half of the price of a MacBook. They should really take proper actions to this simply the customer support people escapes saying all machines are not permanent and ****. Simply would not recommend this to anyone. what should have done is maybe repair it for free which never happened :) RIP Apple

Really? What did you expect them to do? Sprinkle a little fairy dust in the air to unlock your mac, save your document, fix your keyboard all in one fell swoop? Did you try a Bluetooth or USB keyboard and mouse? I'd wager you didn't. Welcome to the world of computing where everything is NOT perfect and failures WILL occur.

Hey "fairy dust" guy... Plz provide a few similar snarky offensive remarks regarding the "OTHER", still yet-to-be-solved mystery... If you've been paying attention, there's another conversation going on.. This fairly MAJOR ISSUE is non-existent outside of OSX... Try ANY version of Linux (Mint, Ubuntu, Cub, Arch, Elementary OS, DSL, Sabayon... List goes on). Never an inkling of these KB/TP symptoms arise, EVER.. So let's hear it from a guru like you - - what ridiculously simple, stupid, ignorant, amateur things would you "WAGER" none of us have tried, in order to explicitly identify the root cause of the problem, specifically within OSX..?? We haven't heard anything from Official Apple Software Engineer(s) / Developer(s).. Enlighten those of us, whom happen to be UP-TO-OUR-EYEBALLS & COMPLETELY SATURATED IN ".. the world of computing where everything is NOT perfect and failures WILL occur." - Thx in advance..

I, too, have the same problem. Now I'm reading about replacing the cable, and, as others, I feel anxious about this solution. Did it work for everyone who tried this? I really want to try this if it works for a 100%, would save me a lot of money! (Also MacBook Pro Retina 13" Early 2015).

I’ve tried all of the above and nothing works. Tried an Apple repair shop and the ‘pro-guys‘ didn’t have an answer. Is it time for Apple to take this problem seriously and recall the defective model. Or is this my last Mac?

I am having the same problem with my Macbook Air 13" Retina, 8 GB RAM, and 120GB Disk Space only that I can't reset the SMC on my Air, I have tried to reset several times. About 10 months ago the trackpad wasn't working but I had it fixed and I am having the problem only that it is the built-in keyboard this time, it has been 2 months since the built-in keyboard wasn't working. About the suggestion of using an External KB, would an SMC reset work on external KB's that are not related to Apple and from other companies? Or should I buy a mac external KB?

have you replaced the cable? - I have been using external setup for few months now, but want to resolve this. Tried software and some hardware stuff -like cutting a piece off that cable. It seemed to fix the issue for a week or two, then keyboard and trackpad went out again.

@demiz

Hmm, what do you have to lose? the cable is the cheapest replacement you can make.

Reading from this thread, and having tried a few things myself I think the issue is certainly not a simple one. After I had a coworker did some resets, and played with cable - even cutting a piece off of it, my laptop functioned for some time - which makes me think in my specific case it should be the cable. (But for those that have changed it, it must be the software, keyboard or battery issue...)

So two questions for you guys, as now I need to do this myself.

1) which tools do I need to change the cable? Is there some toolkit I can get?

2) I have seen a cable link someone has posted but no confirmation - can anyone name it so I can find it myself?

(Touchpad Trackpad Flex Cable for MacBook Pro Retina 13"?)

(my MBP is retina, 13" early 2015)

Went to Apple store, replaced it (under warranty), and the little **** stopped working, again, 2 days after! From the little research I’ve done, this seems to be a bad-engineering-and-design issue. Now I’m frustrated, because that means I might have to buy either the MacBook Pros manufactured 2014 and down, or the newer ones: I don’t want anything before 2015, because they don’t have the force touch trackpad; having gotten used to force touch on iPhone, I know this is a functionality I don’t want to abandon; as for the newe models, I can’t buy into the all-USB-C life yet.

This is so f### preposterous. Given how widespread this issue is, Apple should have released an updated 2015 mope that fixed this!

Now my friends are going to laugh at my face, given that I was starting to (shamelessly) warm up to Apple—coming from MSft.

The buikt-in trackpad on my early 2015 13" MacBook Pro Retina no longer clicks and does not track my fingers reliably. The arrow skitters across the screen as if trying to follow but suffering from palsy. It happened all of the sudden right after I installed the latest update (10.13.5). My repair guy says that it is due to the battery swelling and pushing up against the trackpad. Anybody else hear this as a problem?