13" MacBook pro died! Arghhhhh! Help!

[eleskin]

Well it finally happened to me. My 1 1/2 year old 13" MacBook pro is dead! The magnetic power supply glows very dim green, that's it! I suspect a problem with the main logic board. I would imagine my hard drive is ok so I can recover data. I am on vacation and I use this MacBook to process and store photos on my external drive. Oh well, it looks like I am going to Costco and buy more memory cards for my M8 until I can get the Mac fixed!!!

 

[Jamie123]

If it's the main logic board I think it's probably not worth fixing. Besides, prices for MBPs have come down quite a bit in the past couple of years so it might be worth considering getting a new one.

 

[eleskin]

Oh by the way, my old G4 tower is running very strong as well as my newer 24" Imac. This is the first failure I ever had with a Mac. Maybe they need to make more stuff here again instead of China!!
He'll, my Leica M8 is running strong too after 80,000 exposures and a fall on solid marble floor!

 

[Rogier]

Just make an appointment at the Geniusbar and let them fix it. I assume you got the Apple Protection Plan (extended 3 year warranty).

Or did you spill liquid on it......?

 

[dogberryjr]

Have you turned it off and on again? Is it plugged in?

/Obligatory

 

[mwooten]

Perhaps it is just the battery failing.

 

[I Love Film]

1) Take out the battery.
2) Unplug the magsafe power adapter.
3) Hold down the power switch 30 seconds.

Reassemble and try starting again. You are trying to reset the power manager.

 

[om.ch]

Try first if it is the power supply cable that frayed, they were infamous for this for quite a while. If your laptop still doesn't charge with a new one then yeah, probably LB.

 

[I Love Film]

This is completely wrong.

Try first if it is the power supply cable that frayed, they were infamous for this for quite a while. If your laptop still doesn't charge with a new one then yeah, probably LB.

 

[Rogier]

1) Take out the battery.
2) Unplug the magsafe power adapter.
3) Hold down the power switch 30 seconds.

Reassemble and try starting again. You are trying to reset the power manager.

You can't take the battery out of that MB Pro.

Reset the SMC has the same effect:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

 

[Rogier]

Try first if it is the power supply cable that frayed, they were infamous for this for quite a while. If your laptop still doesn't charge with a new one then yeah, probably LB.

This happened to power cords that were abused by the owner... Pulling / twisting etc etc.

 

[thegman]

This happened to power cords that were abused by the owner... Pulling / twisting etc etc.

That's not my experience, I had two of these power cables, it happened to both. It did not happen to previous or later Mac laptop power cables, and I don't think my behaviour toward power cables changed for just the period I owned that laptop.

 

[Paul T.]

If it's 18 months and it's a manufacturing fault,

1: see if the Genius Bar can fix it on the spot.
2: if they can't, tell them you're not happy, it's a premium computer and shouldn't fail at 18 months. They'll say, "the guarantee is only 12 months." You will say, and keep repeating "I have bought Apple product for years, this is a premium price computer - what can you do for me?" Keep being polite, tell them you know it's not their fault personally, but you are not happy and will not be happy unless they do something.

I did this with my MacBook air that died at 23 months (it had had three separate faults), without extended warranty. They gave me a brand new one.

Might not work of course, but don't ask, don't get.

 

[Rogier]

If it's 18 months and it's a manufacturing fault,

1: see if the Genius Bar can fix it on the spot.
2: if they can't, tell them you're not happy, it's a premium computer and shouldn't fail at 18 months. They'll say, "the guarantee is only 12 months." You will say, and keep repeating "I have bought Apple product for years, this is a premium price computer - what can you do for me?" Keep being polite, tell them you know it's not their fault personally, but you are not happy and will not be happy unless they do something.

I did this with my MacBook air that died at 23 months (it had had three separate faults), without extended warranty. They gave me a brand new one.

Might not work of course, but don't ask, don't get.

And they will rightfully tell you that you have had plenty off chance to buy the apple care witch gives you 3 years off awesome warranty.

 

[doolittle]

Definitely get it checked out with the Genius Bar. If it does turn out to be a core component like the motherboard and damage is not caused by misuse of the laptop (e.g. spillage), you would as a consumer have a reasonable expectation of the laptop having a longer useful life than 18 months.

 

[Paul T.]

And they will rightfully tell you that you have had plenty off chance to buy the apple care witch gives you 3 years off awesome warranty.

Well, not necessarily. Did you read the post?

I got a new MacBook, despite not having the extended warranty.

 

[bob338]

If they wont fix it, you can sue them in small claims court. This guy did, and he won.

 

[splitimageview]

If you call Apple customer relations, they will ask you to take it to an Apple store or authorized service center first, for inspection. They *may* give you a discount on any needed repairs, or repair for free. They may even offer up to a new MacBook as stated above, although that is rare, it does happen. Just be friendly with them -- anger won't get you anywhere.

I know this to be fact, as my daughter works for Apple customer relations. 🙂

First thing, reset the SMC as linked above, and check the adapter.

 

[om.ch]

This is completely wrong.

How so?

This might help:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1713

"The LED on the adapter connector doesn't light up when attached to the computer." <-- sounds quite close to an extremely dim LED no? I've had this with one of those connectors (the so-called T-types) and I wasn't abusing the cable either. This was the home charger and never left the house.

Extreme case:

 

[I Love Film]

It will not light up at all if the wires are frayed.

Anyway, the power management reset has an excellent chance of fixing it. The OP has not tried it or reported back.

Also, as reported above, If you politely complain and don't stop until they can't stand you anymore, Apple very often will fix an out of warranty product for free. The trick is to harass them endlessly until trying to get rid of you is no longer cost-effective. They even have a written procedure for their staff to follow with troublemakers.