Okay so my macbook has been malfunctioning for pass couple of months. I initially took it to the apple genius since I needed an immediate fix (I am a student and needed the laptop to get work done). They charged me $70 bucks to replace the SATA. The problem with this is that it constantly fails. I had to go in five different time to have them fix it. The last session lasted three months before in fail again so I decided to open it up and have a look. All I did was just pulled the SATA cable out and then power on the laptop to see if it works. I repeated this process three times before it worked again. This failure seems to be random and is not caused by a faulty SSD or cable. Has anyone experience this and figure out a permanent fix? I hate having the uncertainty of my device not working when I need it and having to go through the hassle of taking it apart then reassembling it to have it either work or not work.
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2012 Macbook Pro SATA Cable No SSD or HDD Display
- Thread starter vutang01
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Well that seems exactly like a failing SATA cable to me from my experience. Quite possible it has failed again, or wasn't replaced the first time, or wasn't a new cable they replaced.
Try again and change it yourself, easy to do...
OP: Check https://www.ifixit.com for repair instructions for replacing the HD cable. They also list the necessary tools and parts which are also available for purchase.
Good luck.
Good luck.
It failed again just now. I have to connect my SSD via usb. The apple techs usually makes it last a couple of weeks before it fails. I'm pretty they replace the cable at least once. I don't want to have to buy a bunch of cables and then wait until the MacBooks fail then replace it. I'm trying to find a long term fix. FYI I did put in an order for a new SATA cable though.
It's not replacing the cable that the hard part. It's keeping fix for long term that I'm worry about.
What is YOUR definition of "long term" when it comes to electronics/computers? Nothing is forever. Repairs/replacements can last for years or not. Something else can fail or not. Would you rather have a paper weight or a working system? If you are so concerned with longevity then get it working and sell it, because something will always fail eventually.
I'm sure the OP would be happy with even a year between repairs the way things are going now. I don't know what your definition of "long term" is either, but hopefully you'd agree that it's at least longer than what the OP has been experiencing.What is YOUR definition of "long term" when it comes to electronics/computers? Nothing is forever. Repairs/replacements can last for years or not. Something else can fail or not. Would you rather have a paper weight or a working system? If you are so concerned with longevity then get it working and sell it, because something will always fail eventually.
You are right. They had Apple replace the cable because they were in a hurry, but are still having repeated repairs and problems. It is unclear if it was only the cable, but they have ordered a new cable. I was just trying to to provide information about changing the cable in post # 3. I did not know if that knew the process since Apple did the previous work. I was not trying to suggest that it was a guaranteed solution with a duration of functionality. Reading closer it appears they already removed the current cable so I guess they can handle it.I'm sure the OP would be happy with even a year between repairs the way things are going now. I don't know what your definition of "long term" is either, but hopefully you'd agree that it's at least longer than what the OP has been experiencing.
Okay first off. I am an electrical engineering student so don't talk to me like I don't understand how electronics work. Second, "long term" means at least 1 to 2 years as oppose to a quick fix that last for less than 2 months.
More to the point and less about ego. My goal is to find someone who had a similar problem and their experience. Maybe someone replaced a SATA cable themselves and had it function "long term" or maybe someone had the exact same experience and found an underlining issue. I mean I had one of the "genius" told me it could be an HDD issue and wanted to charge $200 for repair. I told him in a polite way that he was retarded and that it definitely wasn't an HDD issue. Since it worked fine externally.
The Sata cables used in the 13 inch macbook pro are notoriously flaky, any fix could last a small amount of time, or until the machine dies it's almost impossible to tell and other peoples experiences don't mean a lot in this case.
I would do it yourself, as you have already noted apple geniuses (and technicians) are little better than poorly trained apes. I woudl change the cable myself and make sure I am careful to get everythibng seated correctly and fixed in place to minimise the chance of it going again. As the cable in question is only $20 on amazon you could order 2 and have a spare in case you need to repeat the fix in a few months time
