(2018 MBA) What is wrong with this NEVER USED Mac?

[acorntoy]

Long story short: In December of 2018 we got my mom a MBA. She didn't show interest in it despite weeks of instructions etc (would rather use her iPad). Ended up being perfectly happy with my dads old 2010 iMac with a mouse for rare computer usage. So the computer sat. It was used briefly for a week or two perhaps a year ago as a backup then placed back in hibernation.

Today I'm trying to sell the computer in order to get cash for a mothers day gift. The computer is a freaking mess. First time I turned it on it was hanging, cursor was lagging, and I ended up putting it in recovery mode, where it just hangs and hangs and hangs. If I just power it on now, it'll hang and eventually go to a broken screen then a white screen. Computer doesn't power on unless plugged in. WTF is wrong with this thing?

 

[mba2015]

Turn off this computer, and then leave it connected to the AC adapter for several hours; maybe there is a problem with the battery.
next:

How, When, & Why to reset the PRAM & SMC on your Mac

Is your Mac acting just…odd? Stuff like drives not appearing, screens not adjusting correctly, Bluetooth problems, AirPort non connecting? Maybe your fan is running non-stop or your battery has said that it is 50% charged…for two days…and y

thenextweb.com

 

[JPack]

Do an SMC reset. The battery is almost certainly damaged as a result of being left without a charge for 18 months.

 

[acorntoy]

Do an SMC reset. The battery is almost certainly damaged as a result of being left without a charge for 18 months.

I did that right before the pictured screens ?. Ill let it charge for awhile and try again.

 

[acorntoy]

Edit: Reset Pram, SMC. This got it to boot again but with the extremely laggy performance (cursor moves ten seconds after you swipe).

Normal recovery stalls. Internet recovery shows an error triangle on globe and shows "-2003f". Trying to make a bootable usb drive now and see if that'll work. If not I guess ill have to sell for parts :/

edit: After selecting the OS usb drive as the boot source the computer inexplicably decides to instead boot into “guest” mode (safari only) Instead of the OS installer (it takes 30+ minutes for it to actually boot into the mode). Performance is unusable and WiFi doesn’t seem to work even after connecting. the one clue here though is that in this mode the battery symbol in the upper right shows an error.

 

[acorntoy]

Guess the moral of the story is to use your stuff people. Would’ve returned it after but bought from B&H (once opened no returns, I told em we should do a different site but they wanted to save money), and became a barely used backup device.