2020 MacBook Air M1 Charging/Power Issue

[MKC103]

2020 MacBook Air M1 model # A2337.

I received a notification that the original battery required servicing a few weeks ago. I am contemplating buying a new machine and since using it only plugged in isn't an issue, I decided not to do anything about it at the time. Everything to this point seemed normal enough. The battery icon would show that it was charging when it was plugged in and I would receive the chime notification that it was. It would charge to 100% but if I chose to unplug it, the unit would shut down after about an hour. Eventually, it had to be plugged in all the time in order to operate.

Then things went downhill. Although I still received the chime notification when the charger was connected, the bolt did not show up in the battery icon. It appeared as a battery with very low charge on the login screen, and with an X when I signed on - as if no battery was installed. The computer eventually would not power up.

I assumed that the original battery was permanently damaged and replaced it with an aftermarket one that I bought on Amazon. After installing the new battery, the computer started up fine. The battery icon still showed that no battery was recognized nor that a charger was connected. However, the laptop proceeded to run for hours so I thought that I might have solved something at least. The new battery must have arrived with a partial charge, so it must have been running off the battery - even though it wasn't showing up anywhere. Once that charge was depleted the machine shut down and I was back to square one.

Currently, I no longer receive a "ding" notification that the charger has been attached. The machine only starts up if it is plugged in. The login screen will appear and stay on indefinitely, however if I login, the machine shuts down in under a minute and reboots. If I boot to safe mode, it will not shut down but I can not perform anything because it does not recognize that a charger or a battery is present. On an older MBA, this all seems to indicate the need for an SMC/PRAM reset but that is not an option on the M1 version.

I have tried multiple chargers and they all work fine with my phone, so that is not the issue.

I brought the laptop to the Apple store and they diagnosed it as a faulty USB-C board. They replaced it and it did not resolve the issue so they removed the part and did not charge me. They said that my only option was to take it to a third party service center and that they might have some other ideas.

My main goal now is to be able to transfer everything over from the old machine to a new one. I was going to replace the battery again which would hopefully give me a few hours of uptime. However, I am unsure if the unit will start the migration process because it will not appear to have enough power as when I boot to safe mode.

Any thoughts about what the issue could be or ideas about how I could perform a transfer would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[ignatius345]

My main goal now is to be able to transfer everything over from the old machine to a new one. I was going to replace the battery again which would hopefully give me a few hours of uptime. However, I am unsure if the unit will start the migration process because it will not appear to have enough power as when I boot to safe mode.

Maybe I'm missing something, but the first thing I would do is start copying your most important files off the machine onto an external drive or something in the time you're able to keep it running between restarts. Doesn't sound like you have a proper backup of the MacBook at all? Because if you did I'd say just ditch this thing entirely and replace it.

 

[MKC103]

Maybe I'm missing something, but the first thing I would do is start copying your most important files off the machine onto an external drive or something in the time you're able to keep it running between restarts. Doesn't sound like you have a proper backup of the MacBook at all? Because if you did I'd say just ditch this thing entirely and replace it.

Correct. I can only do that if I get some uptime with another replacement battery. I was hoping to be able to do a complete migration to a new machine with the setup wizard which hopefully would include my settings and whatnot.

I do not have it backed up to the cloud. If I managed get it backed up, would it include my settings and history or just the files?

 

[ignatius345]

Correct. I can only do that if I get some uptime with another replacement battery.

What I'm reading is that you opened up your MacBook and put in a random aftermarket battery from Amazon, but didn't back up your data first. Now the hardware is failing and you're hoping to get that data out. Not great! But hopefully something you can recover from.

I was hoping to be able to do a complete migration to a new machine with the setup wizard which hopefully would include my settings and whatnot.

This would entail making a full backup to an external drive. Time Machine will do this, but it will take probably at least an hour, depending on how fast a drive and connection you use, and the size of your data. Can you that kind of run time reliably? If you can, then this is your best option. You'll be able to connect that drive to a new Mac and use Migration Assistant to get everything to exactly where it was.

If you can't get the machine to stay running long enough to do that full backup, my recommendation would be to copy out the most important files first. Do a few at a time, and if/when it crashes again, boot back up I guess and see if you can get more of the files out.

Side benefit here is that you can then keep using that drive to make regular backups of your new Mac so this doesn't happen again.

I do not have it backed up to the cloud. If I managed get it backed up, would it include my settings and history or just the files?

Uploading stuff from a cloud file sync service (iCloud Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc) or an online backup service (Backblaze, etc) is all going to take time to set up, and after that will transfer much more slowly than simply connecting an external drive. None of them, AFAIK will give you a backup that will migrate forward all your settings and whatnot. If you want to do a full migration, you need a physical backup as described above.

 

[MKC103]

What I'm reading is that you opened up your MacBook and put in a random aftermarket battery from Amazon, but didn't back up your data first. Now the hardware is failing and you're hoping to get that data out. Not great! But hopefully something you can recover from.

Well, basically. Except the machine was bricked and I assumed that it was because of the battery was damaged by letting it run down too far. When I put the new aftermarket battery in, it sill didn't recognize a charger or that the battery was installed, but it worked for a few hours until the charge that the new battery arrived with was depleted.

The good news is that I did exactly what you mentioned. I ordered another battery, installed it and was able to perform a complete Time Machine backup before it shut down. I thought it might not allow me to perform the backup because the laptop doesn't register a power source (like every other feature I tried!), but thankfully I was wrong. Lots of lessons learned here for sure! Thank you.

So to summarize the initial issue now that I have a better understanding of what is happening:

-- The MBA doesn't recognize that a charger is attached but will not start up without one being so.

-- The unit isn't drawing sufficient power from the charger to keep it up and running.

-- It does not recognize that a battery is installed BUT if the battery has a charge, the machine will draw from it and run until it is depleted.

 

[ignatius345]

Well, basically. Except the machine was bricked and I assumed that it was because of the battery was damaged by letting it run down too far.

Yeah, I get it. I was just giving you a little grief about not having backed up prior to any of this

So to summarize the initial issue now that I have a better understanding of what is happening:

-- The MBA doesn't recognize that a charger is attached but will not start up without one being so.

-- The unit isn't drawing sufficient power from the charger to keep it up and running.

-- It does not recognize that a battery is installed BUT if the battery has a charge, the machine will draw from it and run until it is depleted.

Whoof! This is a tough one. It sounds like if you managed to get a fully-charged battery into it, it would run for perhaps long enough for you to get a good backup out of it? Maybe someone smarter than me can chime in on how to make it happen...

I would say, an external drive with its own power supply might be the way to go with that, so it's not drawing all its power off the MacBook.

 

[MKC103]

Yeah, I get it. I was just giving you a little grief about not having backed up prior to any of this


Whoof! This is a tough one. It sounds like if you managed to get a fully-charged battery into it, it would run for perhaps long enough for you to get a good backup out of it? Maybe someone smarter than me can chime in on how to make it happen...

I would say, an external drive with its own power supply might be the way to go with that, so it's not drawing all its power off the MacBook.

I deserve a lot of grief!

Yes, this is exactly how I managed to get it backed up. Now just waiting for my replacement MBA to arrive and hopefully smooth sailing from here.

If this was a pre-M series MBA, the problem would most like be resolved by resetting the SMC controller. However, the "newer" models don't have that option. I have found some mentions that it could be the power management chip on the board. Or, it could just be something simple that I haven't found!

Thanks again.

 

[ignatius345]

I deserve a lot of grief!

Yes, this is exactly how I managed to get it backed up. Now just waiting for my replacement MBA to arrive and hopefully smooth sailing from here.

If this was a pre-M series MBA, the problem would most like be resolved by resetting the SMC controller. However, the "newer" models don't have that option. I have found some mentions that it could be the power management chip on the board. Or, it could just be something simple that I haven't found!

Thanks again.

Nice! I've been a lunatic about backup ever since I got a Mac stolen in a burglary and lost every scrap of data I owned at the time.

Did you get a newer MBA or another M1? They're all really solid machines.

 

[MKC103]

Nice! I've been a lunatic about backup ever since I got a Mac stolen in a burglary and lost every scrap of data I owned at the time.

Did you get a newer MBA or another M1? They're all really solid machines.

I definitely will be moving forward. It was such a reliable that I became complacent. Still seems to me that it might be an easy fix, but I haven't come across any solutions as of yet.

I bought a 24 GB M4. Probably a little bit more than I need, but I figure if I get 5 years out of like the M1, better to have extra. My intention was to replace the M1 around Black Friday, but it had a mind of its own.

 

[ignatius345]

I definitely will be moving forward. It was such a reliable that I became complacent. Still seems to me that it might be an easy fix, but I haven't come across any solutions as of yet.

I bought a 24 GB M4. Probably a little bit more than I need, but I figure if I get 5 years out of like the M1, better to have extra. My intention was to replace the M1 around Black Friday, but it had a mind of its own.

Yeah, I made the same exact upgrade last year (M1 to M4). Definite noticible bump in speed and display quality.