Resolved Early 2015 MBA not turning on

[MattJ33]

Leading up to this I noticed the fan would stay on while doing non-intensive things like browsing safari, so I’d close it and leave it to cool off. And also sometimes when I’d close it with a lower battery bar, I’d open it the next day and it’d be dead and require being charged to turn on. I just thought it was because it’s a relatively old refurbished product. One time within the past week I closed it with over 50% battery and the next day I had to charge it to turn on, and the percentage was over 50% after logging in.

To try and turn it on I’ve tried charging it, or holding the power button for 10 seconds and then pressing power, or (while charger is attached) holding down shift+control+option+power for 10 seconds then pressing power.

Now I’ve noticed that after fully shutting it off (charging cable disconnected and holding power for 10 seconds) when I press the power key once, I hear a quick zip noise followed by a brief soft whir noise, and this combination of sounds repeats every 15 seconds. The screen remains black. After the noises repeated 5 times, I held down the power button to shut it off again and they stopped.

Does that repeating noise sequence indicate what’s wrong and why it won’t turn on? Would appreciate any help, I don’t have any tools to open it up. Let me know if I should buy a screwdriver if I’m able to fix the issue myself. Thank you.

 

[BanditoB]

This situation sounds like you'll need to visit an Apple Genius. They'll diagnose the problem and let you know what's wrong for free. It could be as simple as it needing a battery replacement or it could be something more serious due to it not really starting up at all.

It sounds like you are hearing the fan(s) spin up and then stop, which would indicate that it is starting up initially and then something is failing quickly after that.

Have you tried resetting the PRAM too? You do this by holding down the Option, Command, P, and R keys and powering up the MacBook. Since yours doesn't appear to power up normally, a PRAM reset might not work, but it's worth a shot.

 

[MattJ33]

This situation sounds like you'll need to visit an Apple Genius. They'll diagnose the problem and let you know what's wrong for free. It could be as simple as it needing a battery replacement or it could be something more serious due to it not really starting up at all.

It sounds like you are hearing the fan(s) spin up and then stop, which would indicate that it is starting up initially and then something is failing quickly after that.

Have you tried resetting the PRAM too? You do this by holding down the Option, Command, P, and R keys and powering up the MacBook. Since yours doesn't appear to power up normally, a PRAM reset might not work, but it's worth a shot.

That reset worked! Thank you! Also good to know Apple Genius diagnosis is free, wasn’t considering that option due to potential cost, but will take it in if something happens and no one knows what to do.

 

[BanditoB]

I'm glad that worked out for you. There's little that will ruin your day faster than a dead computer.