M3 Air about to die!

[krspkbl]

Bought at launch. Went to use it and charge it up but it won’t charge. Yey…

Tried multiple chargers/sockets/cables (both MagSafe and USB-C) but no luck. Did think about restoring to 14 but I only have 22% battery left.

In system report it says no AC connected or charging. Battery health is 100%.

I take it there is nothing I can do other than take it to Apple. I’ll check it in the morning but I’ll need to book an appointment for ASAP. Thankfully it’s still under warranty and I have AC+ so really should be OK.

Will they repair or it likely replace it? It’s a stock config so might have one in stock.

Anyone else’s M3 Air crapped out yet? lol

EDIT: i turned the Air off completely and decided to try restoring to 14 and when I booted it up it started charging again so I’ll see how it goes…

I did try restarting before I posted but that didn’t fix it.

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

If it is “dying” you’ll just get a refurbished unit after it’s sent back to Apple most likely. My unit is holding fine since day 1.

 

[joeblow7777]

Any laptop that's failing like this in less than 6 months was obviously a defective unit, and even if you didn't have Apple Care, it's still covered by the standard warranty, as you said. Apple should either fix it or give you a brand new device.

 

[The Clark]

Just be firm but respectful with Apple, this isn't okay.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Just be firm but respectful with Apple, this isn't okay.

If its the same Apple that sold everyone $4000 17” and 16” MBPs that had gpu overheating problems, they do not care, no matter how respectful but firm you are. Once they've got your $, and your Applecare is up, its your problem.

 

[krspkbl]

Just be firm but respectful with Apple, this isn't okay.

The issue seems to have resolved itself now, thankfully, by shutting it off completely for about 10-15 mins. A simple restart didn't do anything. Have since updated to the latest beta too. Could just be a bug since I am on beta.

If the issue comes back then I'll be going straight to Apple. I had an appointment booked for 11:30AM today which was the earliest but I cancelled since it started working again. If it returns then they will fix or replace it. I'm not dropping £1,700 on a laptop and paying insurance for nothing.

 

[The Clark]

If it’s the same Apple that sold everyone $4000 17” and 16” MBPs that had gpu overheating problems, they do not care, no matter how respectful but firm you are. Once they've got your $, and your Applecare is up, it’s your problem.

This has not been my experience.

 

[krspkbl]

This has not been my experience.

I get the thought that a multi trillion $ company doesn't give a **** about you and they could do nothing but 99% of the time I've went to Apple with an issue they've dealt with it quickly and without trouble.

They have some of the best customer service out there. Last time I had to go was because my iPad kept crashing and I was in/out of the store with a replacement iPad in about 10 minutes. Lots of other times I've been with no problems.

Only the one time I tried to get the keyboard on my MacBook Air (2012) fixed and they said nothing was wrong with it. How can you say that when the key cap is obviously broken and won't fully attach to the scissor mechanism? Not only that but they scratched the body taking it off. I only had the laptop for about a week so I just got a refund.

 

[joeblow7777]

To add to my point above, I have to say that every interaction I've had with Apple Store staff regarding any kind of problem with a product has been extremely positive and ended to my satisfaction. I had a bum set of AirPods where the right one stopped charging (they replaced it with a new one), then later the left one stopped charging (they replaced it with a new one). And each time they replaced one, they then reset the warranty to give me another full year of coverage. I'm not sure if they have to do that, but I didn't expect it and it was appreciated.

But the most impressive example was actually an interaction that my brother had. His iPad crapped out (while still under Apple Care) during the pandemic, when Apple Stores were closed. Because he couldn't simply take it in to a store, he had to spend a lot of time on the phone with Apple customer service, and even had to send it to them twice because they didn't successfully fix it the first time. Long story short: not only did he end up getting a brand new replacement, Apple give him a set of AirPod Pros FOR FREE just for the inconvenience. Most companies would have just given a $20 store credit or something, if anything at all.

 

[mansplains]

The issue seems to have resolved itself now, thankfully, by shutting it off completely for about 10-15 mins. A simple restart didn't do anything. Have since updated to the latest beta too. Could just be a bug since I am on beta.

It's nice the problem went away. On the note of beta software, Apple Diagnostics (formerly Apple Hardware Test) refuses to execute on devices with beta OS installed. It prompts software restore. So had you went to Apple for troubleshooting, it's likely they would've had you erase the computer first. This triage would have a replacement computer as the last option, not the first consideration. Same for hardware repairs in my experience, must be on stable software for warranty coverage, whether updating or erasing customer's device.

 

[jdb8167]

The issue seems to have resolved itself now, thankfully, by shutting it off completely for about 10-15 mins. A simple restart didn't do anything. Have since updated to the latest beta too. Could just be a bug since I am on beta.

If the issue comes back then I'll be going straight to Apple. I had an appointment booked for 11:30AM today which was the earliest but I cancelled since it started working again. If it returns then they will fix or replace it. I'm not dropping £1,700 on a laptop and paying insurance for nothing.

You did the equivalent of a resetting the SMC on a pre Apple silicon MacBook. This likely solved your problem so that it won’t return. Here is Apple’s support document. I suspect that the bug is that a simple restart didn’t work as documented.

If your Mac battery won’t charge

If your battery won’t charge, check the software and hardware of your Mac, or get your Mac serviced.

support.apple.com

 

[PlayUltimate]

But the most impressive example was actually an interaction that my brother had. His iPad crapped out (while still under Apple Care) during the pandemic, when Apple Stores were closed. Because he couldn't simply take it in to a store, he had to spend a lot of time on the phone with Apple customer service, and even had to send it to them twice because they didn't successfully fix it the first time. Long story short: not only did he end up getting a brand new replacement, Apple give him a set of AirPod Pros FOR FREE just for the inconvenience. Most companies would have just given a $20 store credit or something, if anything at all.

similar. Took my wife’s MacBook in for a covered repair. Was told it would be done on Sunday (repair would be done in store). Went to pick it up and it was not done. Was told to come back in an hour. Was gone no more than 20 minutes when a manager called saying that they would not be able to repair it in time and offered us a new, current, MacBook in lieu of repair. 👍😱🙂

 

[C225]

Interesting, I too had an M3 Air that after installing the 15 beta refused to charge on Sunday. I wiped it and restored to 14 but that did not solve my issue so I booked it into the Apple Store today who looked at it and said nothing wrong its charging fine. All very odd as I tried the restart with it off for long periods with no success, even while waiting to see the genius I tried and it wasn't charging. I can only assume the testing with the diagnostics brought it back to life with a reset somehow.

On a side note the Genius I saw was very rude and dismissive as if I was just making it up, then went on to start saying something about I dont use my MacBook much as its cycle count is only 8. Well it is plugged in most the time.

 

[Mike Boreham]

You did the equivalent of a resetting the SMC on a pre Apple silicon MacBook. This likely solved your problem so that it won’t return. Here is Apple’s support document. I suspect that the bug is that a simple restart didn’t work as documented.

If your Mac battery won’t charge

If your battery won’t charge, check the software and hardware of your Mac, or get your Mac serviced.

support.apple.com

This was my first thought as well. My understanding is that on Silicon Macs the equivalent of resetting SMC was to shut down and unplug everything for 30 seconds, eg this article and many others. So I was really surprised to see the Apple article you linked, saying a simple restart was all that was needed. This Apple article gives simple restart and full shutdown as alternatives.

Either the fact that the simple restart didn’t fix the OP’s problem is either a bug as you suggest, or something has changed, or the Apple article is wrong!

I shall continue to believe that the full shutdown method is the preferred equivalent of resetting SMC on Silicon macs.

 

[AudiHeel]

I had a bug similar to this in Monterey in 2021. The .4 update finally fixed it. Apple replaced the battery but that didn't fix it. The update finally fixed it months later.

 

[icymountain]

I have also seen an MBP M1 Pro that refused to charge at some point, but started again to recharge after a reboot. I can only assume a software issue is likely.