MacBook Air 2013 not Powering Up

[LookToWindward]

Hi,

I have a MacBook Air 2013 that won't power up. I haven't used it in a few week and when I went to use today, I connected the power and it lit up red. I went back a while later and it was green, so pressed the power button and nothing happened! I've tried it with the power connected and disconnected sane result.

Is there anything I can do to trouble shoot the problem?

Thanks a lot

 

[Bigwaff]

Is there anything I can do to trouble shoot the problem?

You can try opening the case and physically disconnecting the battery. Search iFixIt for tear down. With battery disconnected and AC adapter attached via MagSafe, test if laptop will boot. If it does, most likely the battery is toast. Replace.

 

[MacMorrison]

Even with the battery dead, the MacBook Air should power on with AC power connected.

You might want to take it to a Mac specialist shop - a few other possibilities are that the logic board or the SSD drive have died. You can try basic troubleshooting steps like resetting NVRAM and the SMC before you take it out.

Here are the iFixit instructions for replacing the battery - I've done it many times with MacBook Airs of this vintage and it's easy as long as you have the right screwdrivers:

2013 13" MacBook Air battery: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Air+11-Inch+Mid+2013+Battery+Replacement/16840

2013 11" MacBook Air battery: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Air+11-Inch+Mid+2013+Battery+Replacement/16840

 

[LookToWindward]

Even with the battery dead, the MacBook Air should power on with AC power connected.

You might want to take it to a Mac specialist shop - a few other possibilities are that the logic board or the SSD drive have died. You can try basic troubleshooting steps like resetting NVRAM and the SMC before you take it out.

How do I reset NVRAM and/or SMC if the machine doesn't fire up? I get no chime, zilch, nada

 

[MacMorrison]

It might be toast. Probably worth a trip to the Mac repair shop, unless you want to open it up and poke around - normally, I'd suspect the power adapter (i.e., I'd try another power adapter to see if it makes a difference), but the green light probably indicates it is working - which means it might be part of the logic board that has failed upstream.

 

[tonmischa]

How do I reset NVRAM and/or SMC if the machine doesn't fire up? I get no chime, zilch, nada

SMC Reset see: https://support.apple.com/102605

 

[MacMorrison]

Try step 2 and 5 from this page: https://recoverit.wondershare.com/mac-solutions/macbook-pro-not-turn-on.html

Worth a shot.


Use the Keyboard Sequence

If you notice that your MacBook screen isn't dead and turns on but gets stuck on the Black Screen of Death, it may appear as if it's not turning on. However, you can try fixing that by using the keyboard sequence.

If your MacBook is stuck on the Black Screen of Death, it can still perform actions and commands even if you can't see them. Follow these steps to fix your MacBook by using the keyboard sequence:

1. Press the Power button.
2. Press the S key to send your MacBook to sleep.
3. Hold the Power button for four seconds to force a shutdown.
4. Once it powers off, wait 16 seconds and turn your MacBook on again by pressing the Power button.


Do a Hard Restart

If your MacBook won't turn on, you can't restart it as usual. However, you can do it forcibly. Regardless of the MacBook model, a hard restart includes the same steps.

Follow these prompts to perform a hard restart on your MacBook:

1. Press and hold the Power button until your MacBook boots.
2. Press the Control + Command + Power buttons to restart your MacBook forcibly.

 

[LookToWindward]

I know how to do a reset normally, but as I said it doesn't power up at all, I was asking how is it possible to reset the SMC *IF* it won't fire up.

I'll take out the battery and see if that helps. I knew it was going to die sooner or later so I setup used another system, I have 99.9% of data from it, but yesterday I needed something that was buried in the Safari History, not the end of the world but annoying

 

[LookToWindward]

Hi,

I've been too busy to do anything on this, but today I was going to take out the battery but before I did, pressed the power button and it booted!

I plugged in the mag-safe it it initially went green, then red and the screen went black but 5 mins later it power up!

Should I do anything special with the battery (re-condition or what ever?

Thanks

 

[MacMorrison]

Congrats!

For old MacBook batteries, they used to recommend running the battery all the way down and then fully charging it to 100% once in a while to "calibrate" the battery-monitoring electronics, but I'd just run it regularly if I was you (try running it on the battery maybe down to 90% or 80% just to make sure it's working normally).

Definitely check the condition of the battery in your About This Mac -> System Report -> Power settings to check the Cycle Count and Full Charge Capacity numbers against your model of MacBook Air at EveryMac:

https://everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook-air/index-macbook-air.html


You might want to run the NVRAM and SMC reset just in case - maybe something in those settings caused your MacBook not to power on.

Reset NVRAM: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102539

Reset SMC: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102605