Sort of a long story but the TLDR version is my macbook air dies without warning and does not like to turn back on and I am wondering if it's a hardware issue or possible virus/ransomware.
OK so I have had this macbook air since 2016 (4.3 years) and have never had issues. It's mostly a surfing the net laptop when I get bored of using my phone. Like typing stuff and netxflix. I was away a couple of weeks ago, left it sleeping and when I came back, it wouldn't turn on. Nada. So I looked online and got a screw set and also made an appointment with at the mac genius bar. After I unplugged and replugged the battery it magically worked. Now I should back up because right before all this I also got some rando text from my employer that they were a victim of ransomware and word on the street was to delete all apps associated with work. The only app I had was the VPN and I did notice that the VPN would come on, start and then shut my laptop down. This all preceded the big shutoff by a day or two. I deleted the VPN stuff off the computer (at least on a surface level).
It died again after about a day. So I let it sit until the genius appointment. Went in and the guy pushed power and it started. No issues. I explain everything to him. The ransomware. He is like "oh this is probably a hardware issue" and runs a ton of tests on it and even though the battery is up to like 770 cycles, everything else checks out as ok so his next comment is that "it could be a software issue". Ok what does that even mean? He shrugs and is like basically no help in diagnosing anything.
I get home and again, the macbook goes to sleep, then it won't turn back on. It has dozed a few times and I was able to wake it up. But now when it starts, there is this long black bar under my name that shows up and takes a long time to boot up. That's new.
Today, I unplugged the battery bc that seems to be part of the issue. When I plug it in and it won't start the orange light in the charger just stays lit even when the battery is fully charged. Sometimes... So I unplugged the battery completely today and I am using the cord as power. Back is all screwed back on too. It has still shut down from sleep. It also restarted by itself for no apparent reason. I heard it while I was making dinner. Then when I turned it off, it wouldn't start until about the 3rd or 4th attempt of me unplugging it (so no power) and then holding the power key down for a long time (counting to 20 or more).
So what is the deal?
*I posted to Reddit and got one response which was "your batteries are probably dying" which would not explain the problems persisting when the battery is disconnected and it is just using power, right?
OK so I have had this macbook air since 2016 (4.3 years) and have never had issues. It's mostly a surfing the net laptop when I get bored of using my phone. Like typing stuff and netxflix. I was away a couple of weeks ago, left it sleeping and when I came back, it wouldn't turn on. Nada. So I looked online and got a screw set and also made an appointment with at the mac genius bar. After I unplugged and replugged the battery it magically worked. Now I should back up because right before all this I also got some rando text from my employer that they were a victim of ransomware and word on the street was to delete all apps associated with work. The only app I had was the VPN and I did notice that the VPN would come on, start and then shut my laptop down. This all preceded the big shutoff by a day or two. I deleted the VPN stuff off the computer (at least on a surface level).
It died again after about a day. So I let it sit until the genius appointment. Went in and the guy pushed power and it started. No issues. I explain everything to him. The ransomware. He is like "oh this is probably a hardware issue" and runs a ton of tests on it and even though the battery is up to like 770 cycles, everything else checks out as ok so his next comment is that "it could be a software issue". Ok what does that even mean? He shrugs and is like basically no help in diagnosing anything.
I get home and again, the macbook goes to sleep, then it won't turn back on. It has dozed a few times and I was able to wake it up. But now when it starts, there is this long black bar under my name that shows up and takes a long time to boot up. That's new.
Today, I unplugged the battery bc that seems to be part of the issue. When I plug it in and it won't start the orange light in the charger just stays lit even when the battery is fully charged. Sometimes... So I unplugged the battery completely today and I am using the cord as power. Back is all screwed back on too. It has still shut down from sleep. It also restarted by itself for no apparent reason. I heard it while I was making dinner. Then when I turned it off, it wouldn't start until about the 3rd or 4th attempt of me unplugging it (so no power) and then holding the power key down for a long time (counting to 20 or more).
So what is the deal?
- Is this a virus or side effect of ransomware?
- Is my macbook air just old?
- I saw something about it only starting on a flat, hard surface. Could some sensors being going out?
- I also deleted flash off bc it opens like every three minutes and would cause it to crash
- I just updated too
- Did I miss something? Did the mac genius miss something??
*I posted to Reddit and got one response which was "your batteries are probably dying" which would not explain the problems persisting when the battery is disconnected and it is just using power, right?
