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My Dad's MacBook Pro won't charge. Pls help.

David1986H

David1986H

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 12, 2020
493
376
Cheshire, UK
So my Dad's 2016 13" MacBook Pro with Touch Bar has stopped charging and is stuck at 1%, as soon as I unplug it it turns it self off. I've tried all 4 ports and all the same. ive looked online and someone suggested pressing control shift and the power button for 10 seconds but still no luck. Is there anything else I could try?
Is this a known thing with MacBooks?

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Have you tried charging with genuine Apple cables and chargers, swapping them out in different combinations, and in different wall outlets?
 
David1986H said:
It has always been charged with a genuine apple charger. Ive also tried my charger.
Click to expand...
And cables too? You've tried various wall outlets as well?
Have you left it charging overnight?
Also did anything happen shortly before this started? Could there have been an electrical surge?
 
Namara said:
And cables too? You've tried various wall outlets as well?
Also did anything happen shortly before this started? Could there have been an electrical surge?
Click to expand...

ive tried everything, and there's nothing me or my dad can think of. Maybe its a connection somewhere inside that's not giving power to the battery. I did open it up and everything looked ok, including the battery connector.
 
David1986H said:
So my Dad's 2016 13" MacBook Pro with Touch Bar has stopped charging and is stuck at 1%, as soon as I unplug it it turns it self off. I've tried all 4 ports and all the same. ive looked online and someone suggested pressing control shift and the power button for 10 seconds but still no luck. Is there anything else I could try?
Is this a known thing with MacBooks?

Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

i had a similar problem (on a MacBook Air) a couple of years ago.
however, in my case it was limited to just one of the two ports. one charged ok but one would not allow charging.
resetting the PRAM i believe solved this software glitch.
it definitely does not sound like a hardware problem.
 
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niji said:
i had a similar problem (on a MacBook Air) a couple of years ago.
however, in my case it was limited to just one of the two ports. one charged ok but one would not allow charging.
resetting the PRAM i believe solved this software glitch.
it definitely does not sound like a hardware problem.
Click to expand...

it dose make that sound when I plug it in but its not giving it charge. is it worth doing a back up and erase everything than reinstalling the OS if resetting the PRAM doesn't work?
 
David1986H said:
it dose make that sound when I plug it in but its not giving it charge. is it worth doing a back up and erase everything than reinstalling the OS if resetting the PRAM doesn't work?
Click to expand...

hi
i know its a pain and a worry to not being able to rely on a battery to recharge.
but erasing yr disk and reinstalling macOS from the beginning is not likely at all to solve this problem.
it wasn't mentioned in the above thread, but did you try a different charger and cord combination?
apple has placed software constraints on what chargers it allows and its strong possibility that the official apple charger you are using has been locked out due to some glitch.
after resetting the PRAM, which i recommended above, i would try using a different charger and cord that are both from apple to see if that helps. its a software glitch, in other words, a setting that has temporarily mis-controlled somehow.
 
Last edited:
Reset PRAM, these MBPs with TB now have firmware parameter, which controls how high system will charge battery. It is used by the new Battery Heath feature. If this parameter is somehow (e.g., corruption or accidentally by using other programs, like AlDente) set to 1 (instead of 100), system will stop charging battery at 1%. Reseting PRAM will fix this.
If this does not fix it, check if Apple store is opened in your area. Apple should be willing to evaluate and identify issue at no charge. They might want to take easy way out (replace mainboard) but may be they will figure out something useful.
 
Honza1 said:
Reset PRAM, these MBPs with TB now have firmware parameter, which controls how high system will charge battery. It is used by the new Battery Heath feature. If this parameter is somehow (e.g., corruption or accidentally by using other programs, like AlDente) set to 1 (instead of 100), system will stop charging battery at 1%. Reseting PRAM will fix this.
If this does not fix it, check if Apple store is opened in your area. Apple should be willing to evaluate and identify issue at no charge. They might want to take easy way out (replace mainboard) but may be they will figure out something useful.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I will try this tomorrow and ill let everyone know if it has worked.
 
My MBP 13" is also stuck at 1% and not charging. Battery status is good and less than 100 cycles. Resetting PRAM did not help though. The MBP is a lot slower now that it is running directly on the adapter.
 
OP:

If you've "tried everything", then I suggest the next step is to have the battery replaced BY APPLE.

DO NOT use a 3rd-party service provider. Talk to APPLE for this.

Visit an Apple Store (if they are open yet where you are).
If you can't go to an Apple Store, then call Apple support and see if you can send it to them for a battery replacement. If necessary, they'll send you a shipping box (may even be prepaid). They'll do the replacement and send it back.

Cost should be $199 (in the USA) which includes parts and labor.
 
David1986H said:
So my Dad's 2016 13" MacBook Pro with Touch Bar has stopped charging and is stuck at 1%, as soon as I unplug it it turns it self off. I've tried all 4 ports and all the same. ive looked online and someone suggested pressing control shift and the power button for 10 seconds but still no luck. Is there anything else I could try?
Is this a known thing with MacBooks?

Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

Reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support

The SMC is responsible for managing power on your Mac. Resetting it can resolve certain uncommon issues related to power or thermal management.
support.apple.com support.apple.com
Try doing a SMC reset. I believe, for your Dad's MBP, it includes the Option key, which I did not see in your post.
  • Shut down your Mac.
  • On your built-in keyboard, press and hold all of these keys:
    • Shift on the left side of your keyboard
    • Control on the left side of your keyboard
    • Option (Alt) on the left side of your keyboard
  • While holding all three keys, press and hold the power button as well.
 
Suggest you try the Apple Store. They may bend the rules considering that 2016s are part of the extended warranty on the keyboard and to replace the keyboard, they would have had to replace the battery.
 
CoastalOR said:

Reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support

The SMC is responsible for managing power on your Mac. Resetting it can resolve certain uncommon issues related to power or thermal management.
support.apple.com support.apple.com
Try doing a SMC reset. I believe, for your Dad's MBP, it includes the Option key, which I did not see in your post.
  • Shut down your Mac.
  • On your built-in keyboard, press and hold all of these keys:
    • Shift on the left side of your keyboard
    • Control on the left side of your keyboard
    • Option (Alt) on the left side of your keyboard
  • While holding all three keys, press and hold the power button as well.
Click to expand...

I tried that last week with no luck.
 
THIS SAME EXACT THING HAPPENED TO ME!!!

I wound up getting a new 16” computer because the 13” eventually just shut off and wouldn’t charge. Would you know, a few days ago, I plugged in the 16” charger into the 13” and i heard the DING! And then everything started working again. It was a good 2 months before i touched the computer though
 
I'm having a similar issue.

I updated my late 2016 MacBook Pro to the latest version (10.15.5) and immediately after the restart, it won't charge. I tried resetting PRAM/SMC etc and nothing worked. Apple has replaced the Battery and I/O ports but it still didn't fix the issue, they are now saying it needs a logic board replacement. Really frustrating as it feels like the update triggered the issue, could it be firmware related?
 
Mattg2652 said:
I'm having a similar issue.

I updated my late 2016 MacBook Pro to the latest version (10.15.5) and immediately after the restart, it won't charge. I tried resetting PRAM/SMC etc and nothing worked. Apple has replaced the Battery and I/O ports but it still didn't fix the issue, they are now saying it needs a logic board replacement. Really frustrating as it feels like the update triggered the issue, could it be firmware related?
Click to expand...

now that I think about it, it started a few weeks ago, about a week or 2 after he updated to 10.15.5. maybe there's a bug with that version. 10.15.6 shouldn't be too long now, perhaps it might be worth waiting till then before getting in touch with apple.
 
David1986H said:
now that I think about it, it started a few weeks ago, about a week or 2 after he updated to 10.15.5. maybe there's a bug with that version. 10.15.6 shouldn't be too long now, perhaps it might be worth waiting till then before getting in touch with apple.
Click to expand...

My issue happened on 10.5.4 so definitely before 10.5.5 and it was the same exact thing
 
I have similar issue with MacBook pro 2017 and after sending back and fourth to Apple repair + 3 Apple store genius bars visits I am going home even more frustrated then a month ago🤷‍♀️.....when I bring it to them the charger is recognized...when I come home I have issues on an off - I feel Catalina is playing a joke on me
 
4ik said:
I have similar issue with MacBook pro 2017 and after sending back and fourth to Apple repair + 3 Apple store genius bars visits I am going home even more frustrated then a month ago🤷‍♀️.....when I bring it to them the charger is recognized...when I come home I have issues on an off - I feel Catalina is playing a joke on me
Click to expand...

Are your bring your charger and cable for them to try with with your computer.
 
The early touch bars, 13 and 15, have this issue. It ultimately requires a logic board replacement.

It will also fail when booted into net recovery, so you can see it's not an OS issue.
 
jerryk said:
Are your bring your charger and cable for them to try with with your computer.
Click to expand...

yes - and they look at me like I am crazy - as if I have fun booking geniuses bar appointments and drive hrs away just to visit an Apple store 😡.....I even brought pictures with me showing time lapse of how charger was plugged in and battery drained instead of charging showing “not charging” msg....they said it works in their store so pics don’t count
 
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