What should I do with dead MBA?

[robertpetry]

Hello all,

My daughter has been using an MBA from 2014 for a while and the logic board went out. It ran fine but it would not charge or run off power. The battery died and that was it. I took it to the Apple store and a local Apple repair shop and both said "Logic board - $700."

I don't think it is worth $700 to get it running again. I was thinking of selling it for parts but all her data is on the hard drive. I don't think there is anything on there, but her iCloud account is still on it. So my preference would be to wipe or corrupt the SSD before selling it for parts or trying to trade it in.

What would you do with it if this were yours?

 

[Audit13]

First thing: I would remove the bottom cover, remove the SSD, disconnect the battery, look for and clean any signs of corrosion.

Next: leave the battery disconnected and connect the MagSafe charger. Don't touch any keys to see if the MacBook boots up on its own. It can take up to a min before the MacBook boots.

Next: leave battery disconnected, disconnect trackpad and keyboard cables, connect charger. Don't touch any keys and wait for the MacBook to boot up on its own. It can take up to a minute.

If nothing else works, sell it for parts without the SSD.

If you have access to another 2013 or newer air, you can use the other air to wipe your daughter's SSD.

 

[casperes1996]

Do the above - if it's worthless, sell what you can for scrap or sell it back to Apple on their environmental returning site

 

[kohlson]

There are adapters available on Ebay for less than $20 that enable MBA SSDs to connect directly into SATA-3. They are specific to model/year. The SSD may be the most valuable thing on a system such as this, so if you can erase the contents it may be worth it.

 

[_Kiki_]

Do the above - if it's worthless, sell what you can for scrap or sell it back to Apple on their environmental returning site

they will throw to Chinese backyard full of dead computers

 

[casperes1996]

they will throw to Chinese backyard full of dead computers

It's called a recycling program for a reason, mate. The materials are reused

 

[_Kiki_]

It's called a recycling program for a reason, mate. The materials are reused

proper recycling program from Apple? keep dreaming

 

[robertpetry]

Great advice! thank you all. I will try to take it apart in a couple of days and report back.

 

[casperes1996]

proper recycling program from Apple? keep dreaming

Have you ever read a single of their environmental reports?

 

[_Kiki_]

Have you ever read a single of their environmental reports?

yes, full of BS, this company can only care about own bank account on island of Jersey

 

[casperes1996]

yes, full of BS, this company can only care about own bank account on island of Jersey

Lying in a report like that is a crime and could cost them the money in that bank account.

Any business is required by law to serve the interest of the share holders, which means to make money. However! You can make money by caring about the environment. It's a marketting technique that gets you the environmentally caring customers, and it will cost you brand loyalty if you're not serious about it. Apple isn't as good as they should be on that front, but they're better than pretty much all the rest. Only the issue of serviceability and manual repair is really an issue in terms of Apple's environmental plans. Their recycling does what it says it does.

 

[Macdctr]

Have you thought about sourcing a logic board from ebay and using the repair guides from ifixit to replace the logic board? The I/O board can be had for less than $30 if you look for them on ebay... all in all you will spend less than $400 to get this laptop up and running... these computers are very easy to work on

 

[tubeexperience]

Sent it to Louis Rossman for logic board repair