Case Studies

In this case study, we have a MacBook Pro 13" Retina 2019 A2159 model (board number 820-01598) which is not turning on and is showing no signs of life at all. The customer reported the device had previously suffered liquid damage, and had the logic board, along with other parts, replaced through Apple direct to resolve the issue. Roughly half a year later, the MacBook is dead again, with the customer saying nothing had been done to cause this issue. Checking the MacBook with a USB C ammeter, this is pulling 5V and is power cycling; PPBUS_G3H is not stable and jumps up,...

In this case study, we have a MacBook Pro 16" Retina 2019 A2141 model (board number 820-01700) which arrived in completely dead, with known liquid damage (tea spillage). The first thing we do in cases with liquid damage, is disassemble the MacBook and ultrasonic clean the logic board. Before doing this, we take images of all areas of the logic board; we don't want to lose these visual clues! In the case with this logic board, there was damage in multiple areas; the U9080 area (which is highly prone to sending 13V to the 2.5V SSD voltage line, killing the NAND chips), the Touch ID connector,...

In this case study, we have a MacBook Air 13" 2017 A1466 model with lines on the screen. The MacBook otherwise functions fine via an external monitor, so the screen/LCD will need replacing to resolve the issue. In this repair, we replace the LCD panel itself, instead of the whole top assembly, which works out cheaper for the customer and ensures we can reuse their original camera and bezel (which often aren't original on full assembly replacements). Visually inspecting the device, there are no cracks in the screen to cause this issue, but the screen is not showing up at all, being mostly white with different...

In this case study, we have a MacBook Pro 13" Retina 2017 A1708 model where the screen shows a spotlight effect, then completely turns off, when opened fully. This is a common issue known as 'Flexgate' which affects 2016-2017 MacBook Pro 13" and 15" models. Apple cover the 2016 13" models under their free repair program, but they do not cover the 2017 13" models, or any 15" models. Visually inspecting the device, there is no internal damage to cause this issue, but we can see a fracture in the backlight cable as pictured below; This issue affects a huge number of...

In this case study, we have a MacBook Pro 13" Retina Early 2020 A2251 model where some keys are not registering when pressed. Disassembling the device, there were no visible signs of liquid entry internally, and the logic board luckily did not suffer damage. Some parts did have visible liquid staining (the fans and bottom cover, which was minor), but no electrical components. The next step was to try a test keyboard, to ensure the issue is definitely related to the keyboard. Plugging in a UK keyboard for this model, we were able to verify that the keys were now working correctly when...