Case Studies

In this case study, we have a MacBook Pro 13" Retina 2017 A1708 model (board number 820-00840) which is only showing a battery symbol on the screen when trying to turn it on, indicating it has no charge. When connecting a known good charger into either of the USB C ports, it is not taking any charge. When we see this issue on the USB C MacBooks, this usually points to a problem related to the charging ports or the charging circuit, since the device has some signs of life. Disassembling the device, we could see no signs of liquid damage or...

In this case study, we have a MacBook Air 13" 2015 A1466 model, board number 820-00165, which stopped turning on randomly one day, but was still showing a charger light. The customer reported a 'Service Battery' warning, which had been present roughly a year before the device completely stopped turning on. Disassembling the device, there were no immediate signs of physical or liquid damage, the device looked clean and like it was well looked after. We started measuring through voltages to find out what exactly is preventing the MacBook from booting, since it was likely missing a required voltage, or...

In this case study, we have a MacBook Air 13" 2019 A1932 model (board number 820-01521) which is not booting or showing any signs of life at all. Connecting a USB C ammeter, the MacBook is pulling in 5V 0.05A on both USB C ports, instead of the usual 20V required for boot. Disassembling the MacBook and removing the logic board, we can see there was no visual liquid damage to the device, and visually it looked clean. On closer inspection under a microscope, we could see U3000 (PI3USB32324) had a hole in it, and was burnt. Firstly, we removed U3000, and could...

In this case study, we have a MacBook Air 13" 2013 A1466 model (board number 820-3437) which is completely dead, and not showing an orange or green charging light, using a known good charger. Whenever an older MacBook is not showing a charging light, this means there is either an issue with communication between the charger and the SMC, or a power issue, where certain voltages are either not present, or not making it to where they need to go. Disassembling the device, there were no obvious signs of a spillage. Measuring voltages on the board, we could see a main voltage,...