Does this sound familiar?
- The MacBook is completely dead, with no lights or sounds
- It started failing after a spill, even after it dried out
- The charger's light is on, but the laptop doesn't respond
- There's a dim picture you can barely see, or no picture at all
- It restarts by itself, or the fans run at full blast all the time
What goes wrong on a logic board
A MacBook logic board is packed with tiny power parts. If a single one shorts out, the whole laptop can seem dead. Liquid is the classic cause: coffee, water or a kid's juice box can seep in, and corrosion starts on the board and spreads over time. Sometimes the MacBook works for a few weeks and then quits, long after the spill's forgotten.
Heat and age also take a toll. A cable can wear out, a chip can fail, or a charging circuit can give up. When a laptop was working yesterday and shows no life today, the chance is good that something small has failed.
How we approach it
We check the simple things first, including the charger and battery. Then we open the laptop and examine the board under a microscope, looking for corrosion, measuring power lines and tracing where the power stops. Once we find the fault, we'll tell you what it means and what we recommend. If you say go ahead, we replace the failed parts, clean the board and test it.
Since we're a local shop, you can actually talk to us about this. If what you really need are your files and not the laptop, say so. It changes how we approach the repair.
Fast, friendly great service. Pleasant to work with, knowledgeable and efficient.
Questions we get a lot
How is this different from replacing the board?
A replacement swaps the whole board, which can be costly on a MacBook and can leave the data behind. A board-level repair finds the one failed part and replaces it, keeping your board and often your data.
Can you recover files from a dead MacBook?
Often. On many newer MacBooks, storage is built into the board, so getting that board working again is the way to reach your files. We'd make this our first goal if you ask us.
Is it always possible to repair the board?
No. Heavy corrosion or damage to key chips can make it impossible or not worthwhile. We'll tell you what we find before you commit to anything.
How long does it take?
This is careful work, and it can take time to find the fault. Don't expect it back in an hour. We'll give you a realistic idea once we've had a look, and we'll tell you if we need to order parts.