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Alexkkjui Author

Level 1

4 points

MacBook Pro 2017 fn keys 13" powers off randomly, won't turn back on easily

As title suggest, powers off randomly. Seems to stay alive if I actively use it (type or move mouse) but if I stop or watch a video it'll crash within a few minutes.

When it crashes it sometimes turns back on sometimes just won't and I have to keep pushing the power button, wait a few hours or charge it in order to get it to eventually turn back on.

It seems it's not fully powering off either as motherboard area remains warm and battery is significantly down when I do manage to get it to reboot.

Steps tried so far:

Fresh install
Pram and SMC reset
SMC hard reset, disconnect battery and hold power button

Not sure what else I can do. I thought maybe it was a battery issue so tried to run battery down and charge back up after SMC reset, but it crashes too much to get it to 0%. Also surely the motherboard would not remain warm and still receive power if SMC was shutting down due to battery issues.

Anyone recognise what may be going on here?

Thanks!

Posted on Oct 8, 2020 1:04 PM

Top-ranking reply

HWTech

Level 9

60,650 points

Posted on Oct 8, 2020 6:04 PM

Try using an external display to see if the laptop is still running properly when the built-in display goes dark.

Perhaps the backlight is bad. If you look closely at the screen can you see a faint image? You may need to shine a bright light on the display in order to see the faint image.

Try playing music so when the display goes dark you can more easily tell if the laptop is still running.

See if your laptop qualifies for this free Apple backlight repair program:

https://support.apple.com/13-inch-macbook-pro-display-backlight-service

FYI, here is a current list of the publicly acknowledged free repair programs for various Apple products (some products have multiple programs):

https://support.apple.com/service-programs

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MacBook Pro 2017 fn keys 13" powers off randomly, won't turn back on easily

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