MacBook Repair - PE

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gopes

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Can anyone recommend a reliable place in PE?
Macbook Pro M1 - almost two years old- wont power on.
Was working flawlessly, last used about 5 days ago, put it away in its bag, when I took it out,
it refuses to power on.
Took it to the Istore -
FAULT
Mac does not power on. did minimal config and still no power.
Needs a new logic board and touch id = 16k
They didn't do any diagnostics or even open it.
Says because it doesn't power on, it needs a new logic board before they can even assess it.
Thanks
 
Can't think of anyone reliable in PE - you'd probably be better off contacting Digicape to see if they can assist.
 
Have you done all the obvious checks ? I assume the store that quoted you did them but just checking. smc reset, hard reset and booting into safe mode etc. if none of them work you should probably go with the quote or buy a new MacBook Pro since almost everything is soldered to the board.
 
I've checked everything.
Doesn't power on.
Will go with the quote if no other option.
Just find it strange that the default is a logic board replacement.
 
gopes said:
I've checked everything.
Doesn't power on.
Will go with the quote if no other option.
Just find it strange that the default is a logic board replacement.
Click to expand...
That's part of being the owner of an Apple product.

Nothing is designed with repair in mind. In fact, they design their products to never be repaired. They want you to buy a new one, trading in your broken one for a pittance. Then they sent the "broken" components off to a recycler to get ground up, so they can annoucne to the world how many tons of ewaste they recycle. meanwhile it might just need a new charge controller chip. that would be a 30min repair job.

Sadly its not just Apple, almost everyone else is following Apple. they are just the worst/best at it.
 
Last edited:
Did iStore send it away (Core Group in Jo’burg) after you paid for the repair assessment?

Either way, I wouldn’t trust them. Certainly not if they did not send it away. In-store employees know very little.

Find a computer person, open the back cover carefully, disconnect the battery carefully, and test with the charger connected – which I presume works.

Take it from there. It could be the battery.
 
There are some guys in Cape Town that do board level repairs, it's not so unheard of any more considering how easy it is to get what used to be laboratory level diagnostic gear/thermal imaging/microscopes etc.

Macwave are apparently good, I've not used them personally but I looked into them a while back when I wanted to get a battery replaced and going by reviews and recommendations they look good. They will also buy your Macbook for parts, which is also a decent option to fund the replacement.
www.macwave.co.za

Apple Mac Parts and Repairs

MacWave is a complete Parts and Service store for Apple Mac computers. We specialise in advanced board-level repairs for Apple MacBooks and all other Macs
www.macwave.co.za www.macwave.co.za
 
It was sent to Core
They just tried to turn it on and because it didn't, concluded that the logic board needs replacing as they can’t do any diagnostics on a unit that doesn’t power on.
It’s just under two years old and I can replace it with a similar unit for about the same price as the repair.
Warranty on the repair is 90 days.
 
airborne said:
There are some guys in Cape Town that do board level repairs, it's not so unheard of any more considering how easy it is to get what used to be laboratory level diagnostic gear/thermal imaging/microscopes etc.

Macwave are apparently good, I've not used them personally but I looked into them a while back when I wanted to get a battery replaced and going by reviews and recommendations they look good. They will also buy your Macbook for parts, which is also a decent option to fund the replacement.
www.macwave.co.za

Apple Mac Parts and Repairs

MacWave is a complete Parts and Service store for Apple Mac computers. We specialise in advanced board-level repairs for Apple MacBooks and all other Macs
www.macwave.co.za www.macwave.co.za
Click to expand...
Thanks. Looks like a good option.
 
gopes said:
It was sent to Core
They just tried to turn it on and because it didn't, concluded that the logic board needs replacing as they can’t do any diagnostics on a unit that doesn’t power on.
It’s just under two years old and I can replace it with a similar unit for about the same price as the repair.
Warranty on the repair is 90 days.
Click to expand...
You can call Core Group with your job number and find out from the technician if they tested with the battery disconnected or not. Let's hope they did and that if they confirm, they're honest. You can then look into board-level repairs. There must be people in PE doing these...
 
When your unit is booked in at Core, they keep you updated in real time via email and sms.
14h21- unit is booked into diagnostics
14h31-quote received
I got a call a few minutes later saying that as the unit didn’t turn on, the logic board and Touch ID needs replacing, then they will look at other things.
This was the technicians report on the quote:-
FAULT
Mac does not power on. did minimal config and still no power.
 
capd said:
Did iStore send it away (Core Group in Jo’burg) after you paid for the repair assessment?

Either way, I wouldn’t trust them. Certainly not if they did not send it away. In-store employees know very little.

Find a computer person, open the back cover carefully, disconnect the battery carefully, and test with the charger connected – which I presume works.

Take it from there. It could be the battery.
Click to expand...

MacBooks will run entirely without the battery no problem.

It won’t stop it from booting up.

Assuming the charger is working.
 
@gopes did you try it with an external monitor connected?

How sure are you the screen isn’t just dead?
 
Charger is working- charges my other mac.
Touchbar doesn’t light up
 
There could be a component fault in the power management system, it’s generally a pretty simple repair baring all the stripping to get to the board out and then back in. Or if you are lucky it could just be something needing reseating or cold booted/unplugged, small solder crack, jack issues causing a short. I’ve fixed a fair bit just by strippping, cleaning, close visual inspection(fix anything found if fixable) and reassembly.

It’s worth a shot and there’s always selling it for parts if they can’t repair.
I’d be interested to know how far they take repairs.
 
SauRoNZA said:
MacBooks will run entirely without the battery no problem.

It won’t stop it from booting up.

Assuming the charger is working.
Click to expand...
Never known any laptop to not. The point was to ascertain whether the test was done based on who assessed the machine, as no one at any iStore would open it up to test.
 
capd said:
Never known any laptop to not. The point was to ascertain whether the test was done based on who assessed the machine, as no one at any iStore would open it up to test.
Click to expand...

Fair enough.

I would at the very least expect a visual inspection to be done before simply declaring it’s a logic board.

But this is typical Core.
 
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