No power · no charge · no picture
MacBook won’t turn on or charge
A dead MacBook is often less dead than it looks. Work down these five checks first — one of them fixes it more often than you would expect. If none do, the usual causes are below, and so are we.
Work down the list
Five checks, in order
- 01
Is the power reaching it?
Try a different wall outlet, then a different cable and adapter if you have one. On a MacBook with USB-C on both sides, try a port on the other side.
Works now → the cable, adapter or one port has failed.
- 02
Is the charger strong enough?
Use Apple’s adapter or a USB-C Power Delivery charger rated for your model. A phone charger may not start a fully drained Mac at all.
Works now → keep the higher-wattage charger.
- 03
Was the battery completely flat?
Leave it on the charger for at least 15 minutes before pressing anything. A fully drained battery can need a while before the Mac will start.
Starts after waiting → the battery may simply be worn; check its health.
- 04
Is it frozen rather than dead?
Hold the power button (Touch ID on newer models) for about 10 seconds, release, then press it again. On an Intel MacBook, Apple’s support site has the SMC reset for your model; Apple silicon Macs do not have one — shutting down and waiting 30 seconds does the same job.
Starts → it had hung; if it keeps happening, bring it in.
- 05
Is it actually the screen?
Check for signs of life: keyboard backlight, Caps Lock light, fan noise, a warm base. Then connect an external monitor or TV.
Picture on the monitor → the Mac is on and the fault is the display. See screen replacement.
If the checks did not help
What it usually turns out to be
Listed roughly from most to least common in a MacBook that has not been dropped.
- Worn or damaged charging port
- USB-C ports loosen with years of plugging in, or take damage from a cable yanked sideways. MagSafe ports collect metal debris.
- Failed charger or cable
- The cheapest fix, which is why we test with a known-good charger first.
- Worn-out or failed battery
- A battery that can no longer supply peak power can stop a Mac starting even on the charger.
- Liquid damage
- Sometimes from a spill weeks earlier, as corrosion works its way through a connection.
- Logic board power fault
- A failed component in the power circuitry. Diagnosed on the bench and quoted before any work.
Power & charging
Questions
My MagSafe light stays off. What does that mean?
On the MagSafe 3 MacBooks (14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro from 2021, and MacBook Air from the M2 onwards) the light shows amber while charging and green when full. No light at all points to the cable, the adapter, the port, or the Mac not accepting power — try another outlet and cable first.
Will I lose my data if my MacBook won’t turn on?
Not usually. Most power faults leave the storage untouched, and once the fault is fixed your files are where you left them. On MacBooks from about 2018 the storage is soldered to the logic board and encrypted, so recovering files depends on getting that board running again.
How long does a power or charging repair take?
A port or battery can often be done quickly when the part is in stock. A logic board fault takes longer because it has to be traced first. We tell you what we found and quote before going further.
Related: battery replacement · liquid damage · screen replacement
12-07 Jackson Ave · Long Island City
Still nothing? Bring it in
Bring the MacBook and its charger — testing with your own adapter tells us a lot. Walk in any day between 10 AM and 9 PM.