Dude this was a lifesaver I bought a lot of macs on auction for like $15 each and already got 2 working with this idea I just downloaded the board schematics for each model and installed a board viewer to run it and been using old individual telephone wires to re wire past problems the power button/batt indicator idea was great I like in South Africa so spare parts are often not an option
This is an ingenious fix that I haven’t seen before. I probably wouldn’t try it without some basic electronics experience. I can remove screws, parts, and connectors relatively easily but once you start using schematics and multimeters it becomes like learning Greek to the average person.
To be honest.... This fix maybe is the best way to start practising soldering.... Because it does not look complicated. Just need patience and steady hands.
This is absolutely fantastic, I didn't knew you could short the pins on Macbooks as one does on regular PC mobos, sadly my lack of knowledge of soldering skills stops me from following your guide Terrific tutorial nonetheless
anyway of replacing the power button cable? One of the two plug in connectors (not the ribbon cable ones) broke on mine when trying to remove it, the actual connector is still stuck in the IC/port on the board next to the fan but the cable has come away from the connector. I'm having to turn my 2012 model I bought to fix up (had a faulty keyboard) on by connecting the battery and plugging in the charger (since the battery is knackered also) and to turn it off I have to remove the back cover and unplug the battery, since the power button doesn't work as I accidentally pulled the connector off the cable. The connector i'm talking about is the long thin black wire that connects near the fan, the one with the white connector/tip.
Hi there, is there a specific way to turn on a macbook without power button switch? thats my only problem. I think my problem is in the silicon pad but I already bought key cap. Im unsure to buy a rubber pad?
You can also find the pin by measuring voltages and the pin you need will be high when standby and 0v when button is pressed and back to high (i guess 3.3V or so) when let go of button
I have macbook pro a1286 late 2011 i7... I know the 1st point of wire (on power pads) location but I can't find the 2nd point... I have a schematic but it's not showing 2nd point( smc_bill_button)... Please help me out & give me the location of second point for my model... I m waiting for your reply... Thank you
sir very nice technique having trouble with my mac pro 820-2565A i cannot locate where the power pads since power button doesnt work the fan spin ON and OFF when i plug in the magsafe cable i have green light but cant power on. and where can i find those schematics for the pinouts to to make a jumper connections ?
My MacBook is more looking like yours sir but i guess different model, it's not easy to pull up the battery connector bcz it is covered, so can you please sir show me another techniques to power on my MacBook bcz I'm afraid to cause some damage
This happened to me thought my Mac may have a bad Mobo. It’s def the keyboard and power, although keyboard works but not all back lights. I was recording and doing a lot of session stuff. No mixing as it’s an older Mac. What works is unplug battery, plug in power cable and comes on. Now one VERY Important thing!!!!! You need to plug the battery back in after to get full CPU power. I ran some test sessions and my CPU without battery in was at 99% on my audio app. Plugged in it drop backed to 10%, and works as it should. So keep that in mind! Unplugging the battery and leaving it that way, will hurt CPU usage big time. Another issue I’ve had to fix was the ribbon cable got scuffed. You’ll see this through the SSD/HD not reading or a drastically slower computer! Solution is to replace cable for $15, and put electric tape on both sides of it. That way no micro tares. I got this same 2012 for free, and have a nice $3k Mac at home to mix. I like this older Mac because we are past the point of returns with CPU power. I can easily track 45 audio tracks, but wouldn’t dare mix. I will also do live audio playback. These are cheap second hand at $180 or so. For $250 you can get a 16gb/512gb faster ssd MacBook I7 2015 15in. Already bigger screen size, faster cpu, and faster SSD..I think they used NVME 1st gen or something. But it’s something to think about! I do music and need Intel based Mac for $30k in analog gear, I don’t want to replace. So need the 32bit app support for some direct monitoring and Mojave. I love these have firewire still. But I’ve tested adapters, and found as long as it’s Intel and Mojave it works for me. With all the M1/M2 out you can get any MacBook Pro Intel for pretty cheap! High end ones 6 years ago at $2.8k for $500 or less. People were doing video and pro music on those. Gone are the days CPU power is super drastic for most apps. I wouldn’t wait high end video…but for DJ, Backing Tracks, MIDI brain, lighting rig or just tracking audio bs loading mix plugs….these old Mac’s are a great value! Home Mac a good one is the 2020 Mac mini I7 Intel with 1tb. It’s a beast still and can upgrade ram to 64gb ddr for audio samples. Thunderbolt to Firewire I tested on many models, and on all Intels it works! Even with current OS, but you lose 32bit app support past Mojave.
May a tutorial of how to put that cable would be helpful 👀
Dude this was a lifesaver I bought a lot of macs on auction for like $15 each and already got 2 working with this idea I just downloaded the board schematics for each model and installed a board viewer to run it and been using old individual telephone wires to re wire past problems the power button/batt indicator idea was great I like in South Africa so spare parts are often not an option
This is an ingenious fix that I haven’t seen before. I probably wouldn’t try it without some basic electronics experience. I can remove screws, parts, and connectors relatively easily but once you start using schematics and multimeters it becomes like learning Greek to the average person.
To be honest.... This fix maybe is the best way to start practising soldering.... Because it does not look complicated. Just need patience and steady hands.
This is absolutely fantastic, I didn't knew you could short the pins on Macbooks as one does on regular PC mobos, sadly my lack of knowledge of soldering skills stops me from following your guide
Terrific tutorial nonetheless
HOW I CAN GET THIS BOARD VIEW PLZ
Thank you for this, i have power button issue with A1286 Early 2011 ,it helped me a lot, be blessed.
anyway of replacing the power button cable?
One of the two plug in connectors (not the ribbon cable ones) broke on mine when trying to remove it, the actual connector is still stuck in the IC/port on the board next to the fan but the cable has come away from the connector. I'm having to turn my 2012 model I bought to fix up (had a faulty keyboard) on by connecting the battery and plugging in the charger (since the battery is knackered also) and to turn it off I have to remove the back cover and unplug the battery, since the power button doesn't work as I accidentally pulled the connector off the cable.
The connector i'm talking about is the long thin black wire that connects near the fan, the one with the white connector/tip.
Hi there, is there a specific way to turn on a macbook without power button switch? thats my only problem. I think my problem is in the silicon pad but I already bought key cap. Im unsure to buy a rubber pad?
Hi, is there a way to do that (or a video) in a 2008 A1286 Macbookpro?
What if some of the buttons on keyboard also dead then just change keyboard to new one?
where can i download board schematics?
You can also find the pin by measuring voltages and the pin you need will be high when standby and 0v when button is pressed and back to high (i guess 3.3V or so) when let go of button
I have macbook pro a1286 late 2011 i7... I know the 1st point of wire (on power pads) location but I can't find the 2nd point... I have a schematic but it's not showing 2nd point( smc_bill_button)... Please help me out & give me the location of second point for my model... I m waiting for your reply... Thank you
Does this work with the M series MacBooks?
sir very nice technique having trouble with my mac pro 820-2565A i cannot locate where the power pads since power button doesnt work the fan spin ON and OFF when i plug in the magsafe cable i have green light but cant power on. and where can i find those schematics for the pinouts to to make a jumper connections ?
I have macbook pro 2012 A1278, where is the pin of L button? I don t find it 😢
My MacBook is more looking like yours sir but i guess different model, it's not easy to pull up the battery connector bcz it is covered, so can you please sir show me another techniques to power on my MacBook bcz I'm afraid to cause some damage
My mackbook pro 2012 isn't turning on. Can you help me identify and fix the issue?
My charger shows a green light but it doesn't turn red. Battery indicator doesn't blink as it did while charging.
There was a short circuit later, when I disconnected the battery and plugged in the charger to turn on the mackbook.
Muchas gracias por compartir tu conocimiento con nosotros, saludos desde Venezuela!
Fixed my issue. Thanks a lot ❤
I would like to have a graphic where to connect the cable from the side battery charging button to the battery.
thank you.
It is a very smart solution
What if even this jump does not start my macbook?
This happened to me thought my Mac may have a bad Mobo. It’s def the keyboard and power, although keyboard works but not all back lights. I was recording and doing a lot of session stuff. No mixing as it’s an older Mac.
What works is unplug battery, plug in power cable and comes on.
Now one VERY Important thing!!!!! You need to plug the battery back in after to get full CPU power. I ran some test sessions and my CPU without battery in was at 99% on my audio app. Plugged in it drop backed to 10%, and works as it should. So keep that in mind! Unplugging the battery and leaving it that way, will hurt CPU usage big time.
Another issue I’ve had to fix was the ribbon cable got scuffed. You’ll see this through the SSD/HD not reading or a drastically slower computer! Solution is to replace cable for $15, and put electric tape on both sides of it. That way no micro tares.
I got this same 2012 for free, and have a nice $3k Mac at home to mix. I like this older Mac because we are past the point of returns with CPU power. I can easily track 45 audio tracks, but wouldn’t dare mix. I will also do live audio playback.
These are cheap second hand at $180 or so. For $250 you can get a 16gb/512gb faster ssd MacBook I7 2015 15in. Already bigger screen size, faster cpu, and faster SSD..I think they used NVME 1st gen or something. But it’s something to think about!
I do music and need Intel based Mac for $30k in analog gear, I don’t want to replace. So need the 32bit app support for some direct monitoring and Mojave. I love these have firewire still. But I’ve tested adapters, and found as long as it’s Intel and Mojave it works for me.
With all the M1/M2 out you can get any MacBook Pro Intel for pretty cheap! High end ones 6 years ago at $2.8k for $500 or less. People were doing video and pro music on those. Gone are the days CPU power is super drastic for most apps. I wouldn’t wait high end video…but for DJ, Backing Tracks, MIDI brain, lighting rig or just tracking audio bs loading mix plugs….these old Mac’s are a great value!
Home Mac a good one is the 2020 Mac mini I7 Intel with 1tb. It’s a beast still and can upgrade ram to 64gb ddr for audio samples. Thunderbolt to Firewire I tested on many models, and on all Intels it works! Even with current OS, but you lose 32bit app support past Mojave.
Great work. I have a working laptop again.
Thank you, works perfectly!
This is crazy & awesome! I hope I had those skills. I'm gonna just buy a new keyboard and replace it.
Thank for sharing.
All that tech. knowledge and you don’t know how to change the batteries in your smoke detector.
🤣🤣
I think this video is nice tbh