MBP 2014 Startup Issues

Durlabh · May 11

Hi,

I am stumped with my late 2014 13-inch MacBook Pro. It is still a perfectly decent machine for light workloads, especially with OpenCore, but for the past few days it has stopped booting properly.

After some troubleshooting, I found that a hard SMC reset can get it to start again. The only way I have been able to do this is by disconnecting the battery manually, draining the remaining power by holding the power button, then reconnecting the battery and power cable. After that, it boots normally.

The problem is that once I shut it down, it will not start again unless I repeat the same process. Does anyone have any idea what might be causing this?

I have read that the trackpad or keyboard cable could be involved, but both the keyboard and trackpad are working fine. The keyboard itself was replaced about four years ago, if that helps.

dilpickle · May 11

Is that the original battery from 2014? You need to replace it.

OddOod · May 11

Welcome to the forums!
could be any of a myriad of things, but my guess would be degraded components. There's a chance that it's just corrupted BIOS, but I have no clue if flashing a new BIOS is even possible on apple hardware. Something has given up the ghost. It's probably just dead, not worth fixing. Admittedly, it did last over a decade.