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The March 2015 update of Apple's 13" MacBook Air features fifth generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors, resulting in slightly increased performance and battery life.

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Replace firmware bios chip

Hi all. My MacBook’s firmware password from three owners ago has recently activated itself again. I’m unable to get support from Apple, since I don’t have the original purchase receipt, and my research has shown me that if I replace the firmware bios chip on the logic board (with a new serial number) the problem will go away forever. Before I do that repair I have some questions that hopefully more knowledgable folks like you might confirm, answer, or clarify before I make some purchases and execute the repair.

  1. Is this the correct part (https://www.ebay.com/itm/BIOS-EFI-Firmwa...) I need to purchase and replace? (The model, A1466, and logic board, EMC 2925, appear to match.)
  2. This video (https://youtu.be/D4kqC2MaQjg) appears to have pretty thorough instructions on how to execute the repair; would anyone with experience be able to confirm this is good video?
  3. Although I’m fully comfortable removing and reinstalling the logic board and all the internal components needed to get to the chip, I have never soldered anything before. Is this a repair someone with zero soldering experience should attempt?

Also, let me know if there’s anything else I’m missing that I should know.

Many thanks!

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Let’s make sure we are talking about the correct issue: Firmware password and iCloud password issues are quite different!

Review this doc If your Mac doesn't start up all the way

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Yes, it's the firmware password—with the lock icon—not icloud. This has also been confirmed by Apple when I brought it to them when the problem first occurred.

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Someone had to physically have access to the system to apply it. You may want to see who had access to the system as they know what it is. Otherwise you’ll need to edit the firmware resetting it. I wouldn’t replace the chip as they invites other problems.

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Would you explain what you mean by "physically have access to the system"?

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@jthomas12 What @danj is saying is that the machine cannot automatically reactivate the bios password. It either has a password or doesn’t. If you were able to remove and install firmware before and you cannot now it would point to someone physically putting a password on it.

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Ok, thanks for clarifying @imicrosoldering. Yes I suspect the company which originally owned the computer somehow reactivated the firmware lock remotely. Something like this happened when I bought the computer from an ex-employee of the company. He was able to reach out to them and have the issue resolved. Unfortunately, I've lost contact with that person (changed number and other contact info) and the company has not responded my repeated emails and phone calls.

Right now my understanding is that replacing the bios chip and assigning a new serial number to the computer should solve that issue and make sure this won't happen again. Am I incorrect? Do you have other suggestions on how to resolve this issue? I'd appreciate any advice on this issue. It's a perfectly fine machine with another several years of use on it; I'd hate to lose it over something like this.

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@jthomas12 - Firmware password lock is not possible remotely.

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@danj, yeah it could have been something else. I'm saying that because the original company was able to make changes to the computer remotely in the past. That, however, appeared to be resolved years ago when I addressed the issue with the person I bough the computer from.

However, the firmware lock enabled itself somehow — I did not turn it on, and no one else would have access to the system. So regardless of how it happened, I want to solve the issue to get this computer working again. What are my options for solving this? You mentioned editing the firmware earlier; how would I do that?

Thank you all for your time on helping me. I really appreciate it.

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