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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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New battery, but still not charging

My original MacBook Air battery needed replacing for a while as it no longer held a charge and would only work while plugged in. Then it stopped charging completely, no amber/green light showing on the MagSafe charger.

I tried SMC reset, that didn't work. I did a double-check with a friend's MacBook to determine that there was not a problem with the charger itself (my charger worked fine with his laptop) and also determined that his charger also would not charge my battery.

I thought that this may mean my battery was now SO dead that it now would not even charge, so I replaced the battery with an iFixit replacement (thanks so much, very easy even for a non-techy like me!). Unfortunately, that has not resolved the charging issue. The new battery is showing 11% currently, but I've still no light on the charger and the charge icon is not showing... so it's definitely not working. I have done another SMC reset - still no joy.

I have just noticed however that the lid/cover is just slightly misaligned, which I had not seen before. It's had various knocks and drops over the years, but I wonder now if there has been something recently that I don't remember that has affected the seating of the charger. Is there an easy way to check this, or a fix? Or any other ideas or suggestions? Or do I need to bite the bullet and take it for a proper service?

Or at 6 years old now, and already suffering from insufficient storage, should I just resign myself to having sadly to buy a new laptop? 😟

Update (07/20/2022)

So I've gone back in for a closer look, and I think that the MagSafe port looks like it's probably damaged.

These photos are obviously with the back off, so the port is upside down. It looks like it is slightly bent, possibly cracked, not sure if the pins are also damaged.

How straightforward a fix would this be?

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Let’s get a better view of things, install this gem of an app! CoconutBattery take a snapshot of the apps main window and post it here for us to see Adding images to an existing question You may have a bad battery.

Also lets get a picture of your MagSafe port as well.

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You've used your system well!

It does look like the upper case needs a bit of straightening and the MagSafe port also needs replacing MacBook Air 13" (Mid 2013-2017) I/O Board here's the guide to replace it MacBook Air 13" Early 2015 I/O Board Replacement

If the case is too difficult to straighten you could replace it but its a bit of work MacBook Air 13" (Mid 2013-2017) Upper Case with Keyboard and here's the guide to strip the system down enough to reshape the case after pulling the logic board or replace it MacBook Air 13" Early 2015 Upper Case Replacement

I would still like to see the CoconutBattery snapshot to see if the battery is even charging as getting the system running is not that heavy a cost Vs buying a new system. Besides if the system meets you needs then its worth saving. But if the logic board has issues this maybe a lost cause.

You also talk about running out of storage, what is the size of your internal drive now? Does it make sense reducing your files or using an external to hold your less accessed files? While you can upgrade your internal SSD with the other needed repairs we are starting to get into heavier costs.

So let's look at what Apple has available today, so far the two MacBook Air M1 & M2 systems are less repairable than what you have now. But, they are also great systems offering more performance and some better features. The biggest down side is they don't allow you to upgrade after purchase as the storage is soldered on the logic board and Apple asked a lot for the bigger storage options. When you add that in depending on the desired storage it might still be cheaper upping your current system MacBook Pro and MacBook Air (Mid 2013 to Early 2015) Blade SSD Upgrade Bundle

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MacBook Pro and MacBook Air (Mid 2013 to Early 2015) Blade SSD Upgrade Bundle

$159.99

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MacBook Air 13" (Mid 2013-2017) I/O Board

$79.99

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MacBook Air 13" (Mid 2013-2017) Upper Case with Keyboard

$89.99

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MacBook Air 13" Early 2015 Upper Case Replacement

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1 - 2 hours

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MacBook Air 13" Early 2015 I/O Board Replacement

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35 minutes

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Hi Dan, thanks so much for your advice and help on this. It's my first time attempting any kind of self-servicing and was feeling pretty proud of myself for managing the battery change! I know I know, it's about as basic as it gets!!

I would be up for attempting the i/o board change, if I can straighten the casing (would a little brute force with some pliers work do you think?) - after all, nothing ventured, nothing gained and it's not working at the moment anyway. Unfortunately, iFixit doesn't seem to have the required item in stock in the UK (where I am), and I'm not sure where best to source a reliable/genuine part alternatively. I am also a little concerned about some of the comments onhow tricky and fine some of the wiring around that area is (fan/microphone/camera) and worried I might damage/mess up something else in the process. Maybe for this part replacement I'm better handing it over to a local professional :-( .

I also can't run Coconut to do the system test as with no charge in the battery currently I can't even turn it on to download the app :-( The new battery did initially have a small charge (approx 10%) in it, so the laptop did work for a short time and appeared to be functioning normally, but then drained overnight as I foolishly didn't do a full shut down. Doh! Or might the fact that it ran down in sleep mode (with the lid shut) be indicative of another issue?

In terms of storage, this is the configuration - Apple MacBook Air, Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB Flash Storage,13.3" - there is less than 10GB available space currently out of the 256, so not surprisingly it is limping along and freezing on a not-irregular basis! I've bought 2 separate external drives (both WD, one WD Elements and the other WD My Passport), which both played up and didn't seem to function well with TimeMachine, so annoyingly I don't have an up-to-date back-up on an external drive. They both worked for a while, and then suddenly stopped - I would just get an error message whenever I tried to do a TimeMachine back-up. I tried wiping and reformatting them again from scratch, but it still didn't fix the problem. Fortunately, pretty much all my documents are on Dropbox, and photos are backed up manually both on GooglePhotos and an alternative drive. Not ideal, but better than nothing.

If I get a reliable external drive, then offloading all photos and music is probably the best way to free up space I guess and negate the need to upgrade the SDD.

If I were to upgrade, would this be the correct part to order?

OWC Aura Pro X2 SSD

I've read that there is an issue with the 'proprietory port' so is there a need for an additional adaptor. Are there any other brands (Samsung??) that are more recommended than OWC, which seems to be the only one available on iFixit UK?

As you say, if I did this upgrade as well replacing the IO board then it would be running to £350+ costs, and maybe better to consider buying new. I take note of your comments re impossibility of upgrading the new models at a later stage.

Thanks again for your assistance and advice, I really appreciate you taking time.

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@Ali Bainbridge - In the UK you can try this great folks TheBookYard! MacBook Air 13" Top Case & Keyboard - UK keyboard layout and here's the SSD if thats what you are looking for OWC 1TB Aura N2

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