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I have a MacBook Pro (early 2015, 13"). About a year ago, the keyboard and trackpad quit working. I took it to the Apple Store and they said it could be that the cable went bad. They also said they may have to replace the whole bottom casing. I figured if it was just the cable, it would be worth me fixing it by myself. I'm not the most experienced MacBook mechanic, but I generally know what I'm doing.

Anyway, I've been using the MacBook with an external mouse and keyboard for a year. I bought a new cable for the trackpad, but after the replacement the MacBook won't even turn on. I switched back to the old one and it still won't turn on. What could have gone wrong? I've unplugged and replugged the battery, used two different power cords, etc..

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Listen buddy i have a similar problem. When you changed the ribbon cable you have probably forgot to remove the cable for the battery. This is why probably your battery went wrong. I also changed the ribbon cable myself and managed to unplugged my battery. This however did not fixed my keyboard and mouse issue (wish it did but it did not) but when i tried to turn it on it was just fine. I would suggest you unplug your battery leave it for few minutes check any cables around take off the ribbon cable put it back on. Then plug the battery properly put the protector on and try to start your mac. If that does not solve your second problem then you better start browsing for a new laptop.

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Is the part actually the “top case” which contains the speakers, keyboard, trackpad, etc...? Those are so finicky that doing a piece by piece repair even by Apple trained tech is unlikely to work so they replace the entire unit.

If you try one more time to carefully reconnect each and every cable (not just the ones you changed) you might be able to avoid the recommended repair. Best case, you get the same quote from Apple if the insides are not damaged in any meaningful way. Worst case, they would fix any damage due to the DIY repair on your dime, testing everything comprehensively and put a 90 day warranty on the Mac.

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  • tldr - you may have done everything perfectly and still need more parts or a full replacement unit. I would give the same advice to trained repair techs when we worked on Apple products and their repair didn’t work first time.
    – bmike ♦
    Sep 10, 2017 at 18:39
  • But it's not like "the same problem persists." I have a whole new problem, which seems odd because the repair is actually really straightforward. I can't take it to the Apple Store, because they said the repair would cost about £440. The computer WAS worth about £350 broken or about £700 fixed. Obviously, that math doesn't add up. I suppose the computer's rather worthless now though.
    – Christian
    Sep 10, 2017 at 19:24
  • Surgery often causes other damage when you are in and moving things around. Certainly still worth part value and likely higher but you’re right it’s worth far less if it won’t boot.
    – bmike ♦
    Sep 10, 2017 at 19:26
  • Yeah, understood. One thing that find very odd is that the battery never charges. I left it plugged in all day and the orange light never turned green. I just unplugged the battery, and the light on the charger is still orange. Almost like I thinks it's charging the battery, but the batter won't take a charge. Have you ever seen that?
    – Christian
    Sep 10, 2017 at 19:35
  • Things took a weird turn. Basically, when I unplug the he new cable, it boots up just like it used to. Is it the cable that's stopping it from booting up? Or could it be the trackpad?
    – Christian
    Sep 11, 2017 at 20:20

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