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Macbook Air 2020 won't turn on

Lynne326

Lynne326

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 25, 2011
143
36
Hello,

My 2020 Macbook Air just died. I can't get it to turn on after trying command, option, P and R, power button, then control, option,shift, power button, and just holding the power button down for 20 seconds several times. I think it could be the motherboard.

Other than taking it to a shop to get looked at, is there a way, other than an enclosure method (which I've done a few times on other computers) to get the hard drive data?

I've been wanted to get a new(er) Macbook Air 15 in. anyway, what is a good year to purchase?

Thank you all!!
Lynne
 
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Lynne326 said:
is there a way, other than an enclosure method
Click to expand...
The SSD is part of the motherboard and cannot be removed to place in any enclosure. If you don’t have a backup your data is lost. Unless an expensive data recovery service can recover the data.

Lynne326 said:
I've been wanted to get a new(er) Macbook Air 15 in. anyway, what is a good year to purchase?
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The M2 or M3 are available now. Since your current system is not working, waiting for the M4 may not be possible. Check the Apple refurbished store for some reasonable prices. B&H Photo many times has good prices.

Before you despair, if an Apple Store is available try them. They may be able to get the system running or access the SSD from another Mac.
 
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Thank you. If it is the motherboard, could that be replaced? Would it retain the HD data?
 
Lynne326 said:
If it is the motherboard, could that be replaced?
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Yes, for probably more than the cost of a new M2.
Lynne326 said:
Would it retain the HD data?
Click to expand...
No. The SSD chip(s) are part of the motherboard. A backup, with iCloud, external media, or other method is your only option. Except for a very expensive data recovery service which might be able to recover the data.
 
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Ok, thank you. Do Macbook Pro still have a removable hard drive? My old ones did, not sure what they changed over the years.
 
If it was the battery, wouldn't it still work with the power cord?
 
I don't know for sure about the cable since I don't have another one. I have an Apple store near me, I will take it there I guess. Thanks for your help
 
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raythompsontn said:
The M2 or M3 are available now. Since your current system is not working, waiting for the M4 may not be possible. Check the Apple refurbished store for some reasonable prices. B&H Photo many times has good prices.
Click to expand...
My suggestion is to buy one from Costco. If during their 90 day return period an M4 MacBook Air gets released (it should), either exchange the M3 MBA for an M4 MBA, or get a price adjustment for the M3 MBA as it would have gone down in price.
 
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When I was in college my laptop (Toshiba Satellite CDT4000) wouldn't power up. I couldn't afford to get a new one at the time so I took it apart. Turns out the power connector had come loose because of heat at the solder points. I was an engineering student so grabbed my trusty soldering iron and fixed the connection and the machine powered back up last through graduation. Of course, I could've tried a replaceable battery back then or taken out the drive to access the data. I loved that 7-lb laptop with built-in floppy drive and CD-ROM. Anyways...

I would try to take apart the MacBook Air and see if a power connector is somehow loose, and check the condition of the battery while you're at it. It could very well be the motherboard as you suspect, but rule out a power problem first. Hopefully you manage to power it up long enough to pull your data off. Best of luck to you and please keep us updated.
 
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If you live near an Apple Store ,let them do a checkup. Were all your keyboard keys working the last time you used the computer?
 
Lynne326 said:
I don't know for sure about the cable since I don't have another one. I have an Apple store near me, I will take it there I guess. Thanks for your help
Click to expand...
Yes, do that!
My macbook air form 2010 still works great
Im sure that your MBA might have a display problem as the Intel ones have faulty display chips.

Also any macbook with an M chip is a great laptop no matter the year.

Good luck. Lynne!
 
Mine just “died” last Friday. I did the latest macOS update, restarted… and it shut off but never turned back on. Feel like I’ve tried everything, and I have a Genius Bar appointment Friday. I know it’s out of warranty but it feels really bad that it “died” during a software update. It’s been such a reliable computer.
 
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Lynne326 said:
If I do end up getting a new one, what does someone think about this 2024 model - https://www.bestbuy.com/site/apple-...6UN3iI9bHu8-_VKZqhBoCzwwQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
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I would personally opt for more than 256 GB of storage. My last MacBook Air had that much and I filled it up pretty quickly. On the other hand, your storage needs might be more modest. Just something to bear in mind if you work with a decent number of large files.

Other than that potential pitfall, that's a lovely Mac and will I'm sure do really well.
 
ignatius345 said:
I would personally opt for more than 256 GB of storage
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Based on the experience of the machine dying and no reasonable way to recover the files (if the Apple Store is unsuccessful), I would keep that amount of internal storage and get a fast SSD drive to store as many files as possible. That avoids the Apple SSD tax and keeps the files save in case of another borked machine.

With that being said, your advice is excellent if using external storage is not considered an option. 512GB would be better suited in that scenario. An external storage of some kind would still be warranted as backup for files stored on the Air.

The purchase from Best Buy is about $30.00 cheaper than the Apple refurbished store, $100.00 cheaper than B&H. So it seems to be a good price.
 
antiprotest, yes, it was doing some weird stuff off and on for months prior, like suddenly I couldn't click on anything with mouse or keyboard, that happened a couple times. The fan seemed to be running more than usual sometimes, if I remember correctly I think it rebooted itself once or twice. All this was over the past 6 or 8 months.
 
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UPDATE: Well, Apple couldn't get any life out of it, they offered a new logic board for $450, but I couldn't see doing that for 1/2 the cost of a new one, unless I could get data back, which I couldn't. So, I went to Best Buy and got the one I mentioned. 256 is plenty for me since I don't use the Air for programs, mostly internet.

Apple said I could try and get someone to do data recovery, but as someone said, it's expensive. There's a store called Rotten Apples sort of me that also fixes Apple products. They said they might be able to fix the logic board rather than replace. Maybe down the road I'll consider that.

Thank you everyone once again for helping me out!
 
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A shame they couldn't get it to fire up either, but mazel tov on the new MBA M3, I have a similar model and it's fantastic! I hope you have many good years with it.
 
raythompsontn said:
I would keep that amount of internal storage and get a fast SSD drive to store as many files as possible.
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Suit yourself, but IMO it's not remotely worth the savings to have an SSD dangling from a laptop all the time. I did this for a few months when my 256 GB MacBook Air was running out of space and it fully sucked to have to unmount the damn thing, unplug it and pack it and its cable in my bag -- versus just closing a laptop and not thinking about it. External storage is great on a desktop but a kludgy compromise on a laptop unless it just lives permanently on a desk.

raythompsontn said:
That avoids the Apple SSD tax and keeps the files save in case of another borked machine.
Click to expand...
Uhh, yeah, I just paid the "Apple tax" (aka the price) to have fast internal storage. A few months down the road and I forgot about the $200 but am happy every time I don't have to compromise on what's saved to my storage. And putting your files on an external drive is not automatically "keeping them safe". I've had far more failures of external drives than internal drives over the decades. So you have to back up. And now you're connecting both drives simultaneously to get a backup to happen. No thanks!

Speaking of backup, @Lynne326 I would strongly recommend picking up a basic 1 TB SSD (~$100 or less) and plugging that in at least once a week to run a backup.
 
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