My Mid 2012 Retina 15-inch A1398 MacBook Pro shuts down after 15 minutes of usage.

[vmflame]

My Mid 2012 Retina 15 inch A1298 MacBook Pro started behaving really weird recently - all of a sudden, it started malfunctioning after over 12 years of normal operation. When I try booting it off, I don't see anything on the screen, yet the Apple logo on the back glows up. Sometimes after several attempts the computer boots of and everything seems normal until it shuts down 15-20 minutes after booting off.

Could someone tell me if what could be the source of the problem and the culprit. Is it more a software related issue or more of a hardware related issue?

Thank god I could get the data out of the computer using some conversion technology so now I don't worry about the data, I just want to bring computer back to working condition.

Thanks in advance!

 

[theMarble]

I'd say that the most likely culprit is something power-related, probably either the battery or the DC-in board/circuity.
Have you ever replaced the battery on it?

Another very small possibility is that it is a display issue, given that it mysteriously turns off at ~15 minutes, however I do find this to be extremely unlikely as the Apple logo is glowing (the glowing logo uses the exact same backlight and circuitry as the display).

 

[MikeBTL]

My Mid 2012 Retina 15 inch A1298 MacBook Pro started behaving really weird recently - all of a sudden, it started malfunctioning after over 12 years of normal operation. When I try booting it off, I don't see anything on the screen, yet the Apple logo on the back glows up. Sometimes after several attempts the computer boots of and everything seems normal until it shuts down 15-20 minutes after booting off.

Could someone tell me if what could be the source of the problem and the culprit. Is it more a software related issue or more of a hardware related issue?

Thank god I could get the data out of the computer using some conversion technology so now I don't worry about the data, I just want to bring computer back to working condition.

Thanks in advance!

I experienced a similar issue with my 2012 retina MacBook pro 15. However, when I ran in "safe mode" it became stable. Then (using trial and error)I determined that the problem related to connected audio (of all things). I got around it by using wireless speakers. This happened about two years ago so it is somewhat vague. I only occasionally use so not sure if problem is still there.

 

[Fishrrman]

Try "safe boot" as mentioned above (hold down shift key CONTINUOUSLY as it boots).

This is a 15" model with dedicated/discrete graphics?
Might be a graphics failure.

One other thing:
Has the hard drive ever been replaced?

 

[vmflame]

Try "safe boot" as mentioned above (hold down shift key CONTINUOUSLY as it boots).

This is a 15" model with dedicated/discrete graphics?
Might be a graphics failure.

One other thing:
Has the hard drive ever been replaced?

Greetings!
Regarding graphics, I can't really tell since it was my dad's laptop for a long time.
The hard disk has not been replaced.

I'll try safe booting the device and tell you the results once completed.

 

[Fishrrman]

Something else.

2012 MacBook Pro 13" models (Unibody, NOT retina) had a problem with the internal drive ribbon connecting cable -- it was prone to failure. When it got "wonky", communication between the drive and the motherboard could be randomly interrupted.

To the user, it might seem like "a failed drive", when it was really only the cable.

I'm not sure if this problem affected the 15" models or not.
But the cable is cheap and easy to change.

If you're planning to keep this, I'd change the internal hard drive for an SSD instead.
A 2.5" SATA SSD, say 512gb, is actually cheap these days.

 

[MBAir2010]

Does the "shut down" happen after you place the Macbook Pro 2012 down on a table or desk?
if so, the cable is either loose or faulty.
as Fishrrman stated these ribbons are faulty, but easily replaceable.
my replacement cable was ordered from US cali company named Beetstech.

I use the 13" version as my main computer now since OSX Mt Lion suits my needs perfectly now.
adding a new ssd and ram upgrade will improve the MBP 12.

​

 

[MacInTO]

My Mid 2012 Retina 15 inch A1298 MacBook Pro started behaving really weird recently - all of a sudden, it started malfunctioning after over 12 years of normal operation. When I try booting it off, I don't see anything on the screen, yet the Apple logo on the back glows up. Sometimes after several attempts the computer boots of and everything seems normal until it shuts down 15-20 minutes after booting off.

Could someone tell me if what could be the source of the problem and the culprit. Is it more a software related issue or more of a hardware related issue?

Thank god I could get the data out of the computer using some conversion technology so now I don't worry about the data, I just want to bring computer back to working condition.

Thanks in advance!

If you haven't gotten to the bottom of the issue yet, it may be the GPU. The 2012 15" rMBP had the same GPU failure as the 2011 15" MBP as well as a few other models.

I had this problem on my 2011 MBP. Ironically, I replaced it with a 2012 rMBP, which didn't have a problem, but when I found out that it could happen to the 2012 rMBP, I sold it and replaced it with a 2012 cMBP, which I still have today.

Here are a few of many threads on this issue,

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mid-2012-15-macbook-pro-gpu-failure.2384278/

GPU failure 2012 macbook need help

Mid 2012 Macbook pro 15" Retina 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7 After updating to mac os serria 10.13.3 At random times the screen goes black however the keyboard lights are on. I need to do a hard restart to turn it back on however, sometimes screen goes black during log in screen. Here is the...

forums.macrumors.com

Macbook Pro Retina (2012) defective graph… - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

 

[specialstyle]

Try "safe boot" as mentioned above (hold down shift key CONTINUOUSLY as it boots).

This is a 15" model with dedicated/discrete graphics?
Might be a graphics failure.

One other thing:
Has the hard drive ever been replaced?

I have the exact same laptop (with discrete graphics) and it had this failure probably back in....2017. There was a replacement program that had just ended maybe a year prior but I gave Apple support such a hard time that they ended up fixing it for me.

The issue is there is a known defect with the graphics of that model, and they more or less issues a limited time recall to fix it. While I doubt they even have the parts anymore, you could bring it in and see what they say. But at this point...14 years deep, I highly doubt they'll do much.

My suggestion was that just because I didn't complain within their time window (it had lapsed like 6 months prior to me encountering the problem), I shouldn't be penalized for the machine not failing within their schedule. There is a known defect with the machine, and it really shouldn't matter how old it is—they should honor replacing it if they have the parts.

Here's an article that talked about it but the support page is long gone: https://9to5mac.com/2015/02/19/macbook-pro-repair/