Chosen Solution
Hi! I’ve got an early 2015 13" MacBook Pro. Absolutely no water damage, drops etc A couple of days ago it started turning itself off within a couple of seconds of me turning it on. This problem seems to be quite widespread but I could not find a solution to the problem anywhere. TL;DR Mac turns off within seconds(3-6). If any key is pressed and held the computer acts normally. Key can be released for a couple of seconds - afterwards any other key has to be pressed and held or the computer acts as if the power button was pressed for a couple of seconds and shuts down. Longer, rambling version: After troubleshooting it for what seems like years I’ve found out that: -If I press and hold ANY button immediately after pressing the power button the computer doesn’t turn itself off - it let’s me log in etc -If I let go of the button I was holding BEFORE I’m logged in the computer turns itself off as If I pressed the power button for a couple of seconds -If I let go of the button I was holding AFTER I’m logged in I get the standard prompt -“Are you sure you want to shut down your computer now?” If I press and hold any button again, I can just click Cancel and the computer doesn’t switch off -I can let go of the button I’m holding and substitute it for an different button -Funnily enough if I press and hold the power button at start-up I can use the computer normally. If I try to press and hold it later it turns my computer off as it should. So yeah, that’s what I’ve found - hopefully it will help someone with the same problem. Any ideas as to what I could try? The laptop is still under warranty so if I fail to resolve the issue by Monday I’m having it repaired but I would really prefer not to lose my workplace for 3-5 working days. Update (10/27/2015) Dan - sincerest thanks for your answer. The laptop is covered under warranty so I really did not want to open it. External keyboards did not word as the built in one had higher priority, especially the power button. mayer - I know it is covered under warranty, I even stated so in the original post. You are like those people who answer “just google it” when someone asks a question that has been answered ANYWHERE before. I wrote about my process of getting the laptop in a somewhat working order hoping it helps someone else, and that someone provides an obvious (software) answer I had missed that would allow me to not wipe my laptop and part with it for 5-7 working days. In the end I ended up having it repaired under warranty. I learned a bit more about the problem but everything points to a hardware defect.
Sounds like a stuck key on the keyboard. There could be a few possible causes here. If you have a USB or Bluetooth keyboard you could try using it. In this test setup you’re going to pop the bottom cover and carefully disconnect the keyboard ribbon cable then using the power pads startup the system with the external keyboard plugged in or linked via Bluetooth. Does it start up OK that way? If it does you’ve isolated the problem down to the keyboard. The next step is to see if the battery is blistering causing it to push up on the keyboard. Carefully loosen the battery screws, reconnect the keyboard is this now working better? The last possibly here is did you spill something into the keyboard? You may end up needing to pull the upper case off and the keyboard - Big job!
I had pretty much same issue with a 13” MacBook Pro mid 2012. Solved it by pulling the keyboard ribbon cable out of the ZIF socket. Refer to step 11 of this guide: MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2012 Upper Case Replacement I noticed some of the connection pins in the ZIF socket where gummed up with what looked like dust. I carefully cleaned the pins with a cotton bud dipped in alcohol. Also cleaned the connections on the keyboard ribbon. Reinserted the keyboard ribbon. Turned machine back on and everything is now working normally.
I am having this exact problem on a 2012 15" MacBook unibody. I took it to the Apple Store and they thought it was a defective keyboard and offered to replace the top case for a little over $200. I decided to just replace the keyboard myself with one from eBay, but didn’t fix the issue, still the same as before.
This happened to me too what I did was I programmed caps lock to have no function, I then taped down this key and it works like normal (I don’t use caps lock anyway) my computer is the MacBook Pro 17’ with the touchbar, still have warranty just using this as an improvision
ok the same problem i am also facing and as Adam mentioned i inserted a toothpick in function key slot while keeping it pressed so as it remained pressed. but that is a temporary workaround. guys check whether your serial number is available or not in “about my mac” section coz in my case it shows serial number not available.That seems to be the root cause of this problem.keep me updated about your serial number. thanx
It’s the keyboard ribbon cable. I had accidentally pulled on it (thinking it was the battery cable) then the problem arose on my 2012 15" MacBook Pro Retina, “Are you sure you want to shut down your computer?” Kept popping up randomly and even logging in without hitting a key, the computer would turn off or screen would go black. I’d have to hit a key while logging in or keep pushing “Cancel” every 6 to 15 seconds. Although while holding a key down, the computer functioned normally. Solution: Clean the ribbon cable with alcohol and reposition it back properly. Hasn’t happened since.
Well you chewed me out for suggesting that it was under warranty and then did exactly that to get it fixed.
