What to Do If Your MacBook Pro Won’t Turn On or Charge


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Are you currently panicking because your MacBook Pro won’t turn on? What if you’re almost out of power juice and you find that your MacBook Pro won’t charge? There are several reasons why your MacBook Pro won’t turn on or charge, so don’t panic. Some of these reasons might actually be really obvious and simple to solve. Here are some fixes that you can try if you ever find yourself in this situation.

MacBook Pro Won’t Turn on Charge? Here are some things you can do.

  1. Check if the issue is not turning on or not starting up.

Are you sure that your MacBook Pro won’t turn on or it just won’t startup? Believe it or not, there is a difference between the two. To check, press the Power button located on the upper right-most corner of your Mac keyboard. Do you hear any sounds or drive noise? Are there any visuals showing up on your display? If your answer is no to both questions, then your Mac isn’t turning on at all to even reach the startup stage.

  1. Check if your Mac is connected to power.

So now that you’ve confirmed that your Mac is indeed not turning on, there are some obvious things that you should check first before delving into more complicated solutions. One of these is to check that your Mac is properly connected to power. It’s possible that your Mac might not be plugged in correctly and its battery is already depleted. Let it charge for some time and try turning it on again.

  1. Use a different power cable or adapter.

If it won’t charge even after leaving it for some time, the issue might lie on the power cable or adapter that you’re using. You can check this by using a different power cable or adapted to charge your Mac. If this works, then you now know that the power cable or adapted was the problem all along. Simply replace it with a working one and you’ll be good to go.

  1. Remove all external devices or accessories from your Mac.

External devices or accessories connected to your Mac may also be the source of the problem. One of them may be causing a conflict in your Mac’s startup sequence. To check this, just unplug all external accessories from your Mac and try turning it on again.

  1. Perform a Power Cycle.

Are the simple fixes not working? Maybe you can try performing a power cycle. Doing this will force your Mac to reboot after cutting its power. You can do this by pressing the Power button on your keyboard and holding it for 10 seconds. A squeaking sound will typically alert you that the power’s been forcibly cut. Wait for another 10 seconds and try restarting your Mac.

  1. Start up in Safe Boot.

Another option is for you to reboot your Mac in Safe Boot. Doing this will limit the checks that your Mac performs when you turn it on. Safe Boot will also perform specific diagnostics on your Mac. You can start up your Mac with a Safe Boot then reboot it after and you’ll find it working fine again. Though this solution isn’t common, it’s certainly worth a try.

You need to enter your Mac into Safe Mode in order to start up in Safe Boot. To do this, shut your Mac down. Then, try turning it on while pressing down the Shift key. This should get your Mac into Safe Boot if it works, though this may take a while to start

If you want to know what’s happening when your Mac’s entering Safe Boot, you can also try putting it in Verbose Mode. You do this by pressing down Shift + Command + V while starting up your Mac. In Verbose Mode, you can see what Safe Boot is trying to do as your Mac begins to start up.

  1. Reset your Mac’s SMC.

What if the problem lies with the current version of macOS? A solution to this is to reset your Mac’s SMC or System Management Controller. You can perform this before thinking about reinstalling macOS. Here are the steps on how to do this on your MacBook Pro:

  1. Shut down your Mac.
  2. Remove the power cable or adapted from your Mac then reconnect it again.
  3. Press the Power button and Shift + Command + Option/Alt buttons simultaneously.
  4. Release the buttons simultaneously. This may prompt the light on the power cable or adapted to flicker.
  5. Reboot your Mac and check to see if it works.

If all these solutions still won’t fix your problem, you might have to call in the big guns. Contact Apple Support to find out if there’s anything else you can do. Chances are you’ll have to bring your MacBook Pro to an Apple Genius Bar so they can take a look. Hopefully, whatever the issue is, they’ll be able to fix it without compromising your data. Otherwise, your MacBook Pro might already be shot and it’s time to get a new one.


Kossi Adzo

Kossi Adzo is a technology enthusiast and digital strategist with a fervent passion for Apple products and the innovative technologies that orbit them. With a background in computer science and a decade of experience in app development and digital marketing, Kossi brings a wealth of knowledge and a unique perspective to the Apple Gazette team.

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  1. I have a macbook pro touch and suddenly went unresponsive.. it was working fine the day before so i thought i just needed to charge it.. charge for 4hrs and still wont turn on.. and no sign that it was getting power at all so i purchased a new charger both cord and the box apple brand and still not responding.. took it to best buy where i purchased it , geek squad plugged it in for two min and told me that i might as well purchase a new one cuz it will cost me just as much to have it repaired cuz unfortunately my one year warranty had ran out on feb2020.. i tried all of the adviced stated above and nothing works .. is there anything else i can do besides buying a new one… i only have this laptop for over a year and really dont feel like spending that much money again…