Written by
Vain Rowe
7 Signs Indicates Mac's Motherboard Damage Or Faulty
Sometimes, you may find that your Mac computer behaves oddly every now and then. For instance, the Mac keeps crashing, the battery drains so fast, the screen flashes, and some other weird actions. What's worse, you are utterly unaware of the causes and culprits, which really drives you crazy.
As a matter of fact, all these annoying behaviors can be caused by Mac's logic board being damaged or faulty. That's why this post from iBoysoft comes here to help and summarize 7 warnings given by your device that indicate your Mac is failing.
You should be cautious of them and always respond with the right approaches or you will suffer from serious data loss and server hardware damage.
What causes logic board failure on Mac?
The logic board, also known as the motherboard, is the crucial and key part of a computer device that handles with sorts of interactions between each single component and ensures they function properly. A computer is just a scatter of electronic elements without a logic board.
However, the logic board can fail just like the hard drive after a long time of usage. In addition, dust, dirt, liquid spill, hair follicles, and physical damage can lead the motherboard to be damaged or faulty as well.
The signs indicating your Mac logic board is damaged or faulty
The weird actions or problems of the Mac computer must be caused by something, thus the signs are not merely signs. Please be cautious of the signs discussed in this post and address them with relative solutions or you will face double damages -- both data and hardware.
1. Mac keeps crashing
If your Mac computer keeps crashing, freezing or even shuts down when it's running, it's possible that the motherboard has troubles. The crashing symptoms include the following but are not limited to them:
- iMac keeps shutting down
- Mac crashing on login
- Mac crashing after waking from sleep
- Mac black screen of death
- Mac keeps crashing and restarting
- MacBook Pro crashed and won't turn on
- Mac crashing in Safe Mode
- Mac won't boot past Apple logo
- MacBook Air dies when unplugged
Looks dreadful, right? No worries, every single crashing symptom can be addressed with corresponding solutions as long as there are hardware defects.
2. The battery drains so fast or the battery is not charging
The second sign of a failing logic board is the battery issue. No matter whether your device swallows the battery so fast or even if the battery not charging, it means the logic board is fading.
The overdrawn battery indicates that the logic board is no longer able to control the battery usage which also is accompanied by the MacBook overheating issue. You can quit currently needless apps in the background to check if the battery fades normally.
As for the battery not charging issue, make sure the power source the machine connects to is not weak, or give an alternative charger port or cable a try. On top of that, checking the battery's health is a must.
To view your battery's condition, choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Battery in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.)
Look at Battery Health on the right. You may see any of the following conditions:
- Normal: The battery is functioning normally.
- Service recommended: The battery is performing normally, but its ability to hold a charge is less than when it was new. You may want to consider replacing the battery.
3. Mac won't turn on
A Mac that won't turn on means a Mac is not responding at all after you press down the power button/Touch ID button, you don't hear a startup chime, a spinning fan, or drive noise, and there are no visuals on the monitor even with full power. This indicates that your Mac motherboard is too defective to give any response.
4. The USB port stops working
Excluding the connection issue, when the USB port fails to function normally, it might have something to do with the logic board because the external hard drive is actually directly connected to the board so that you can control the computer to begin your read/write actions to the connected drives.
5. Audio stops working
Audio is also a significant part soldered with the motherboard that makes regular sounds on a computer. If the audio component stops producing sound, there must be errors on the motherboard. If you want to use your machine as usual days, connecting an external audio device or going to the Apple store for a hardware replacement or repair is suggested.
6. Mac monitor or screen has issues
Mac monitor or screen issues include all sorts of conditions. For example, a Mac screen has green lines, a Mac has pink screens, and MacBook screen flickering, and so on. Each of them indicates that there are troubles with the computer's graphic process unit which are linked with the damaged motherboard.
Once the monitor issue hits, do not take it lightly but ask for professional advice from Apple support straightforwardly!
7. System Diagnostic test responds with an error code
Some users who are familiar with macOS have a habit of making a system diagnostic test regularly to make sure everything goes well on the computer. But when the system diagnostic responds with an error code one day, emphasis should be put on it for it indicates the computer's motherboard has bad change.
Please share this article if you find it informative!
What to do if your Mac has signs of Mac logic board damage?
Do not be freaked out by the warnings given by your computer, there are still some remedies you can take.
1. Clone your Mac disk to avoid data loss
The logic board may fail at any time so you'd better clone your disk or logic board failure will cause data loss. iBoysoft DiskGeeker is an all-in-one disk management tool for Mac that supports cloning your Mac hard drive and managing your external hard drives, USB drives, and flash drives. You can use it to complete your disk clone task with ease.
2. Contact Apple support for professional advice
After ensuring you have all important files and folders at hand, you can call Apple support for help to determine whether you should take this Mac with a damaged logic board to the local Apple Genius Bar for repair or directly replace it with a new product.
Last word
This post summarizes the signs that indicate the Mac logic board is damaged or failing and you can have a reading to test if the logic board of your Mac computer also sends you the same warning. If it does, you'd better back up your device and then repair or replace it with a new one.
