Is My 2015 MBP Fan Dead?

JinTech

Hello all. So, the battery on my 2015 MBP has swollen up quite a bit. Today it randomly just turned off. I would think if the battery was completely dead it should still be able to power up from just AC power?

When I turned it back on, I got to the login screen and then it sounded like one of the fans was winding up slowly and then the machine shuts off again. I turned it back on and let it sit for a moment and it sounded like one of the fans was going and then stopped and then I heard the winding sound again from the other fan and then the MBP shut off again.

I was able to record the sound if anyone has any experience or thoughts?


http://www.jstutts.com/share/2015_MBP_Dying.m4a

 I just wanted to get people's thoughts before taking it in to get repaired. Thanks in advance!

Mike Wuerthele

When batteries on Intel machines are completely shot, they are very, very slow. I haven't seen this particular scenario, but a swollen battery can cause all kinds of other nonsense.

JinTech

Mike Wuerthele said:

When batteries on Intel machines are completely shot, they are very, very slow. I haven't seen this particular scenario, but a swollen battery can cause all kinds of other nonsense.

Up until it shut off on its own, it was still very responsive.

JinTech

Mike Wuerthele said:

When batteries on Intel machines are completely shot, they are very, very slow. I haven't seen this particular scenario, but a swollen battery can cause all kinds of other nonsense.

Okay so I took it to a third party service party and they claimed that it was the battery (which they showed me, very bulged.) They also said it was likely a motherboard issue and they could replace the battery first to see if that would fix it, if not….anyway, I opt’d to just take the machine home. No harm no fowl, they charged me nothing. 

I would though like to get an enclosure for the SSD drive so I could retrieve the files. They quoted me $100 for an enclosure. I’m sure, there are more affordable ones on Amazon? Would you happen to know of any?

luckylindy

 I've been extremely happy with this one; thousands of others, too, apparently.

luckylindy

Oh...two thoughts: that recommendation above is for a 2.5" drive. Duh. You have a stick. Try Other World Computing. They have enclosures for those.  

Second: I have a 2015 15" MBP, too. For a number of months, the battery indicator had a warning icon and it said it needed to be serviced. I did some research and, apparently, there was an issue with batteries for some 2015 MBPs and an official replacement program. In December of 2021, I called support at Apple and they verified the issue and program. So they had me send the machine in and they replaced the battery at no cost. Of course, being Apple, to replace the battery means replacing the whole top case (keyboard, trackpad, etc.)

So, you could see if the program applies to your machine? Call them or chat with them; tell them that the battery is bulging in your machine and your system got hot and stopped working. That you're afraid it might explode. That you looked up the issue and saw there were defective batteries on these machines, and that Apple had put a program in place to replace these batteries. (They hate it when customers may face a personal injury due to their products, so they tend to bend over a bit.) Don't tell them you went to a third party to open it up and look at it. That will just complicate things. If the replacement battery fixes it, great. If not, maybe they will fix the fans, too. Worst case is they tell you it is not covered, and they send it back. 

BTW, if you do send it back, if you upgraded any component (like I did, putting in a 1TB SSD), you need to put the machine back to how you got it. Otherwise, they won't even look at it.

Good luck!

maria32

Place your ear right up against the MacBook Pro's underside. Your fan is operating if you hear a soft whirring sound. It's probably broken if you hear rattling, grinding, or revving. It could also sound like a ticking or a shrieking noise.