Reviving a dead MBP

Hello,
last year my MBP (2011) all at once stopped recharging the internal battery. Apple center said its motherboard had gone. Nevertheless I tried applying a lot of the suggestions available on the NET. Nothing to do: the MBP is dead.
Now, since I got the impression that on this forum there are people who understand hardware, I would like to ask if it is possible to charge the battery directly from outside, that is, bypassing the motherboard.
Suggestions welcome. Thanks.

No, that is not possible. The next thing I would try, as a hardware tech, would be to see if you could remove the battery and run the laptop from the power supply only. That would at least give you a computer, if not a portable one.

Apple has a new 2011 MBP extended repair campaign: https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/ it may or may not cover your issue, but never hurts to check.

@ERIC
I disconnected the battery-cable and although the mac doesn’t start up and no CD ROM is inserted, it now makes the sound as if trying to eject a DC ROM.

@Michael
Unfortunatelly my MBP is a 13". And more unfortunatelly, the two Apple Centers I already contacted a few months ago were not supportive.

Thansk for answering.

When my MBP stopped charging via the port, I was able to buy an external charger for the battery.
But it only takes a few weeks of messing about like that before you say ‘&^& it’ and get a new one anyway…

This ‘wont charge because the motherboard is broken’ is the most annoying thing about the Mac design.
one small circuit (SMC?) has the power of veto on the whole machine.
If apple cared, they could make that part replaceable instead of ‘throw the whole thing away’

I cant see why in theory you couldnt wire a power supply to the place where the battery touches , and leave the battery out.

In the UK, Ive seen Groupon selling white MBPs from a couple of year back at £150…

I agree with you. It is a shame, but maybe the reason is always the same: keep selling.

Long time ago with a Desktop Apple Computer, I had troubles: it does not power on anymore.

After a couple of weeks, and after thinking, thinking, thinking… I resolved to remove the internal battery that keeps the clock, PRAM, etc. active as it was the only thing I do not checked. [I tested everything I could think and do from installing OS X on another hard disk, to moving all components from this computer to another [same model]: the MLB was defective).

So, I removed that battery from the MLB, let more than 4 hours ellapsed (it was intended for some minutes, but I forgot to go back to the computer). When my attention comes back to that Macintosh, I put the battery on, put the Power cable on, press the Power On button and heard the infamous Macintosh Power On sound !

The only thing I lost was the number of hours that computer was powered on since its build !

Conclusion: if there is still a little battery in the laptop, power it off, remove the Power supply and give it a go (remove it), then wait some minutes (or go to lunch: it’s time to do). Then, place the battery back to the computer, insert the Power supply (both in 220v and in the laptop) and press the power on key.

I cross my fingers.

After lunch and a cigarette, the infamous Power On sound did not make itself heard.

does the mbp work with the mains adapter ? the only failure is : does not charge the battery ?
or is it not powering on at all ?

No. Power adapter’s light is always green, even if I disconnect the battery. And the MBP doesnt start up.

This may be simplisitic, (and probably technically incorrect, but the analogy serves) …

on most non-mac laptops plugging in a power supply actually supplies power to the board.
Take the battery out- no problem - you still have power.

On Macs, it supplies power to the SMC, and the SMC decides what to do with it.
If the SMC isnt working, no power is passed on to the rest of the system.

Do try these steps… you have nothing to lose:

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201295

if you want parts and/or great tutorials on fixing things on MBPs, check out http://ifixit.com … they also sell most (if not all) of the parts you would need to use to fix the MBP. They also have great tools to do the work. I own the tool kit, and have used their parts many times in the past and have had great luck with them.

if you need a motherboard replaced, it might be easier/cheaper to buy a used MBP over fixing it.

Good luck!

@Jeff Tullin
Done. No reaction.

@scott boss
I had already visited their place. But with no luck. I agree with you: instead to replace the motherboard, it’s better to buy a used MBP.

Thanks for your replies.

so there are some fuses to check with an ohmmeter
F6905 here : https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/xZSfAOE1SbRNXJiX
and F7000 here : https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/qvcR5fqIYFdEGEuM.huge

extract from : https://fr.ifixit.com/Answers/View/183956/What’s+wrong+with+my+logic+board
hope it helps.

Around $500…

@Jean-Yves Pochez Outside my expertize…

@Michel Bujardet Yep, I had a look around.

Thanks