My Macbook randomly shuts down all the time... help!?

Question

Within the past couple weeks, my Macbook has been shutting off without warning, even on a fully charged battery. If I turn on the power again, it will reboot from scratch and usually shut off after a few minutes. Now, it's gotten worse and will only stay on if it's plugged in. What's going on?! How can I fix it?

I went to the Apple support website and they had something to download if you "Macbook shuts down intermittently" but when I downloaded it, a message popped up saying "this computer doesn't need that update".

Also, twice now my photos have disappeared from iPhoto. They are luckily still on the hard drive, but I have to re-import everything back to iPhoto. Any idea why it's doing that?

Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

It could be a number of things:

1) Hardware - this is a problem with some Macbooks - I actually had this problem with my Macbook when I first got it and they replaced the logic board, battery, charger and other parts of it.  If the laptop doesn't power off when you've got the power adapter in, it doesn't sound as though it is powering off because of overheating because that would happen whether it was on battery or plugged in. It sounds like your battery could be faulty or the connections to it.

2) The PMU - The power managemet unit is responsible for managing everything to do with power on your laptop

3) The PRAM - This is a piece of memory that is powered by a small internal battery and is what maintains the internal clock even when the system is off and various other parameters. This can sometimes become corrupted and needs resetting.

Before taking your laptop in, you could try resetting the PMU:

1) If the computer is on, turn it off.

2) Disconnect the AC Adapter and remove the computer's battery.

3) Press and hold down the power button for 5 seconds and then release the button.

4) Reconnect the battery and AC Adapter.

5) Press the Power button to restart the computer.

If this doesn't work, sometimes resetting your PRAM will solve strange problems like this:

1) Shut down the computer.

2) Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.

3) Turn on the computer.

4) Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.

5) Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.

6) Release the keys.

If these don't work, then it is likely that you have a hardware issue and you'll need to get Apple to repair it. If you've had the macbook for less than a year, this is covered by Apple's warranty and wont cost you anything.

Answer 2

I had this problem with my macbook, and the reason was that there was microscopic dust inside it, because i had used it on fabric, it turned off randomly at full power and only stayed on when plugged in, the solution: send it out to Apple, they will fix it, but it will cost money unless its new  

Answer 3

check if there is a plastic seal on vents, if not take ot to those geniuses at apple because the battery might be broken, or something inside the case, and they'll check it for you