MacBook Pro shuts down on its own

I have a mid-2014 MacBook Pro. Last few days it will just shut down on its own. It will turn back on without issue but shutting down in the middle of working on something is not good.

It does this when plugged in or on battery power and will restart without any problems. A few times when it restarts it asks me to log into Gmail when I open it although I normally keep myself logged in to Gmail.

Did a hardware test issue is the battery needs to be replaced soon(I knew this).

Sometimes when it restarts I have to log in again to places I should stay logged into. This doesn't happen every time just some of the times when I turn it back on.

I've reset the SMC but no help.

Can't get into the Genius Bar until after Christmass.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: comet24,

I would go ahead and replace the battery since the computer runs off of the battery even when plugged in.

The OWC website has great instructions on how to replace batteries, and also sells the right kit based on your product code.

You might check to see that your fan is working and/or unobstructed. This sounds like a heat issue to me.

Do you have discrete graphics or only the built-in?

Leeann is asking that because it could be a hardware graphics problem on a 15" (and a few 17"s).

There is another possibility, however. If the battery status is saying "replace soon" it is possible that the battery is not giving you any reserve whatsoever. When that happens (and I have seen it before) all you have to do is bump the mag power supply cord (sometimes if the battery is bad it won't be amber (indicating charging) but rather green. Essentially it's the same as unplugging a desktop if that battery doesn't give you power when the connector power flow is broken.

The batteries are straightforward to change, although you may need the special screwdriver (which usually comes with a replacement battery). There are two/three (I forget) screws that may have a regular philips head, and some have the special head like a little triangle.

Is there a pattern to the shutdown- Dow’s it seem to happen when you do certain things? Does it seem hot when this happens? If discrete graphics , switch to integrated and see if it still shuts down randomly.

I’ve had several with symptoms just like this. Outcome wasn’t good. Seems unlikely to be battery to me but I have seen crazier things and the bumping of the charger is plausible.

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:
I would go ahead and replace the battery since the computer runs off of the battery even when plugged in.

This,

BUT, try taking the battery out and putting it back in. Sometimes my HP laptop battery gets lose and it does the same thing.

OK, I typed a long reply to all the questions and it died before I could post. So here is the short version.

I can unplug the computer and it still works so the battery going dead while charging is unlikely the issue.

I have a graphics card but when I checked a few things it looked like I was using the onboard graphics. Haven't tried anything intense.

Most it dies when I am using the internet. Google Chrome. Although it was also doing it when I was in Finder.

The computer is not hot and fans are not running high. I haven't been doing anything intense.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: comet24,

Can you confirm that the fans are indeed running under load?

If the fans are out, and you hit a website that is CPU intensive for a few minutes, I can see the CPU overheating quickly and then shutting off.

Lastly, when things randomly die, I always like to blame the RAM.

Apple wants you to upgrade.

I'd remove the battery, blow out any dust bunnies, and reseat the battery.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Can you confirm that the fans are indeed running under load?

If the fans are out, and you hit a website that is CPU intensive for a few minutes, I can see the CPU overheating quickly and then shutting off.

Lastly, when things randomly die, I always like to blame the RAM.

Fans are running but not sure they will run as fast as they have in the past. I just opened up Lightroom, iMovie and a bunch of youtube links. I run iStat which list temps of different parts of the computer and fan speeds.

Fans definitely increase speed some but not like I remember them doing. Although I may not be stressing the computer enough. While I opened those programs I am not currently editing/rendering anything.

FWIW no issues now with it running more stuff them I have recently.

I don't like to hear it could be the RAM since it's part of the motherboard on this computer.

Took it to the Apple store today.

After running some diagnosis there were two problems. The battery which they agreed isn't causing the problem and

"Left Fin Stack Proximity"

This seems to likely mean a new logic board which is insanely expensive.

They reset a few things and said to bring it home and see what happens. Well, it still has the same problem.

The firewire plugs also would not work to connect to their servers to run diagnostics. The USB works fine.

Although the diagnostic didn't pick up on the firewire ports.

Sorry to hear it but thanks for the update.

The logic boards are insanely expensive. If you haven’t already done so, take the bottom off and blow out the fans and heatsinks with compressed air. Make sure all connectors are fully seated.

After all that if it still doesn’t work, install macs fan control and look at all the temperatures of the various sensors to see if any get really hot.

If you give up on it and want to sell, I’d be interested. I’ve had some luck with repairing Apple hardware.

I've fixed a friend's MBP by buying a logic board on eBay - watched to find the lowest price for what I wanted - and swapping.

I've been taking apart Apple laptops since the 5300c, but if you follow the guides on iFixit.com, it's not that bad.

Remove the battery. They can burst if they are worn out. Ask me how I know. Fortunately, mine was on my lap when it did and I immediately removed the charger and it didn’t go up in flames.

You can run it off the charger gently while waiting on a new battery. Or , I do anyway. May not be advisable.

Edit: I see you made a trip to the Apple store.

quote:

Originally posted by nshumway:
The logic boards are insanely expensive. If you haven’t already done so, take the bottom off and blow out the fans and heatsinks with compressed air. Make sure all connectors are fully seated.

After all that if it still doesn’t work, install macs fan control and look at all the temperatures of the various sensors to see if any get really hot.

If you give up on it and want to sell, I’d be interested. I’ve had some luck with repairing Apple hardware.

The tec at Apple said there was dust and blow it out. He thought that might be the problem but so far is hasn't helped.

I run iStat Pro which lists fan speed and temps of many components. I did just download Mac Fans. I like how I can increase the fan speed manually. I know the fans are working now as I was able to speed them up. Sensors are a different matter.

Not giving up on this computer. It's pretty well speced out since I also use it to edit photos.

Think I'm going to pull the back off myself and check things out.

Thanks for the advice.

Final update.

Took it back to Apple just before Christmas. Spent about an hour with a very good tec. He ran the standard diagnostic stuff. The logic board issue didn't show up just the battery that we knew about. Said it could be an issue with the lastest software update. Small chance something installed wrong and could cause problems.

He recommended leaving it overnight so they could run a longer set of diagnostics. If it passed he wanted to wipe it and reinstall the OS. Well they called the next day and it failed. Logicboard was bad.

I gave them the OK to send it off for repair. Apple covers repairs like this at a flat rate. They will fix anything/everything that is wrong(as long as it's not liquid damage) for one price. Since the battery was bad this would get repaired under the same service price. This made the cost acceptable to me since the battery is $200 for apple to do or about $90 if I did it.

Since the battery is glued to the case I was happy to let them do it.

Also the tec. noticed my screen had a few marks. I had noticed it wouldn't clean up like it was new. Well apparently there was a recall on my screen. So this would be fixed also.

I now have my computer back. They replaced the logicboard, screen, top case assembly with battery and bottom case(it had a scratch on it).

So far it's working fine and I can't believe how clear the screen is. Just I just didn't notice how bad it was as it had slowly degraded.

Thanks to everyone that replied here with ideas.

Thanks for the follow up and glad to see that the Apple Store took care of you. I have a late 2013 15" macbook pro retina thats still working like a swiss timepiece. When I was shooting with the DSLR I had Aperture and DPP installed on the macbook for RAW processing but have since uninstalled the apps because I sold off my gear recently. I now can shoot RAW with my iPhone and thinking about installing Affinity RAW editing app to use for image processing. I too may go in for an Apple tune-up just to keep things above par. Certainly blowing out all the dust and possibly a battery upgrade would be great. My macbook has taken a lickin and keeps on ticking, especially from fall impacts...think cat, he loves it for sleeping on!