Keyboard and trackpad don't work, loose cable?

"Eli Hoenig



Rep: 169




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"I have this same problem which surfaced just a bit over the 1-year warranty period. Keyboard and trackpad do not boot up and hence can't log in. Then all of a sudden, after a couple frustrating months of using a bluetooth keyboard and a USB mouse, everything started working again. That lasted 3 months. Then back to no keyboard and no trackpad. On a whim, I turned by Macbook over and gently but firmly pressed back and forth on the underside of the laptop in the proximity of the trackpad ... and now it works ... but I have to do this every time to get things working. I thought maybe the trackpad cable was loose, so I finally got ahold of a pentalobe screwdriver (impossible to find outside of the USA). I tried snugging up the cable which looked firmly seated at both ends. Alas the problem continues .... still rubbing the bottom of my expensive 2015 MacBook Pro just to get it to fire up correctly.

Perhaps massaging the laptop's underside flattens out any swelling in the battery ... or it nudges the trackpad cable into action ... whatever the heck is the culprit ... it certainly is a faulty design issue.

Anybody know how I can fix this permanently on my own?

:) Frank

Early 2015 MacBook Pro (A1502)"

I echo most of these sentiments, my trackpad worked fine, but my keyboard began to get finicky, eventually stopped working all together. I tried booting in safemode, creating new user accounts (all using an external keyboard) and even added a special keyboard (hidden within accessibility that will allow for a latched-shift function that allows for special shifted/control/option/command functions that caps lock cannot help with (systempreferences/accessibility/keyboard/enable[checked]). Anyway, I ordered the trackpad cable part from fixit.com and followed the trackpad cable replacement guide (skipping steps 4-16). And now everything works like a champ.

This worked perfectly for me. New cable part is 821-00184-A. €11 on eBay. Video instructions are perfect, but pay careful attention to flip connector removal. Unlike in video, the new cable had it's own self-adhesive strip which is identifiable on eBay images by blue tabs that are the peel-off adhesive strip covering. There was no obvious problem with connectors at either end of old cable so no idea what problem is with cable.

I just wanted to add my own +1 to this. I had the exact problems of intermittent and then complete loss of functionality of the trackpad and keyboard on an Early-2015 MacBook Pro. I’m in Europe so I bought this part off of Amazon.de: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0759H3KKR/ref=... and it took all of 30 seconds to replace. The part even comes with the double-sided tape to hold it on the battery. It seems to be maybe 1-2cm longer than the OEM version, but I just had to prebend it a bit.