Louis Rossmann Repairs a Dead Mac After Best Buy and the Apple Store Declined Repair

Awesome Louis Rossmann tells a story of a dead MacBook Air taken to Best Buy and the Apple Store, where personnel said the Mac can't be fixed. Next Rossman fixes a corroded pad that houses an SMC chip and the Mac is fixed. 


Rossman first rules out keyboard and trackpad trouble by disconnecting. Rossmann finds very little current draw and fan still doesn't work with the keyboard and trackpad disconnected.

Finds corrosion near pad PP5 es 5

Three Step Fix after removing a bad SMC

1. Add solder around pads in the area

2. Scrape

3. Then use wick to make sure that any solder that was added, wasn't added on top of corrosion.


Rossman added flux and new solder on top of the pad, while installing a new chip. The MacBook Air started once again.


The System Management Controller (SMC) is a subsystem of Intel processor-based Macintosh computers -- similar in function to the older SMU or PMU of non-Intel Macintosh computers (PowerPC).

The SMC has roles in controlling thermal and power management, battery charging, video mode switching, sleep and wake, hibernation, and LED indicators. The SMC also enables enforcement of the macOS End User License, allowing it to identify when it is running on non-Apple hardware.