Keyboard & Trackpad Repair - Macbook | Serving Canada in Burlington ON

Keyboard & Trackpad

Macbook Pro

&

Macbook Air

The two most vital parts of actually using your laptop. When either of them stop, things get a little difficult. Your Macbook keyboard consists of three pieces, your trackpad in general consists of three as well. If you are in Canada, we can repair your Macbook keyboard and trackpad.

Quick Fixes:

Use compressed air. Stuff gets stuck under keys often, making them difficult to pres. The same applies to a trackpad. Pay attention to the small crack around it. Do not turn the bottle of compressed air upside down. You risk moisture in your device.

Isopropyl alcohol 99%. Dip cotton swabs into 99% alcohol. Gently go around the keys that are affected while the laptop is off. Do the same for the trackpad. The alcohol will dislodge anything that is sticky under your keys or trackpad. Don't worry, 99% alcohol is non-conductive.

Turn your device upside down. Let gravity do the work. Gently tap the back of your Macbook helping loosen anything underneath your keys or trackpad
Visit Us or Mail In Your device to be repaired. The moment your Macbook arrives to us, we will remove the back plate, motherboard, and all surrounding components. This is to verify that all moisture and debris have been removed prior to any tests we conduct. Once your Macbook is completely dry, we will begin to visually inspect your motherboard, replacing any affected components. From there, we assess each individual component of the Macbook: keyboard, trackpad, battery, speakers, USB ports, etc. Once completed, your Macbook operates as if nothing ever happened.

Free Estimate

What Goes Wrong With Keyboards & Trackpads?

As mentioned above, your keyboard has three pieces: the keyboard, the keys, and the backlight. For trackpad, hidden underneath is a control board, and a flex cable. Let's take a look at these below.

Keyboard

What is most commonly found when an entire keyboard needs to be replaced is moisture. Throughout the course of travelling with your device, you may come into contact with moisture and not realize it. The design flaw in keyboards, is part of the fundamental design. Every key is a possible opening for moisture.

Keys

The design of the keys have come a long way since 2015. Originally, Apple used "butterfly" clips to secure their keys in place. One of the most common repairs we see for keyboards from 2015 is a single key replacement. Under your physical key is a clip that holds your button to the main housing of the keyboard. In the middle, is a rubber nub, coded to a specific key. This rubber nub (often referred to as the membrane) cannot be replaced individually. The clips and keys can.

Keyboard Backlight

It would be pretty hard to see your keyboard in the dark without a backlight. We often see this problem, which can consist of a sensor malfunction, or possible moisture. The backlight is a single piece, not specific for each key. In oder to replace the backlight, the majority of the internals need to be removed (motherboard, speakers, battery, etc.

Trackpad

Most trackpads on Macbook dvices are similar. They consist of the trackpad, and a clicking mechanism. Typically the trackpad itself doesn't fail, but the hidden components often do.

Trackpad Board

The trackpad board is a cause for concern. As it is attached to the trackpad, any moisture will cause it to short. The trackpad i/o board (input/output board) is designed to connect your trackpad and keyboard into one circuit board, and then transfer the data to the cpu via a flex cable. Common problems with the trackpad board include: loss of trackpad functionality, fan spinning loud, loss of keyboard functionality, etc.

Trackpad Flex Cable

When we see moisture in the trackpad we typically have to replace the flex cable as well. What the flex cable is responsible for, is communicating touch between the motherboard with the keyboard and trackpad. Flex cables are meant to be transfer current between different components of the Macbook. They are resilient to normal use, however tend to fail when foreign substances make contact. They aren't waterproof yet!

How Long Does It Take To Fix?

Most keyboard or trackpad repairs can be done in the same day. In the unfortunate event that moisture is present, we may need some additional time to diagnose any other components that may be affecting the normal operation of your device.

We also take the time to use our thermal imaging camera to confirm there are no additional issues with your device. Regardless if your device is powred on and operational, we don't want you to have further issues down the road.