A1706 and A1708
MacBook Pro 13 inch from 2016 and 2017
Two boards that look alike and have one big difference between them, and that difference decides whether your files can be saved. Here is which of the two you have.
Which of the two you have
There are two versions from these years. The A1706 has a Touch Bar and four Thunderbolt ports. The A1708 has ordinary function keys and two ports. From the outside there is barely anything between them. Inside there is a lot.
This is the generation where Apple did two things that later became famous: the display cable was shortened, and the keyboard moved to butterfly hinges. Both are now the reason these machines end up on our bench.
What we see most often on this board
- The screen cuts out as soon as you open the lid past roughly forty degrees
- Light patches along the bottom of the image, like separate spotlights
- Keys that double up, stick, or do nothing at all any more
- It charges on one port and not on the other
- It will not turn on, not even with a different charger
- The battery has swollen and is pushing the trackpad up
The difference that decides the fate of your files
On the A1708 the storage sits on a removable card. If the board no longer starts, we can usually take that card out and read it directly. That makes data recovery on this model far simpler and cheaper than on anything that came after.
On the A1706 the storage is soldered to the board. There the same story applies as on the newer models: the board has to boot at least once, or the chips have to come off and go onto a test board.
One more difference that costs money: on both, the keyboard is part of the complete top case. One dead key therefore means replacing that entire assembly, battery and trackpad included. That is why, faced with a sticking key, we first check whether cleaning does the job before ordering a part like that.
Prices
What it costs on this model.
| Repair | What it covers | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Flexgate | Display cable replaced and routed with slack | €169 |
| Logic board, light | Charging port, charging chip, one component or one trace | €149 |
| Logic board, heavy | Short on a rail or an IC replaced | €229 |
| Liquid damage | Ultrasonic cleaning, corrosion removed, repair | €299 |
| Data recovery A1708 | Reading the removable storage card on a reader | from €149 |
| Data recovery A1706 | Soldered storage, temporary repair or chip transfer | from €349 |
Not sure which of the two you have? Turn it over, the A number is on the underside. Or just send us a photo of the bottom and we will work it out.
Your files
On this model it all hangs on the A number.
If you have an A1708, this is one of the last MacBooks whose files stay reachable without a working board. That is good news and it saves you hundreds of euros.
If you have an A1706, say so right away in your request if there is anything on it you cannot lose. Then we take a copy first and work on the board after, not the other way round.
Questions about this model
Is flexgate still repairable on this model?
Yes, and it is one of the most satisfying jobs there is. The cable is replaced and routed with a little more slack, so it no longer pulls tight over the same hinge edge. That removes the cause, not just the symptom.
My keyboard is sticking. Does the whole top case really have to go?
Not always. With butterfly hinges there is often only dust under the cap, and that can be cleaned. If that does not do it, the top case is indeed the part. We always try the cheap option first.
Is a repair worth it on a machine that is nearly ten years old?
Often yes, because this generation is still perfectly usable and a second hand replacement quickly costs four times a repair. If the repair costs more than the machine is worth, we say so, even though that costs us the job.
Read on
The repairs that apply to this board.
Next step
Do you know the A number already?
Put it in your request and we will know straight away which board it is, so you get a sharper estimate back.