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I have a 13" MacBook Pro bought in mid-2016. This morning, I launched my MacBook and the trackpad and keyboard were not responsive. After about 30 seconds, a little window popped up saying “Bluetooth keyboard setup. There isn’t a keyboard connected.” I have left this window for as long as 15 minutes but nothing changes. I have tried restarting my MacBook but this keeps happening. It has happened at least ten times. I have also tried doing this in safe mode but this does not seem to make a difference. I don’t know if it matters, but for the past six weeks or so, I have been charging my iPhone 6s Plus via one of the USB ports. The cord is a little frayed and the connection isn’t always perfect. When my iPhone would connect, it used to switch to the “photos” app, but it’s hasn’t done this for about a week, although the phone is still charging. I have no idea what to do; my MacBook has now been rendered completely useless by this glitch. The keyboard and trackpad are completely unrecognised by the computer itself. Any and all help are much appreciated.
I have not seen this issue before and not seen a 2016 machine, Let’s try resetting the PRAM first. Here’s how to reset your PRAM: Shut down your machine. Yes, all the way down, not sleep or logging out. Press the power button and then press command-option-p-r. … Hold those keys down until your Mac reboots again and you here the startup chime. Let go of the keys and let your Mac reboot normally. That failing, try holding down the Option key on boot and go to the repair partition an run Disk Utilities. Do you have an external Boot disk?
If your model is the 2015 model, EMC on the bottom will be 2835 (you have selected late 2016), try reconnecting the trackpad cable. I have seen the trackpad cable go bad on these models, and if it is not recognised, neither the trackpad or the keyboard will work. If you reconnect it and it initially works, buy a replacement cable. It will go bad again, so just replace it with a new one.
for me the issue is a glitchy connector for the trackpad cable. Sometimes it works when I press down the frame between the trackpad and spacebar. Just now when I followed this guide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzcBL1NB… I realize that the reason it works is because the connector is pressed into the socket. But then it stops again after a while. So today I removed the connector shield and added extra padding to see if that stops the connector to stop dropping out of the socket.
Hi, I found this link and solved the problem my wife had with her MacBook Pro 13 2015 instantly: https://joshmccarty.com/fix-frozen-track… This is taken from the link: “Shut down the computer. Plug in the MagSafe power adapter to a power source, connecting it to the Mac if its not already connected.On the built-in keyboard, press the (left side) Shift-Control-Option keys and the power button at the same time.Release all the keys and the power button at the same time.Press the power button to turn on the computer.Note: The LED on the MagSafe power adapter may change states or temporarily turn off when you reset the SMC” hope it helps!
I am having both the box popping up about the keyboard bluetooth…but my mouse is frozen too! Yes, pressing the Caps key stopped the box from popping up…but how to get the mouse working again? I have a 2011 MacBook Pro.
Hi: This is a question…I wish it were an answer! I just got a new macbook pro 13" (2017) and I am also having this problem. Tried PRAM but could not access the keyboard or the mouse. Also tried holding down the caps key. Tried all the solutions above, I have an adapter for USB-USBC, so I plugged in an external Apple mouse, and now my cursor works but I still cannot access the keyboard, so I can cannot log in. I plugged in an external keyboard (not Apple), and that also did not work. So I’m stuck….any ideas?
I can imagine PERFECTLY HOW THIS PROBLEM FEELS LIKE. After having the same issue with my macbook 2011 bought in 2016 I gave it to app store and they changed the WHOLE keyboard system for free! Guess what? After 5 monthis this started happening again!!! I was able to solve this problem by turning the computer over and starting hitting some areas. I think its not the problem with the system but with the connection between parts of the computer itself. NVRAM is not possible to reset simply because keyboard doesn’t respond. I can’t explain with words what I have been through with this problem…
Hi everyone, I have the same problem on my MacBook Pro, I tried hitting or holding the caps key or holding command-option-p-r together but nothing worked. I’m in Cape Town and there is no Apple Store around, getting a bit desperate as work starts tomorrow. Any help would be much appreciated.
I tried all of the suggested fixes mentioned in this thread and none worked until……. I gently pounded on the bottom of the Mac with my hand and then lightly tapped it on a hard surface—voila!! Presto it works now! Thanks Grigorii who recommended this fix earlier!! Yay!!!
nothing has worked for me. help.
Holding caps lock during startup just worked for me.
What about buying a Bluetooth keyboard and connecting it to the computer? I don’t know if it’ll work.. but it’s an idea?
For me the caps lock solution didn’t work. But I noticed that my MacBook freezes often when there is a wifi network around that I have connected to in the past. So the solution for me is to go somewhere that there is no wifi network or nothing that I connected to before. And then when I’m able to login, if I want to shut down or sleep my MacBook, I disable wifi first.. It’s very odd and annoying, but it works!
i bought a mouse and external keyboard and everything is working , so i am positve that the 580 dollar fixup cost is bogus that they told me it would cost, this happened the very first time i went int o the mac store in kona hawaii , amd the counter guy that no longer works there only 3 weeks later, fixed it immediately, went in 4 days ago and something in that store set it off again and now they are tellling me i have to replace the trackpad and keyboard , they are bogus because i am usb connected to a mouse and keyboard i just bought has everything working , so commonsense tells me it is something else that is blocking a 2 year old laptop
Same problem here. Fun fact, on a Ubuntu live usb, it works. When I reboot on Mac OS no trackpad or keyboard responding…
Try holding option key while starting up of the machine and wait for 15 seconds on login screen it worked for me!
In my case, the reason the track pad and mouse quit working was that I had inadvertently activated “mouse keys” (thus disabling the trackpad) by hitting the option key (thinking it was the period key and typing an ellipsis). Once I turned off “mouse keys” in preferences everything worked fine.
I had this same issue on my 2015 Macbook Pro and contacted Apple support about it. First trouble shooting steps were to reset the System Management Controller (SMC) and to reset the NVRAM or PRAM. SMC: https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201295 NVRAM/PRAM: https://support.apple.com/kb/HT204063 Just throwing these links here in case they are helpful. In my case the issue turned out to be do to a warn trackpad cable. I took it to an Apple Store and they technician reattached the cable and placed a repair order. The temporary fix lasted about a week. The repair order only cost $10 for the cable. The technician was able to include labor and a free display replacement free of charge. Very happy with the result. Currently waiting on my repair right now (estimated time is 5-7 days) but very happy to get a free new display as part of this.
Holding Caps during startup bar worked in my case. Could be a possible solution or could be my bullshit luck. But this I know for sure..being locked out of your Mac is like looking for a lost wallet in Manhattan.Scaryyy. Good luck everyone, wishing you the best!
So here’s something weird. My Macbook Pro (Retina, 13 inch, Early 2015) has started displaying the same problem. The keyboard and trackpad frequently become non-responsive. 4-5 times out of 10, a restart would fix it. Of late, on restarting, the computer would complain that it couldn’t detect any keyboard/mouse and start looking for a wireless one. Well, when I connected a wireless keyboard+mouse and started the computer, not only did the wireless keyboard+mouse work, but the native keyboard and trackpad worked too! So this makes me suspect that it is a software, rather than a hardware issue… But how could it be a software issue when I haven’t performed any OS update in a long time? Anyway, here are two more additional pieces of info in case its helpful. One, on once occasion, the native keyboard and trackpad again stopped responding even when the wireless keyboard+mouse were connected. Two, once when I unplugged the wireless keyboard+mouse, the native keyboard and trackpad continued working for a while before freezing again. Hope this helps. Do let me know if anyone has found a solution for this
I tried all of the solutions suggested on here including completely wiping the drive. With No OS installed the track pad and keyboard still do not work and it continues to prompt for a wireless connection. When I plug in a usb mouse and keyboard it works. Mine at least is definitely a hardware issue
Hi, I just want to add my experience to how I solved my issue with the Bluetooth Setup Assistant popping up and making it impossible for me to use the mouse or the keyboard on my Macbook Air 2018 for a minute or two. Whenever I would not have a keyboard or a mouse connected to my Macbook Air the window with Bluetooth Setup Assistant would pop up to search for Bluetooth devices and render the computer useless for a good two minutes. Having the Bluetooth Setup Assistant popping up can simply be turned off by following this path:
- System preferences > Bluetooth > Advanced > Uncheck the top two boxes and click ‘OK’ I hope someone can benefit from this, though it turned out to be very simple to fix.
Hello, I also want to share my solution regarding a similar problem I had a month ago. If you’re locked out of your macbook and you’re stuck at the login screen without any bluetooth and your keyboard doesn’t work at all, you can quick-press the turn-on button three times to show the accessibility options, and under “keyboard” check “enable accessibility keyboard” so you can type your password to login manually using the accessibility keyboard. This works for MacBook Pro2019. Wish this could help!
I got locked out of my Mac. And I connected a wireless keyboard and mouse (which I have never used before) and I was able to get in. I turned off Bluetooth, and went in to the advanced settings and turned off everything there, but the keyboard and trackpad still don’t work. Anyone knows what I could try now?
I called Apple and got a solution that might help. If it’s a software issue and not a physical issue (like a cord), then turn off the MacBook, press the power button, then right away press and hold “command” and “r” until it turns on. Worked like a charm, and then all you have to do is click on the Apple logo and do a software update. I hope this helps, I was beginning to really panic since I had just bought a used 2015 MacBook and didn’t want to have to contact the person I bought it from!!
FREDIK BORLIE IS A GENIUS! Below is a cut/paste of his post above - PRESSING DOWN IN THE SPACE BETWEEN THE SPACE BAR & THE TRACK PAD it is the ONLY thing that worked on my 2015 MacPro so I could go in and disable bluetooth, which hopefully will keep this from happening again until I can make the $12 repair mentioned in the YouTube video:
POSTED: MARCH 11 OPTIONS for me the issue is a glitchy connector for the trackpad cable. Sometimes it works when I press down the frame between the trackpad and spacebar. Just now when I followed this guide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzcBL1NB… I realize that the reason it works is because the connector is pressed into the socket. But then it stops again after a while. So today I removed the connector shield and added extra padding to see if that stops the connector to stop dropping out of the socket.
In my case it seems problem was in some network restrictions by provider. As the restrictions were cancelled yesterday no problem was detected.
I had the same issue on my apple macbook air and it was driving me round the bend. The keyboard/trackpad would work until I got to the login screen and the caps lock key would go off so then I had to use an external keyboard. I saw another forum that said to replace the trackpad cable https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/323335150179 which I ordered on ebay and replace it and it now works. Yahoo. This video also mentions the problem with the trackpad flex cable and that it fixes this issue. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGPsUTWG…
