[Solved] MagSafe 3 Blinking Amber LED and Refusing to Charge on macOS Sonoma 14.6: Diagnostic steps and permanent fix

[Chloe Lewis]

Diagnostic Hardware Specs: MacBook Pro 16″ M3 Max | OS Version: macOS Sonoma 14.6 | Archive Source: Apple Support Community #256722779

I am running into a persistent issue on my MacBook Pro 16″ M3 Max running macOS Sonoma 14.6.
Whenever the machine encounters SMC Power Delivery controller handshake fault, the following diagnostic log appears in Console:

AppleSmartBattery: [Power] MagSafe 3 EPR 28V/5A handshake negotiation rejected: resistance anomaly

I verified that hardware connections are intact and tested across different power sources. What is the verified diagnostic procedure to permanently eliminate this symptom?

MacBook Pro 16″ M3 Max (128GB) | SanDisk Professional G-RAID Shuttle 4 | Auckland, NZ

Final Cut Pro / DaVinci Colorist & Editor | "Verified Apple Discussions Archive"

[Clara Wood]

Apple Recommended / Verified Community Solution

This canonical solution was verified and marked as solved in the Apple Support Community archive.

Completely discharging GaN brick capacitors, cleaning pogo pins with 99% IPA, and triggering PMU cold reset.

Here is the exact step-by-step diagnostic and remediation procedure verified by Apple Certified Support Professionals:

1. Unplug power brick from the wall and disconnect MagSafe cable. Wait 2 full minutes for capacitors to discharge.
2. Clean the 5 gold spring-loaded pins with 99% isopropyl alcohol and a lint-free swab.
3. Plug adapter directly to wall, connect MagSafe to Mac, and power on. The LED will illuminate steady amber.

Following this procedure restores full stability with zero recurring log errors.

MacBook Pro 16″ M3 Max (128GB) | SanDisk Professional G-RAID Shuttle 4 | Rome, IT

Apple Certified Support Professional (ACSP) | Final Cut Pro / DaVinci Colorist & Editor

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