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My early-2008 MBP says "Service Battery" - what does this imply?

O

oxfordguy

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 27, 2008
503
4
Oxford, England
Hi - I've recently noticed (since installing Lion, but it may have been an issue before) that when I click on the battery icon in the menu bar is says "Service Battery" and when I click on the message to get an explanation its says:

"The battery isn’t functioning normally, and you may or may not notice a change in its behavior or the amount of charge it holds. Take your computer in for service. You can continue to use your battery before it’s checked without harming your computer."

I still seem to be getting around 2.5 hours of battery life, though, which I think is fairly normal for this model of MBP. Can a battery actually be "serviced" or if a fault is detected is the only option to replace it? A new Apple OEM battery would be about £100, though, so hope I don't have to do this! Has anyone else had this error message? Thanks

There is Mac reseller in Oxford, where I live, which said they would have a look at it, so I guess I should at least take it in.
 
I had the same issue with my 2008 MBP and brought it into the Apple store and they said that the battery needs to be replaced.
 
I had the same thing happen to me.
Indeed, the battery needs replacement and it is not covered by Applecare if you have it.

As the message says, you can continue to use the computer with the battery without damaging anything. That is what I did until I got a new message that said Change Battery.

Every battery has a life cycle and your is near it's end...as simple as that !
 
titatom said:
I had the same thing happen to me.
Indeed, the battery needs replacement and it is not covered by Applecare if you have it.

As the message says, you can continue to use the computer with the battery without damaging anything. That is what I did until I got a new message that said Change Battery.

Every battery has a life cycle and your is near it's end...as simple as that !
Click to expand...

Okay, thanks for the replies, looks like I'll have to get a new battery. I'll probably get a genuine Apple one, has have had issues in the past with third-party battery replacements for non-Apple laptops.

----------
oxfordguy said:
Okay, thanks for the replies, looks like I'll have to get a new battery. I'll probably get a genuine Apple one, has have had issues in the past with third-party battery replacements for non-Apple laptops.
Click to expand...

BTW the battery has had 277 cycles, is this about the normal lifespan?
 
I've had the same thing happen to me, but the battery actually affected my trackpad (negatively) because it was bulging so much. As long as you're still under warranty, just bring it into an Apple store and they'll replace it. I was told by the Apple genius there to also unplug my adaptor from time to time and let my battery run out because she thought that premature failure (and massive bulging) was a result of being plugged in all the time.
 
I jus had the same issue, except my battery just stopped working and wouldn't power my MBP anymore. I just received my new battery, how long until the new battery will begin to power up my MBP?
 
hkim1983 said:
I was told by the Apple genius there to also unplug my adaptor from time to time and let my battery run out because she thought that premature failure (and massive bulging) was a result of being plugged in all the time.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I did the thing of unplugging the MBP and leaving it to to drain every month or so, as heard you need to keep things in the battery "moving" otherwise it wears out more quickly.

Actually the battery is the least of my worries now, my Macbook Pro won't even turn on at the moment (nothing to do with the battery BTW) :(
 
I got the 'service battery' message as soon as I installed Lion; 'upgrading' back to SL, a PRAM reset and a few charge/discharge cycles later, I no longer got the message. I even purchased a replacement battery (which I haven't yet used).

Coincidence with Lion, I think not.:mad:
 
The battery could be covered by Apple Care. I didn't pay a dime to have mine replaced. It was under 300 cycles, but not by much. I didn't have the service battery icon but noticed my battery was dying in about 1.5 hours. It was also bulging like someone else described. I don't think it was affecting the track pad but after popping off the door on the bottom it would never sit flush again (because of the battery buldging).

So if you have apple care, call them and describe the situation. They had me remove the battery and run just with the cord plugged in, received a new battery two days later.
 
bigcat318 said:
The battery could be covered by Apple Care. I didn't pay a dime to have mine replaced. It was under 300 cycles, but not by much. I didn't have the service battery icon but noticed my battery was dying in about 1.5 hours. It was also bulging like someone else described. I don't think it was affecting the track pad but after popping off the door on the bottom it would never sit flush again (because of the battery buldging).

So if you have apple care, call them and describe the situation. They had me remove the battery and run just with the cord plugged in, received a new battery two days later.
Click to expand...

My extend (3 years) Apple Care expired April 2011, unfortunately...
 
bigcat318 said:
The battery could be covered by Apple Care. I didn't pay a dime to have mine replaced. It was under 300 cycles, but not by much. I didn't have the service battery icon but noticed my battery was dying in about 1.5 hours. It was also bulging like someone else described. I don't think it was affecting the track pad but after popping off the door on the bottom it would never sit flush again (because of the battery buldging).

So if you have apple care, call them and describe the situation. They had me remove the battery and run just with the cord plugged in, received a new battery two days later.
Click to expand...

I had Apple Care on my 2008 MBP and brought it into the Apple Store. They ran tests and said it was bad. They said that Apple Care doesn't cover batteries beyond the initial one year warranty, but they offered to sell me a new OEM one for less than the retail package.
 
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