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17" Unibody MacBook Pro Battery Failure

YahonMaizosz

YahonMaizosz

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 28, 2007
233
101
Today, I noticed something went terribly wrong with my Unibody MacBook Pro.

Before, my battery had a charge of 13,000. It had been like this for 3 months. Then today, its total charge went down to a mere 6800. I checked system profiler and it says "Check Battery".

What should I do now? What is causing its strange behavior?? Please help me..

Before:
Picture1.png


After:
Picture1-1.png
 
Try calibrating the battery.

If that doesn't reset it, then try resetting the SMC.

and, what does Coconut Battery say now?
 
gr8tfly said:
Try calibrating the battery.

If that doesn't reset it, then try resetting the SMC.

and, what does Coconut Battery say now?
Click to expand...

The same as System Profiler... By calibrating the battery, you mean completely draining it and then completely recharging it again right?
 
gr8tfly said:
I guess I meant does it only run for half the time or are you just concerned because of the data change?
Click to expand...

Now it charges twice as fast and depletes twice as fast.. This happened very recently, like 40 minutes ago... Before that, it was still normal...

Also, in system profiler, it says "Check Battery"... This is very concerning..
 
Yea, I would still give the calibration a try. There are two main cells in the battery. Perhaps one of them has gone a bit "stupid" - that's what calibration is for.
 
gr8tfly said:
Yea, I would still give the calibration a try. There are two main cells in the battery. Perhaps one of them has gone a bit "stupid" - that's what calibration is for.
Click to expand...

I am currently charging it back to 100%.. It is weird.. Usually it takes more than 2 hours to charge from 30% to 100%.. Now, it is a mere 1:02 hours... What the heck...
 
YahonMaizosz said:
I am currently charging it back to 100%.. It is weird.. Usually it takes more than 2 hours to charge from 30% to 100%.. Now, it is a mere 1:02 hours... What the heck...
Click to expand...

So, that's step #2 - leave it plugged in for 2 hours. Then, unplug and let it run down and auto-sleep. Don't plug it in again for at least 5 hours. (all from the procedure). That's all assuming you don't need the machine... (not knowing which timezone you're in)
 
I had the exact same problem where full charge capacity would drop to about 1/2 of what it should be. Went to my local Apple Store. The mentioned there was a small batch that had this very issue and they simply swapped the battery on the spot. Since then, it has been solid. I am at 99% health after many charge cycles.
 
arrash said:
I had the exact same problem where full charge capacity would drop to about 1/2 of what it should be. Went to my local Apple Store. The mentioned there was a small batch that had this very issue and they simply swapped the battery on the spot. Since then, it has been solid. I am at 99% health after many charge cycles.
Click to expand...

How are you going to replace the supposedly "Non-replaceable" battery in the 17" Unibody MacBook Pro?
 
My battery went bad just last week, after 11 months of usage (system profiler also said 'Check Battery'). It was still under the 1 year warranty, so I got it replaced at the local Apple store relatively hassle-free. Since you've only had the thing for 2 months, I suggest you just make an appointment to see one of their Genius monkeys. They have a test that they run off an ipod to check for defective batteries.

Calibrating your battery every few months is a good idea for long-term battery care, but I seriously doubt it's going to fix your current problem.
 
The battery is not technically "user-replaceable" but that doesn't mean it can't be replaced. Simply removing the bottom cover reveals the battery and almost every other component in the system. The non-removable aspect of it simply means you can't swap batteries on the fly like you could with most other laptops. The Apple Store will do the swap for you since it is covered under Apple Care.
 
Alright, if by tomorrow this problem still persists, I will bring it to the nearest Apple store on Friday..

I bought this on eBay and it is Brand New with every thing still sealed.. I also checked online for its warranty by inputting the serial number and it turns out to be valid till 2010.. This mean I can still bring it to the Apple Store and get it repaired right?
 
YahonMaizosz said:
How are you going to replace the supposedly "Non-replaceable" battery in the 17" Unibody MacBook Pro?
Click to expand...

It's actually not as non-replaceable as Apple make it out to be... as far as I know it's just a normal battery inside the computer once you open up the bottom... it just has a sticker over it saying that the warranty is void if it is removed by the user.

It will still be under the original Apple warranty, so take it back to Apple and they will replace it for free. Otherwise, once out of warranty, there is a fee for it ($129 or something I think? I'm pretty sure it costs the same as a battery for the old non-unibody Macbook Pro that was user replaceable.)
 
Moriarty said:
It's actually not as non-replaceable as Apple make it out to be... as far as I know it's just a normal battery inside the computer once you open up the bottom... it just has a sticker over it saying that the warranty is void if it is removed by the user.

It will still be under the original Apple warranty, so take it back to Apple and they will replace it for free. Otherwise, once out of warranty, there is a fee for it ($129 or something I think? I'm pretty sure it costs the same as a battery for the old non-unibody Macbook Pro that was user replaceable.)
Click to expand...

I won't do it myself.. I will leave that kind of stuffs to the supposedly "Genius" at Apple Store..
 
Moriarty said:
It's actually not as non-replaceable as Apple make it out to be... as far as I know it's just a normal battery inside the computer once you open up the bottom... it just has a sticker over it saying that the warranty is void if it is removed by the user.
Click to expand...

The "sticker" is actually reusable. It's not so much for warranty, as for "user protection", since the drive and memory are user serviceable. They don't want the user to be playing with the battery.
 
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