2012 MacBook Pro loses power while plugged in running Parallels!

[TSE]

I am running the latest Mojave with my 2012 MacBook Pro, and Coconut Battery detects my battery is at 90% health, so how do I prevent running CPU-intense programs within Parallels from draining my battery even when I'm plugged in?

Thanks!

 

[Ruskes]

What is the size (Power) of your Charger ?
Look up how much are you consuming.

 

[TSE]

What is the size (Power) of your Charger ?
Look up how much are you consuming.

I use the full-size one for the 15" MacBook Pro. How do I find how much I consume?

 

[BuCkDoG]

I just think your computer is tired and doesn't want to hold any more charge. Its the computer secretly telling you that it wants to just go away and be upgraded.

 

[Painter2002]

I use the full-size one for the 15" MacBook Pro. How do I find how much I consume?

Is it the original charger that came with the MacBook Pro? You might want to look at it and make sure it is the right wattage charger. It should be an 85 watt charger, and only use genuine Apple chargers, not an off brand.

Also, you don’t say how much your battery is draining while plugged in. How much percentage do you lose on the battery after running Parallels for x time? It’s not unheard of to lose 1-5% percent while plugged in and running very intensive tasks, my work Lenovo does it too.

If you are using the right charger, there are three issues I can think of:

1). You may try a different plug outlet, could be a bad plug outlet not providing enough power
2). Your charger has gone bad and needs replacement (power surge or age caused it to fail).
3). There may be an issue with the power control module on the logic board.

 

[TSE]

Is it the original charger that came with the MacBook Pro? You might want to look at it and make sure it is the right wattage charger. It should be an 85 watt charger, and only use genuine Apple chargers, not an off brand.

Also, you don’t say how much your battery is draining while plugged in. How much percentage do you lose on the battery after running Parallels for x time? It’s not unheard of to lose 1-5% percent while plugged in and running very intensive tasks, my work Lenovo does it too.

If you are using the right charger, there are three issues I can think of:

1). You may try a different plug outlet, could be a bad plug outlet not providing enough power
2). Your charger has gone bad and needs replacement (power surge or age caused it to fail).
3). There may be an issue with the power control module on the logic board.

It loses it at a much higher-than-normal rate. Like... 5-10% every half-hour to an hour. What's weird is when I'm running parallels and it's plugged in, the computer says it's charging, but the light on the adapter is green.

Also, outside of this very particular circumstance, my computer is perfectly fine and no problems with charging or the battery.

This is where it gets weird - because it's honestly the original, Apple 85W power adapter.

I've tried different plug outlets - that was my first thought too.

I really hope it's not the logic board!
[doublepost=1549555525][/doublepost]

I just think your computer is tired and doesn't want to hold any more charge. Its the computer secretly telling you that it wants to just go away and be upgraded.

Never!

 

[Painter2002]

It loses it at a much higher-than-normal rate. Like... 5-10% every half-hour to an hour. What's weird is when I'm running parallels and it's plugged in, the computer says it's charging, but the light on the adapter is green.

Also, outside of this very particular circumstance, my computer is perfectly fine and no problems with charging or the battery.

This is where it gets weird - because it's honestly the original, Apple 85W power adapter.

I've tried different plug outlets - that was my first thought too.

I really hope it's not the logic board!
[doublepost=1549555525][/doublepost]

Never!

Yeah that does sound like a high rate of power drain.

Have you ran Parellels on this computer in the past without issue? And if so, are you doing anything else different than normal (more VMs than usual perhaps)?

You might try doing an SMC and NVRAM reset and see if that fixes the issue. It could be the SMC or NVRAM has a glitch and just needs to be reset. If that doesn’t solve the issue my next solution would be to buy a new charger. Chargers are expensive but it can’t hurt to try that.

If all else fails, take it to Apple to have them run diagnostics and see if there is an issue they can diagnose that could be causing the power drain.