MacBook Pro 1.4GHz 2019 model faulty battery or feature?

[alias99]

Battery is DSY

Charge dropped consistently throughout the test. Didn't return higher. Not that I recall anyway.

 

[0906742]

I did some more tests yesterday with mine at different battery charge levels. My battery has 10 charge cycles so practically new but used for couple weeks.


Test 1.
Battery 100% (fully charged 8-9 minutes before test)

1. Battery before running Cinebench

Charge level 100%/5187mAh

Full Charge Capacity 5187mAh


2. Cinebench running few seconds Coconut show

Charge level 100%/5087mAh

Full Charge Capacity 5087mAh


3. Cinenench still running

Charge level 100%/5029mAh

Full Charge Capacity 5029mAh


4. Cinebench nearly finished test, but still running

Charge level 99,7%/4999mAh

Full Charge Capacity 5014mAh


5. Cinebench just few seconds ago finished and coconut first update after that

Charge level 98,8%/5040mAh

Full Charge Capacity 5099mAh


6. 1-2 minutes after Cinebench test ended

Charge level 98,7%/5112mAh

Full Charge Capacity 5186mAh


********************


Test 2.
Battery 80,7% left

1. Battery before running Cinebench

Charge level 80,7%/4185mAh

Full Charge Capacity 5188mAh


2. Cinebench running few seconds Coconut show

Charge level 79,6/4016mAh

Full Charge Capacity 5046mAh


3. Cinenench still running

Charge level 78,3%/3911mAh

Full Charge Capacity 4995mAh


4. Cinebench nearly finished test, but still running

Charge level 77,3%/3861mAh

Full Charge Capacity 4995mAh


5. Cinebench just few seconds ago finished and coconut first update after that

Charge level 77%/3946mAh

Full Charge Capacity 5124mAh


6. 1-2 minutes after Cinebench test ended

Charge level 77,2%/4014mAh

Full Charge Capacity 5199mAh


******************


Test 3.
Battery 60,1%

1. Battery before running Cinebench

Charge level 60,1%/3130mAh

Full Charge Capacity 5207mAh


2. Cinebench running few seconds Coconut show

Charge level 58,3%/2935mAh

Full Charge Capacity 5034 mAh


3. Cinenench still running

Charge level 56,3/2781mAh

Full Charge Capacity 4938mAh


4. Cinebench nearly finished test, but still running

Charge level 55,2%/2725mAh

Full Charge Capacity 4938mAh


5. Cinebench just few seconds ago finished and coconut first update after that

Charge level 56%/2826mAh

Full Charge Capacity 5125mAh


6. 1-2 minutes after Cinebench test ended

Charge level 56,4%/2931mAh

Full Charge Capacity 5195mAh


************************


Test 4.
Battery 32,2%

1. Battery before running Cinebench

Charge level 32,2%/1666mAh

Full Charge Capacity 5175mAh


2. Cinebench running few seconds Coconut show

Charge level 29,2%/1465mAh

Full Charge Capacity 5175mAh


3. Cinenench still running

Charge level 27,1%/1334mAh

Full Charge Capacity 4928mAh


4. Cinebench nearly finished test, but still running

Charge level 25,4%/1235mAh

Full Charge Capacity 4888mAh


5. Cinebench just few seconds ago finished and coconut first update after that

Charge level 27,4%/1393mAh

Full Charge Capacity 5095mAh


6. 1-2 minutes after Cinebench test ended

Charge level 28,7%/1493mAh

Full Charge Capacity 5209mAh


*******************


Test 5.
Battery 24%

1. Battery before running Cinebench

Charge level 24%/1244mAh

Full Charge Capacity 5192mAh


2. Cinebench running few seconds Coconut show

Charge level 18,4%/903mAh

Full Charge Capacity 4907mAh


3. Cinenench still running

Charge level 17,2%/843mAh

Full Charge Capacity 4907mAh


4. Cinebench nearly finished test, but still running

Charge level 15,3%/747mAh

Full Charge Capacity 4872mAh


5. Cinebench just few seconds ago finished and coconut first update after that

Charge level 20,1%/1042mAh

Full Charge Capacity 5185mAh


6. 1-2 minutes after Cinebench test ended

Charge level 20,3%/1058mAh

Full Charge Capacity 5208mAh


As you can see drops increase pretty much when battery charge level is lower.


Based on readings I took starting with 24%battery show initial charge level drop during test from 24%€ to 15.3%!

Even when total drops before and after test was only from 24% to 20,3%.

So almost 10% drops under high load, I guess if battery level before running test would have been around 10-15% it might have shut down during test, but that is just a guess. I rather not let battery go that far down as it will hurt even good battery.


It would be great it other entry MBP 2019 owner could test similar things with their units, so we could see if this is from bad battery or are they all like that at least when they age. Like I mentioned mine is just 10 charge cycles when those readings were taken.

Battery is DSY

Charge dropped consistently throughout the test. Didn't return higher. Not that I recall anyway.

That's what I suspected that they have switched from SMP to DSY. That is something they did very recently because I heard it was still SMP in early second half of year 2019 units but yours is again the latest build I hear.I bet none of the DSY battery unit suffer from this but I would definitely like to hear more test results from all entry MBP owner and mentions about machine build date and battery brand (is it SMP or DSY).

 

[RayLancer]

My MBP13 2019 1.4GHz model has a Simplo battery. I didn't run any tests but I haven't had it shut off on me at the 30-40% mark yet. It says the designed capacity is 5103mAh but my full charge is actually 5188mAh.

 

[0906742]

I suggest you try if it dips under high load to make sure. Mine is also over design capacity when measuring it Idle but dips seriously under load. Load test is best done when battery is not just unplugged after charging.

 

[0906742]

Yes it was a custom build as I wanted 16gb Ram and 512gb SSD. Ordered last week, delivered today.

I have done the test again, battery level 89% in the menu bar but coconut battery was showing 85%. Not sure why they are reporting different numbers.

Start - 5170
Low - 5170
High - 5177
Current after the test - 5174

FYI the first time I ran it, the battery was full hence why it dropped I guess and you asked for it to be lower that 90%.

Could you run another tests and post your readings?
It would be interesting to see if your battery stays that strong.

When you test, make sure you do not do it right after unplugging the charger (even battery charge is under 100% at the moment), rather when machine has been running on battery for a while and charge level is well under 100%, preferably much lower to see how huge dips are on lower charge levels.


Also do you see battery charge cycles accumulating faster than actual 100% battery use (like 1 charge cycle per every about 80% actual battery use? 1 charge cycle is 100% to 0% or 2 x 100% to 50% or any other usage combination that adds up to even 100% (charging does not increase charge cycle count).

 

[alias99]

Start

Charge level - 74.2%
Full Capacity - 5238

Mid

Charge level - 73.2%
Full Capacity - 5229

End

Charge level - 71.2%
Full Capacity - 5230

2min after end

Charge level - 70.7%
Full Capacity - 5245


As for cycles, I am on 2, it came with 1 and I would say that was fair based on my usage so far.

 

[currahee2100]

I wonder if the MacBooks are pulling down more power than the charger can supply. A more meaningful test would be to connect a higher amperage charger and see what happens.

Some laptops do have the capacity to use the battery to supply more power if theadapter isn’t providing enough.

 

[0906742]

Start

Charge level - 74.2%
Full Capacity - 5238

Mid

Charge level - 73.2%
Full Capacity - 5229

End

Charge level - 71.2%
Full Capacity - 5230

2min after end

Charge level - 70.7%
Full Capacity - 5245


As for cycles, I am on 2, it came with 1 and I would say that was fair based on my usage so far.

Definitely looks like your battery works as it should. Full Charge Capacity practically does not dip at all, just as it should be on new battery. Only things that is about in line with mine is total charge level drop between before and after test, but yours does not do deep dip during test as mine does.

I wonder what causes that? Is this something that has been corrected in very recently build machines?

About charge cycles? Are you positive that it takes really 100% of real use until charge cycle increase by 1? In my unit it increases by 1 about every 80% or so real use. I have tracked it few times to make sure it was not just odd coincidence.

So far mine has not experienced unexpected shut downs but I have let it go so low only couple times and even then never gone much under 15-16%, because deep discharge will stress battery. So I cannot say for sure, as I have neither done that testing with latest updates installed.

It would be really great if more peoples could run this test procedure in their Entry MBP 2019, so we could see are these couple battery problem complaints just isolated cases and most are 100% good strong battery machines as yours?

EDIT. Could you also try running this test procedure with battery under 50-60% (or even lower)?

[doublepost=1565093169][/doublepost]

I wonder if the MacBooks are pulling down more power than the charger can supply. A more meaningful test would be to connect a higher amperage charger and see what happens.

Some laptops do have the capacity to use the battery to supply more power if theadapter isn’t providing enough.

No, It is not that, it will regulate current it takes to charge battery in case consumption is higher at the moment.

I actually tested mine while battery was charging and there was NO DIP at all during Cinebench test sequence and I could see how current used for charging was lowered so that charger could provide power for the machine. So definitely this point to battery as suspect.

 

[alias99]

I am as sure as I can be relating to the charge cycle.

I did your test again from 55% battery.

Start capacity 5223
Lowest capacity 5050
End 5220

Battery is lasting as it should, everything is works fine for me. Im going to use it on battery to make sure it doesn't shut down like some other peoples. If mine doesn't shut down, I'll be satisfied my machine is in full working order.

 

[0906742]

I am as sure as I can be relating to the charge cycle.

Just in case you happen to notice quite exact point it changes next time, maybe you could try tracking it more precisely?
Like right after it changes then charge it fully and then use it until say 50% and then change again and this time keep checking charge cycle could when battery is 70, if still not increased check again at 60% and so on. Basically your should get to 50% if it works the way it should. In my unit that way checking it increase using second charge when battery level is around 70% or little below (so total use 80% or so, definitely far from 100%).

I did your test again from 55% battery.

Start capacity 5223
Lowest capacity 5050
End 5220

OK and thanks for testing. This time there was at least some dip but very minor compared to mine.

Battery is lasting as it should, everything is works fine for me. Im going to use it on battery to make sure it doesn't shut down like some other peoples. If mine doesn't shut down, I'll be satisfied my machine is in full working order.

Based on your test results it looks like you got a good one. Obviously these very recently built machine do not have battery issues but I guess it might be wise to check just in case that it let you go a bit under 30% charge level without problems.

About how much use in hours you get with certain battery use, like from 100% to 50%, or like how many percent battery drops per hour?
Of course it is depending on cpu load, but say in light use like browsing web with few tabs open in Safari or similar?

In my unit it is about 12% per hour in light use and display not very bright.

And hey, if it is not too much bother, try running Cinebench once more when you are around the lowest battery level you feel comfortable to take it to. See if dips get deeper and if you see battery charge percentage doing U's (dips during test but goes up after test completed)?

 

[alias99]

Battery so far has been great, I'm on about 5 hours of mixed use include 2 x your tests and I still have 50% left. Ive been using 75-85% brightness.

Ill try and keep track of charge cycles but can't guarantee that. Same with another run on Cinebench.

 

[0906742]

Pretty phenomenal battery in your unit! Those two runs of CB test have consumed battery like 6-7% alone, so under 9% per hour and with very high brightness.

Would be great if you could see trouble of checking two couple things if you have time. Thanks.

You mentioned your unit is custom build. I wonder if that new production standard model machines are available yet? Seems that local shops buy them in truckloads so they have certain build date models huge amounts. Could they some time until they became available for average Joe...
Anyone with non custom build entry MBP 2019 with serial 1st and 4th character are CZ?

 

[alias99]

Pretty phenomenal battery in your unit! Those two runs of CB test have consumed battery like 6-7% alone, so under 9% per hour and with very high brightness.

Would be great if you could see trouble of checking two couple things if you have time. Thanks.

You mentioned your unit is custom build. I wonder if that new production standard model machines are available yet? Seems that local shops buy them in truckloads so they have certain build date models huge amounts. Could they some time until they became available for average Joe...
Anyone with non custom build entry MBP 2019 with serial 1st and 4th character are CZ?

Did one more run for you.

Start

5122
24.2%

Mid

5090
21.7%

End

5241
23.4%

 

[0906742]

Did one more run for you.

Start

Your Mine
5122 5192
24.2%. 24%

Mid

5090 4872
21.7% 15,3%

End

5241 5208
23.4% 20,3%

I put our measured test values taken at identical battery charge before running the test side by side. Result is pretty stunning how big difference. As you can see in my unit battery dips 8,7% in the middle of the test (actually mine taken around end part of the test, but still).

More analyzing results, show that in my unit total battery consumption start - end is still pretty consistently in line with higher battery level test results.
In your unit total consumption figure is not right for some reason, it shows the whole test took only 0,8% of battery. That cannot be right because if we do the math about how many watts Cinebench test takes is roughly 2W (40W consumption per hour during test / 60 minutes x 3 minutes (time it takes to run the test thru) = 2W, Again comparing to 0,8% battery level yours give result 58,2W (battery nominal capacity) / 100 = 0.582W per 1 percent of battery charge. So in your unit took only 0,47W during whole test (0.582W x 0.8=0.47W). If looking at mine, 3.7% percent battery use during test run gives result of 2,15W power consumption, which is close to 2W this test in entry Pro would take. This is depending on screen brightness, because maxing it consumption will be higher, in my unit I ran test with brightness full - 5 clicks and that was just a little shy of 40W total load (39,9x).

 

[ghanwani]

Any idea if this behavior is unique to the 2TB model or if it also affects the 4TB and/or Air?

 

[0906742]

Any idea if this behavior is unique to the 2TB model or if it also affects the 4TB and/or Air?

I haven't seen anyone with 4TB complaining about this. Also all 4TB demo models I have checked myself have had very strong SWD battery which practically do not dip under high load.

 

[0906742]

.

 

[0906742]

I ran yesterday more battery high load tests with my entry MBP 2019.

Procedure the same as before using programs CoconutBattery to monitor battery and Cinebench to create high (full) load on battery.

All values listed below are CoconutBattery readings!

Listed a bit more primitive way but values are in this order:

Battery percentage / battery current charge in mAh / Full Charge Capacity in mAh
(BT=before Cinebench test, DT=during Cinebench test, AT=1-2 minutes after Cinebench test completed


BT 40,9% 2113mAh 5159mAh

DT 40,5% 2085mAh 5152mAh

DT 36,6% 1800mAh 4924mAh

DT 34,9% 1707mAh 4889mAh

DT 33,7% 1648mAh 4889mAh

AT 37,5% 1949mAh 5197mAh


*****************************


BT 37,4% 1949mAh 5207mAh

DT 33,2% 1640mAh 4935mAh

DT 31,5% 1541mAh 4894mAh

DT 30,3% 1483mAh 4894mAh

AT 33,7% 1750mAh 5189mAh


******************************


BT 33,7% 1752mAh 5205mAh

DT 28,8% 1416mAh 4922mAh

DT 27,6% 1358mAh 4922mAh

DT 25,8% 1262mAh 4885mAh

AT 30,1% 1567mAh 5202mAh


*****************************


BT 29.7% 1546mAh 5201mAh

DT 25,2% 1246mAh 4936mAh

DT 23,4% 1145mAh 4895mAh

DT 22,2% 1086mAh 4895mAh

AT 25,4% 1311mAh 5160mAh


*****************************


BT 25,2% 1311mAh 5197mAh

DT 22,1% 1108mAh 5014mAh

DT 19,3% 946mAh 4911mAh

DT 18% 886mAh 4911mAh

AT 21,5% 1120mAh 5201mAh


*****************************


After that few minutes of normal use with browsing web until battery reach 19,5% 1017mAh (Full Charge Capacity 5216mAh).

As it can be seen from measurements, under high load battery does sudden current capacity DIPS in the range of 7-8% very fast, and also drop in Full Charge Capacity is HUGE. This is usually something that is seen with old used batteries and usually it will get worse as it ages. So it is interesting to see what these batteries do in this test after 1 year. Are dips in two digit percentage by then, or will it remain the same?



It would be great if especially those who have unexpected shut down issue with their unit would reports how deep dips their battery does under high load???

Then we would easily see if there is correlation with this issue. I'm pretty that is the case.



Here are detailed instructions how to run this test procedure. It is very easy and Cinenench test only take 3 minutes to run. So including all from program downloads takes only few minutes total.

1. You can download Cinebench from author directly at (just select download directly from Maxon):
https://www.maxon.net/en/products/cinebench-r20-overview/

2. CoconutBattery from here: https://coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/

3. Just download them and then open Coconut and check full charge capacity and current charge (write down values).

4. Then run Cinebench (just select run button in Cinebench) and while it is running bring coconut on top to see how values start to change when benchmark is running (values are updated only about once per minute, so it takes a little while to see what happens). Again note values for full charge capacity and current charge and keep taking readings.

5. After Cinenebench test is completed wait and see how coconut values keep changing after that and write them down. Please post your results.

I'd like to hear results from as many entry MBP 2019 owner as possible so we can see if there is some problem with battery or is this just a feature?

Also would be good if those who test this would check and post their unit serial number 1st, 4th and 5th character. Those will just show manufacturing factory and date. In CoconutBattery you can also check battery brand and manufacturing date (just click "battery info" button), that information can be useful, so please post your battery brand!

 

[ghanwani]

I haven't seen anyone with 4TB complaining about this. Also all 4TB demo models I have checked myself have had very strong SWD battery which practically do not dip under high load.

What is SWD?

How did you check the demo model? The machines in the store don’t allow me to download cinebench.

 

[leoshaun]

Start

Your Mine
5122 5192
24.2%. 24%

Mid

5090 4872
21.7% 15,3%

End

5241 5208
23.4% 20,3%

.

Tested mine around the percent

5122
23%.6

Lowest
5118
19.9%

End
5162
20.5%

 

[0906742]

What is SWD?

I believe it is referring to manufacturer Sunwoda or something like that.

How did you check the demo model? The machines in the store don’t allow me to download cinebench.

All I tested had no restrictions. Of course you have to download it from the website, you cannot use Appstore unless entering Apple ID.
[doublepost=1565275414][/doublepost]

Tested mine around the percent

5122
23%.6

Lowest
5118
19.9%

End
5162
20.5%

Pretty strong. You do not Full Charge Capacity dipping around 4950mAh anymore at any levels?
Also do you see deeper Charge Capacity dips during this test? Reading in CoconutBattery update about once per minute so the first reading it gives during test is not the lowest, it is usually second or third reading when test has been running long enough.

There is slight U-shape Charge Capacity dip in this you posted but nowhere as deep as I see.
I wonder if it has go to do with the fact that you have DSY battery?

It would be great if you could try that also at different charge levels if it stays really that high?

 

[0906742]

Something changed in my unit sometime (days later) after applying the latest big Mojave update released earlier this week. For the first time I have accomplished 2 Cinebench test at different battery levels without FCC drop. However battery life is poor now, so maybe battery gauge is just adjusted in relation to weak battery.
Dropped from 100% to 40% in about 4 hours and 20 minutes use with some Safari browsing and music playback from Youtube and 2 run of CB (that took total about 7% or battery)...

 

[kp98077]

how about, despite all of these numbers and test, what are your real world values, so at the end of the day how much use are you getting? 8 hrs? 9?

 

[0906742]

Poor. As you can see 100 to 40% in 4 hours and 20 minutes adds up to maybe 7 hours by calculating it.
I have gotten at the best 6-7,5 hours until battery from 100 to about 40%-25%..

 

[fatalgamers]

Poor. As you can see 100 to 40% in 4 hours and 20 minutes adds up to maybe 7 hours by calculating it.
I have gotten at the best 6-7,5 hours until battery from 100 to about 40%-25%..

Hello, i don't know if you remember but I had exactly the same problem last year and we talked about it in another post (I had the 2019 model as well) I just bought the 2020 model for the new keyboard and something weird happened, my battery capacity was 5200 mAh, I did few run on Cinebench and FCC didn't drop at all, and I did a test on Geekbench and it seems that I screwed up my battery capacity because now on Cinebench or Geekbench the FCC drop to 4800 mAh and get back to 5030 at the end of test I only have 4 cycle I just bought it 3 days ago