MacBook Pro Battery is performing badly!

[BioCore]

For the past few weeks I have noticed that my macbook pro's battery life has shrunk greatly. I could usually get around 6 hours on it with no wifi or bluetooth on or about 3.5 to 4 hours with wifi. Now I am lucky to get only about 1.5 hours without wifi or anything working.

I have tried updating, re-calibrating the battery last night but nothing. I have also examined the outside of the battery which has no bumps anywhere on the outside. I do not know if this has anything to do with some new updates from Apple that I might have installed, before 10.5.6 that is.

My specs:
MBP 15" Low end from 2007
2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB RAM
128MB VRAM
120GB 5400rpm HDD
Model Identifier: MacBookPro3,1 (not sure if this means it is third generation MBP)

Could any of have had similar problems, and if so what did you do exactly. Thanks for the help.

Also of interest, using istats it says that I have only used 42 cycles on my battery and the health is 29%. The health thing is scaring me, why exactly does it say 29%, and does this low value mean a bad thing?

Additional Info:
I got some info from my System Profiler, the condition says to "Check Battery". I guess that would be the problem. My only problem now is that my warranty expired almost 3 months ago and I never got Applecare for my MBP.

Model Information:
Serial Number: Sony-ASMB012-3701-1a1
Manufacturer: Sony
Device name: ASMB012
Pack Lot Code: 0003
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 102a
Hardware Revision: 0500
Cell Revision: 0303
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 1603
Fully charged: No
Charging: Yes
Full charge capacity (mAh): 1603
Health Information:
Cycle count: 42
Condition: Check battery
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 176
Voltage (mV): 12603

 

[iMacDragon]

Sounds like you might have one of the dud batteries. Does it power off suddenly, without warning? and what are the mAh listings in system profiler?

with that low a cycle count, it sounds like it probably is a dud battery, I had mine from a 2006 MBP replaced free earlier this year for that.

 

[BioCore]

if you are referring to the charge remaining and Full charge capacity they are both currently at 1603. Which is really weird as I recall from reading somewhere that that number should be somewhere like 1550.

You were I assume still under warranty or had Applecare, correct?

 

[iMacDragon]

if you are referring to the charge remaining and Full charge capacity they are both currently at 1603. Which is really weird as I recall from reading somewhere that that number should be somewhere like 1550.

You were I assume still under warranty or had Applecare, correct?

The number should be more like 4500 I think, and no, I had no warranty or applecare on the laptop.

If it powers off suddenly, especially, and combined with the abnormally low charge capacity after such a low cycle count, instead of doing the normal warnings and then going into sleep mode, I think you can probably get a new battery from apple.

Theres an apple KB article on it, somewhere.

 

[BioCore]

Ok well I checked my battery model and SN and they do not match the 2006 models which were recalled. This is probably correct since I bought mine in 2007. Strangely after I turned my computer on the full charge capacity moved up by 6 to 1609 now. Also my Amperage (mA): -1503.

I think the battery is confused at this point. Maybe an SMC reset would be a good try.

With an SMC reset I take out the battery and hold the power button for 5 seconds correct? Is there supposed to be any chime or anything (guessing not since there is not power).

 

[iMacDragon]

Ok well I checked my battery model and SN and they do not match the 2006 models which were recalled. This is probably correct since I bought mine in 2007. Strangely after I turned my computer on the full charge capacity moved up by 6 to 1609 now. Also my Amperage (mA): -1503.

I think the battery is confused at this point. Maybe an SMC reset would be a good try.

With an SMC reset I take out the battery and hold the power button for 5 seconds correct? Is there supposed to be any chime or anything (guessing not since there is not power).

http://www.apple.com/support/macbook_macbookpro/batteryupdate/

theres the article, it affected batteries to april 2007, so you may still be in that bracket.

These weren't the batteries that were in the originall recall, I had one of those too! and the replacement battery that I got from that recall was the one they replaced, yet again!
Though it seems to imply that coverage is only extended for the original core duo's, but its probably still worth phoning up and checking, or going to see a genius.

 

[BioCore]

Alright thanks for the article. By the way the battery does sometimes turn of suddenly but not always, at certain time it might give me a warning at the 25% mark that it is time to save my files and charge the laptop. But then out of no where it will go from 25% to 9% and just turn off unexpectedly - I actually lost my data once like that. Thankfully it wasn't the whole report I was doing and only a bit of it was lost.

 

[iMacDragon]

Definitely give a call, sounds like you do have that issue, and not as if theres anything to loose by it, and possibly a free replacement to be gained.

Just make sure you emphasise the low cycle count, health, and sometimes suddenly powering off unexpectedly.

My battery that failed like this was not part of the original recall, it was a battery that I'd received from having participated in that recall already!

 

[LuvAussies]

This has happened to me twice already. With a cycle count that low and "check battery" in the system profiler, they should swap it out without a problem!

 

[BioCore]

This has happened to me twice already. With a cycle count that low and "check battery" in the system profiler, they should swap it out without a problem!

I see, and what is the best method. Call them or go in-store. I want to get it fast and not have to wait really since my next semester at school is starting very soon. Also if I go in store, do I need to book a genius appointment?

 

[LuvAussies]

If you can, schedule a Genius Bar appointment and go to the store. It's a bad battery for sure. Mine was only 6 months old when it started lasting only about 45 minutes! My cycle count was like 38!

 

[hitzhusen]

MacBook Pro Battery Issues

I was a little suspicious of my battery when I would charge it completely play on it for five minutes and it would drop 5%. I know that at 95% it's basically a guess but when it wants me to charge it for 45 minutes to get it back to where it was 5 minutes ago that's when it's gone too far. Last night I tested it with the 9400 graphics card on a movie with brightness at 1/3 keyboard brightness off and volume at 1/3. It turned off after 2 hours and 40 minutes. Is this normal? I tried it with a different battery and it didn't do much better. Is it te computer?

 

[devraj]

Ditto issue on my MacBook Pro

Hello all,

I have the same issue with my MacBook Pro. I have had the machine for 6 months and its a Generation 4,1 machine. One thing that springs to mind is that all this started happening after the 10.5.6 update.

I have checked to see if the SMC etc is up-to-date. I have even reset the SMC according to the instructions on the Apple web site.

I first discovered this when the computer's battery started absolutely draining out in sleep mode.

Since I have also had my battery replaced by the local Apple store and it still doesn't seem to have resolve the issue.

Any hints would be nice or I guess I can take the machine back since its still under warranty.