Major MBP Battery Issue

[saxondale.]

I've just started using my battery more and more these days since im moving about (for the last 3 weeks) and i'll continue doing this for the next 6 months (traveling around china). Normally i just had the charger in all the time and have ran it off the battery the odd times back at home and got about 2.30hrs wi-fi on, internet, music, low brightness. Now, i get 1.45hrs with nothing running, low (2nd from the lowest) brightness. No matter what, my MBP shuts itself off with an hour at least left of the battery. Running a pretty new install on leopard 10.5.1, running barely anything in the background (iscrobbler and that's it). It's a Core 2 Duo 2.33GHz 15" MBP. It's out of its standard warranty but i have AppleCare so i'm not sure if that covers it. Will i be able to get this sorted out in China? Does the warranty cover me for problems that occurring in different countries?

Other information:
(currently charging)
Battery Information:

Model Information:
Manufacturer: Sony
Device name: ASMB012
Pack Lot Code: 0003
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 102a
Hardware Revision: 0400
Cell Revision: 0303
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 1495
Fully charged: No
Charging: Yes
Full charge capacity (mAh): 2354 - I was sure it was higher....
Health Information:
Cycle count: 89
Battery health: Fair
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 765
Voltage (mV): 12494

 

[jhsfosho]

My full charge capacity is 5336mAH. This is a battery I bought a month and a half ago. My battery before that was down to 1936 mAH before I replaced it. I wish I would have tried to send it into apple, because it barely had 200 cycles on it and was down to 35% health.

Full health is about 5500mAh for reference. Have you tried fully cycling your battery?

 

[saxondale.]

Do you mean fully draining it and then recharging it? If so, the laptop won't let me drain it, it shuts down with an hour left.

 

[scaredpoet]

Full charge capacity (mAh): 2354 - I was sure it was higher....
Health Information:
Cycle count: 89

I had a similar problem just last week with my MBP actually, and called Apple tech support in the US. Their policy is that you should have at least 80% charge capacity after 300 battery cycles. Yours is clearly below that. If you have AppleCare, they should be able to replace your battery under warranty, as they did mine.

 

[ortuno2k]

Do you mean fully draining it and then recharging it? If so, the laptop won't let me drain it, it shuts down with an hour left.

The same happened to mine after owning the MBP for about 10 months.
I called Apple and they sent me a new one under warranty.

My old battery used to shut down after about 45 minutes of use, while still had over 50% charge left, definitely a defective battery.

If you're still under warranty they should replace it for free.

 

[fsckminix6]

same thing happened to me i have a 6 month old MBP and the battery had something like 50 or 60 cycles on it and the battery health was down to 50%. called apple they replaced under warranty.

 

[AliensAreFuzzy]

My original battery for my MBP had this same problem. It would say it had a large amount of time left, but then would just die. I took it in and AppleCare took care of it. They said it was probably that one or more of the cells in the battery failed, making it seem like they were full to the time left, but when they went to get power from those, there was none, so it shut off.

 

[DaveF]

My MacBook Pro battery dropped overnight from 98% to 63% health (according to iStatPro Widget) after 60 cycles. I called Apple and got a new battery.

Two actually. The first replacement had a small ding. I called back and replaced the replacement with a second replacement.

 

[scienide09]

Similar story here. Poor battery life, **** downs while there was still time remaining on the monitor, etc.

Called Apple, read them a few numbers from System profiler > Hardware > Power, and they sent me a new battery. Covered under both the original one-year and AppleCare, so if you have either, then call them or head to the nearest store.

 

[MacBookJoePro]

I had the same problem twice for my previous MBP. Just call apple care and explain the situation. They will most likely replace it for you.

-JoE

 

[tMac85]

If your computer is more than a year old, they will not replace. no matter how long you have apple care. Same thing goes for if you are over 300 on cycle counts. Since you have a 2.33 you computer is over a year..sorry.

Call apple. the 2.33 GHZ had some bad batterys and all showd signs of shutting off with an hour+ still showing. Many have called but they will not replace.

You can try and push the 'im under 300 cycles" and break them down...somewhat yelling(haha) and pushing the i paid $$$$ much for my computer i want the battery to last more than a year...blah blah, and keep calling.. you will eventually break them down.

good luck

 

[saxondale.]

From the looks of it, i'm going to need to find an Apple Reseller in Shanghai. I live in England but i'm in China for 6 months and probably will end up having to buy a new battery.

 

[hdsalinas]

had same issue

My original battery would last between 30 to 45 minutes and was less than a year old. My MBP would shut down when the battery had about 40% charge remaining.

If you are still covered under warranty get in touch with apple, if not you are looking at a $100 expense.

Mine was covered under warranty and was replace within a week, and I am in Honduras! Great job apple.

 

[saxondale.]

Finally taking my laptop in tomorrow. Going to be taking it to an Authorised Apple Reseller since Shanghai doesn't have a proper shop. They said they'll test out the battery and that my AppleCare should cover it if they find a defect.