MBP shuts down when there is still plenty of battery left

[Alliekat9]

My Macbook Pro keeps shutting down before I reach zero percent battery and often when the battery still has 25% left. I am wondering if this is a software issue that may be fixed or if there is something incompatible with my hardware. I am running 10.6.4 with a 2.16 GHz Intel Core Duo, 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory bought in April of 2007. My mac was originally running Tiger, but a few months ago I updated to Snow Leopard. Could this be causing my problem? Please help, it will be very much appreciated!

 

[GGJstudios]

It's likely that you need to calibrate your battery, to make your reading more accurate. This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions: Apple Notebook Battery FAQ

 

[anim8or]

I had the exact same issue with the same generation MBP when i had it.... unfortunately its not a software issue, its the battery.

I think this was common with these batteries, not enough to cause mass panic or outrage but enough that when i took mine in to be assessed/repaired they had seen it before.

Basically one of the cells in your battery is faulty and therefor shows as charged but doesn't actually hold a charge, once it hits that cell when using the battery it goes dramatically from a high percentage to a low/zero percent.

I personally had 2 cells at fault and would drop from 40% charge to zero.

Before i am asked as well, I tried calibrating the batter numerous times before eventually taking it to apple, and this did not show up straight away it happened almost a year after i had the MBP.

I would suggest taking it into a genius or calling applecare.

 

[harry20larry]

I had the same problem, got to around 45% and the computer went dead. Clicked the battery icon in the menu bar and it said 'service battery'.
Luckily I was still under extended warranty so they bought me a £100 new battery for free!

 

[Alliekat9]

Clicked the battery icon in the menu bar and it said 'service battery'.
Luckily I was still under extended warranty so they bought me a £100 new battery for free!

Looks like mine is the same, though unfortunately I think mine is just passed the warranty since I had it replaced around a year ago

 

[vipergts2207]

You could see if resetting the SMC solves the problem. Good luck.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964?viewlocale=en_US