Resolved Mid-2011 (MBA4,2) replacement battery issue

[effgee]

Update: No change after SMC-reset... battery lasted down to just under 20% and then the dreaded no-warning-shutdown.

I'm too old to waste my time with crap products like this, so I've already initiated the return with AMZ and just got done ordering a NewerTech battery via B&H. The defective AMZ one was $55 and a proper NewerTech one is $79 @ B&H

Moral of the story: If you come across this thread in the future, save yourself the aggravation – the couple of $$$ "savings" is definitely not worth the hassle.

ORIGINAL POST BELOW-----------------------------------------------
Hive-Mind,

Our trusty Mid-2011 family-MacBook Air (A1369) recently needed its battery replaced. Somewhat naively it would appear, I watched a couple of how-to videos, checked out ratings for 3rd-party replacements on Amazon, and told myself: "This seems fairly easy. I can do this.". A few days later the battery arrives, I make the swap without issues, follow iFixIt's battery calibration guide, and all was well.

Or so I thought... Turns out that ever since I swapped the battery, and whenever the battery is low the MBA simply shuts off – no warning, nothing, zilch.

This was the first time I replaced batteries on any portable, and I assume – hope, really – that this is not expected behavior. Is it because of the battery I purchased? Is there some critical part of the process I may have forgotten/done wrong?

Any help, tips or pointers you guys can provide would be most appreciated!

 

[AJB1971]

Have you tried resetting the SMC?

Reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support

The SMC manages power and hardware behavior on your Mac. This troubleshooting article explains when you should reset it, what issues it can fix, and how to perform an SMC reset depending on your Mac model (Apple Silicon, Intel with T2 chip, or older Macs)

support.apple.com

SOLVED: MacBook shuts down randomly with still battery charge left - MacBook Pro 15" Retina Display Mid 2012

First you should get an app that can help you see the battery condition. Here's a free one: CoconutBattery. As to why your system is shutting down while it has still lots of power is often a messed up SMC. What happens it the SMC holds a high and low watermark (the batteries charge) so it can...

www.ifixit.com

 

[chrfr]

Hive-Mind,

Our trusty Mid-2011 family-MacBook Air (A1369) recently needed its battery replaced. Somewhat naively it would appear, I watched a couple of how-to videos, checked out ratings for 3rd-party replacements on Amazon, and told myself: "This seems fairly easy. I can do this.". A few days later the battery arrives, I make the swap without issues, follow iFixIt's battery calibration guide, and all was well.

Or so I thought... Turns out that ever since I swapped the battery, and whenever the battery is low the MBA simply shuts off – no warning, nothing, zilch.

This was the first time I replaced batteries on any portable, and I assume – hope, really – that this is not expected behavior. Is it because of the battery I purchased? Is there some critical part of the process I may have forgotten/done wrong?

Any help, tips or pointers you guys can provide would be most appreciated!

There are a lot of low quality 3rd party batteries sold for Macs. Chances are good that the one you bought was defective.

 

[4sallypat]

There are a lot of low quality 3rd party batteries sold for Macs. Chances are good that the one you bought was defective.

Yes, I have seen this a lot!

I got a huge bunch of 2012 MBA recently and have started to replace out the batteries.

Many cheap unknown Chinese origin batteries from Amazon or eBay have proven poorly over time.
These cheap imitations will seem like they work initially, but later they fail with cells that don't hold the full charge due to poor QC.

Now I buy only genuine factory batteries or the best aftermarket brand: NewerTech (NuPower) cells that have proven themselves over a period of a year - they are are the best - retains power evenly from 100% down to 0.
NewerTech/Nupower 55Wh highly recommend:

 

[effgee]

Have you tried resetting the SMC?

Done – thanks for the tip! Currently slowly draining the battery from its previous charge and then recharging to see what's what.

There are a lot of low quality 3rd party batteries sold for Macs. Chances are good that the one you bought was defective.

Yes, I have seen this a lot! ...Now I buy only genuine factory batteries or the best aftermarket brand: NewerTech (NuPower) ...

Yeah, I'm kicking myself a bit now that I didn't check in here before pulling the trigger on that AMZ-battery. Maybe I'll be lucky and I did come across the one seller that actually sells decent stuff instead of a steaming pile of 💩. If not, I can always get on AMZ's case for a refund and go with a NewerTech instead.

 

[effgee]

Update: No change after SMC-reset... battery lasted down to just under 20% and then the dreaded no-warning-shutdown.

I'm too old to waste my time with crap products like this, so I've already initiated the return with AMZ and just got done ordering a NewerTech battery via B&H. The defective AMZ one was $55 and a proper NewerTech one is $79 @ B&H

Moral of the story: If you come across this thread in the future, save yourself the aggravation – the couple of $$$ "savings" is definitely not worth the hassle.

Thanks for the help, everybody – loads appreciated!! 🙂