I was attempting to replace the CR2032 battery on my Mac Pro 5,1 2012 a few weeks ago and broke the clip holder. I tried to solder it back but I wasn't able to get it to make good contact with the battery so I decided to try to use the computer without it instead. As expected, the time/date is not retained on a cold boot but the clock is automatically set through my internet connection when the OS boots so it doesn't appear to be a problem.
I noticed that the computer starts automatically if connected to a power cord now. It is actually a happy accident since I can use a Wifi connected smartplug to start the computer remotely instead of having to always press the power button. I haven't noticed any instability issues running the computer without battery so far and I've been using it for my regular work for several weeks. It appears that if you have a stable LAN connection the battery is not really needed anymore.
I thought I'd report the finding in case anyone wants to to start their computer remotely over the internet or have their computer located in a machine room far away from their keyboard or similar. It's really simple to achieve by just removing the battery.
I noticed that the computer starts automatically if connected to a power cord now. It is actually a happy accident since I can use a Wifi connected smartplug to start the computer remotely instead of having to always press the power button. I haven't noticed any instability issues running the computer without battery so far and I've been using it for my regular work for several weeks. It appears that if you have a stable LAN connection the battery is not really needed anymore.
I thought I'd report the finding in case anyone wants to to start their computer remotely over the internet or have their computer located in a machine room far away from their keyboard or similar. It's really simple to achieve by just removing the battery.
