Replace Battery Now?

[StockDC2]

Hello, so I purchased a 2012 Macbook Pro 15 that I thought needed a new battery (and it still might) but upon closer inspection, it shows that the max charge capacity is 7000+ and that it has only 16 cycles. The OS says that the battery needs to be replaced and when plugged in, the battery will not charge.

I've tried doing various resets (SMC) to no availability. I even reinstalled the OS.

Could there be a problem with the battery itself which is preventing it from charging?

Thanks.

 

[keysofanxiety]

Definitely battery if you're getting that warning in the OS. Your initial instincts were right.

I understand the concern about the raw battery data, but there's practically no way a 5 year old laptop could only have 16 battery cycles, so it must be getting misread or the battery is outputting faulty data.

Well whatever the reason, the OS saying replace the battery is confirmation enough.

 

[Sanpete]

there's practically no way a 5 year old laptop could only have 16 battery cycles

My battery has 4 cycles. I think it had 3 in December. If you leave it plugged in, the cycle count doesn't advance. That wouldn't explain the report of 7000 mAH charging capacity, though.

I think Coconut Battery will report the age of the battery. Might be worth checking before it's tossed, as it's possible it was recently replaced and that there's some other issue.

 

[keysofanxiety]

My battery has 4 cycles. I think it had 3 in December. If you leave it plugged in, the cycle count doesn't advance. That wouldn't explain the report of 7000 mAH charging capacity, though.

Very true, it's possible that with 5 years of use with almost permanently being on charge, you might get those number of cycles. But that would mean the computer is charging over a 5 year period and almost never using the battery, which is a long time for a laptop. And it would be awfully unusual to be getting a replace battery warning with practically no battery usage.

Granted, battery technology is pretty intermittent after a while. Lithium can happily fail when left untouched, from time alone. So it is possible. But something about this doesn't quite add up and the more I think about it, the more it seems to point to a sickly battery.

 

[Sanpete]

But something about this doesn't quite add up and the more I think about it, the more it seems to point to a sickly battery.

Yeah, that remains the most likely thing.

 

[ZapNZs]

When held at surge charge for an extended period, lithium batteries can go through substantial wear even if not being discharged (that doesn't mean it is the case here, tho, as it seems unlikely.) If stored for an extended period at an extremely low voltage, this can, in some cases with certain devices, ruin the battery, and, in other cases, put it into a deep "sleep," that will not charge even when plugged in. If in this sleep, some designs can be "woken" where as others cannot. Some devices, upon detecting something that it deems to be potentially dangerous (such as an overcharge or early signs of possible thermal runaway), can disable the battery's function (I'm not sure if Apple has a feature like this that works this way or not?)

Are you near an Apple store where they can perform a test on the battery? - (and run the full diagnostics, to check for another potential cause?) Have you checked the battery for physical deformation, corrosion, or an issue with the leads?