when using without power cord (battery only) with battery charged - the computer simply turns off - anything unsaved is lost of course, no warning. seems to be when battery is about half or less but also when more demanding video action (MRI viewing). Any thoughts or solutions appreciated.
Hi, I have exactly the same problem. It only started after I upgraded to Leopard. I will try to see if this persist with another or new battery (mine was heavily used). BR, G.
I don;t know but i have an appointment with mac store "genius" tomorrow. I bet it is a "gets too hot" issue because the battery is fine with regards to charge but the computer simply shuts off instantly.
Just today I was using my laptop on battery and I believe it dropped to about a 60% charge and it just shut down. I plugged the power adapter back in, waited a few minutes and restarted with no problems. This may have been the first time I ran it on battery to that charge level since my Leopard installation, I'm not sure. But it is the first time it just shut down with no warnings.
John
I took my MBP in today in the apple store and they gave me a new battery. I have had this problem for the last couple of weeks. I would recommend taking it into the apple store.
I took it to the apple store, the MBP performed perfectly shutting down spontaneously. the tech said i needed to send it in for possible heat sink replacement or possible mother board. He did suggest a battery change. Either way this seems like a design or Mac problem with thier product - no my use.
Same problem here. Mine does not get to 80% before shut down. No low battery warning nothing. If I try to restart with out it being plugged in to the mains it wont start yet my battery status lights are all lit and when I do boot off the mains the battery shows 80 is % full. I have only 97 charge cycles. My battery is only a couple of digits out on the recall program. Any one had there battery changed when it does not qualify for the replacement program?
I'm having the same problem, I unplug my mbp from the ac and within 2 minutes of browsing it instantly shuts off, screen goes black and I hear a spindown noise. Trying to restart without ac shows the apple logo for a few seconds then shuts down instantly.
My battery is over 90%. The serial number doesn't fall under the recall list as I purchased last december, and of course Im a couple weeks past my 1 year warranty and this problem crops up.
98% of this laptop's use has been while plugged in, so it's not like I've been wearing out my battery.
I've found this issue from various posts throughout this year of many people having the same issue.
Seriously apple, I paid over 2 and a half grand for this laptop and I want it to work like it's supposed to, many people are reporting this same issue, you guys screwed up somewhere so post an update that actually works or do another recall.
I have a first generation Mac Book pro ( June 2006 ), I have repeatedly tried to perform the battery calibration procedure but running off the battery the computer shuts down without warning with approx 55% power remaining. I had a replacement battery under the first recall program so my serial number is not on the list for replacement but I feel approx 40 minutes light usage is unacceptable, this problem has not just started since the latest round of software updates. I am now aware that Apple have extended the guarantee on batteries, is it a case of making an appointment at a Genius Bar at a UK store to ask about a replacement ?
This is a known issue with all Macbooks, it happened to me about 6 months after purchasing mine. Just take it to an Apple store or contact Apple and they will replace the battery free of charge.
Guys, I may have a solution. I had exactly the same problem, with the random shutdowns. I am not sure exactly when things started going bad, I don't know if it was Leopard, the Battery Update 1.3, or just that my battery was starting to cave in. First I noticed that I wouldn't get any low battery warning messages before sleeping. The machine would just sleep randomly. If I didn't plug it in straight away, it would shutdown. This then progressed to random shutdowns. When recharging, it would only get to 97% charged and the indicator would flash between green and orange. Battery life started plummeting, and the random shutdowns started occurring with 30-40% charge still on the battery. The cycle count was only 100 or so, and full charge capacity was down in the 3000mAh range. Like I said, I don't know exactly what did this. My Core Duo was just out of warranty, but these symptoms qualify Core Duo owners for a free replacement battery under the 2 year extended warranty program on batteries (this is separate to the battery recall). If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, just get a replacement battery, it can't hurt and its free.
With the new battery, I noted much improved charge capacity, the machine was back to running over 4 hours. However I still did not get the low battery warning messages before sleeping... I therefore suspect this is a software problem, because they appear to be working on Windows (boot camp). I tried resetting the SMC, but still no "low battery" warning messages.
I then went into the preferences and re-checked the "show battery status in menu bar". Viola, I am now getting the "running on reserve power" warning message again. So this seems to be a software bug? However I think there used to be a warning before "reserve power" which I still don't get.
I have the same issue on my MacBook Pro Core duo running Leopard and just started after one of the security upgrades a couple weeks ago. I think my mac will run on battery for about 10minutes and then shut down immediately with no warning.