Q: MacBook Pro Battery 'Service Battery' after Snow Upgrade

Battery Information:

Model Information:
Manufacturer: SMP
Device name: ASMB014
Pack Lot Code: 0002
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 102a
Hardware Revision: 0500
Cell Revision: 0102
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 2870
Fully charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 2920
Health Information:
Cycle count: 26
Condition: Check Battery
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 0
Voltage (mV): 12515

Message was edited by: Vaughn84

Someone said something about Batteryupdate.bundle not being present. So I did a quick search and came across this article:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1359

Checking /System/Library/SystemConfiguration I find that I do not have a Batteryupdate.bundle present. Does anyone else? My question, then, is should we download any Battery Updates from here?

http://support.apple.com/downloads/#Battery%20update

If so, which one(s)? There's a 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4. Or all of them? Or none of them? The first article
I reference above appears to have been written/posted pre-Snow Leopard, which makes me weary of downloading any. If the answer was that simple, wouldn't a Genius or Apple Telephonic Customer Support point us in this direction?

i just installed snow leopard and it says i need to replace my battery! whats up with that?

I have the exact same problem.
Couple of days I installed SL and since then I get the service battery line. I checked with coconut and the quality was 64%. Now it is between 74 and 70. This morning I left the MBP open, and it went to sleep mode, around 1 hour capacity left. around 45 minutes later I went back to work on it and I could not awake it it. i connected the charger and then I saw I it was at 0 minutes. pretty annoying. I did a reset in the weekend, after updating to 10.6.1 and I think, I dont have to make any things to reset I guess ....

I've just been on the telephone to Apple Technical Support and the issue is not being acknowledged at all.

The fact that my MBP shuts down after around 20 minutes without warning suggests that there is an issue. I'd accept it if I received the warning message that said I was low on battery power before it shut down, but I don't.

It's as though my Mac doesn't even know that it's going to shut down, as far as it is concerned there is sufficient power in my battery and it has nothing to be concerned about.

At 260 cycles I would expect that I would have reduced capacity to some degree, around 80% capacity I would say which coincidentally is about the same capacity where my MBP has started shutting down.

So, with Apple I have reset the SMC and the PRAM. The next option is to try to boot from my install disk and leave it without power and see if it shuts down after 20 minutes. Or, revert to Leopard and see what happens with Leopard.

Well, that will have to be tonight as I don't have either with me at work.

I'd appreciate any feedback from anybody else's similar experiences with these types of test.

I'm experiencing exactly the same problems..
System shuts down (point blank) around 30%, no low power warning.
Had the "service battery" warning, but that went away with calibration.
Still it shuts down abruptly... 98 cycles on this battery... come on...
Running very hot around the power cord area when charging... My G4 used to be like that since it was new, but on the MBP this is new...

Battery Information:

Model Information:
Manufacturer: Sony
Device name: ASMB012
Pack Lot Code: 0000
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 0110
Hardware Revision: 0500
Cell Revision: 0303
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 4193
Fully charged: No
Charging: Yes
Full charge capacity (mAh): 4567
Health Information:
Cycle count: 98
Condition: Normal
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 183
Voltage (mV): 12608

Message was edited by: RiBAH

Hi everyone,

I have a late 2006 Macbook 2Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo. I upgraded Leopard to Snow Leopard and had the same problem everyone here has had with the battery. I tried many things to resolve the problem but to no avail.

I just 'downgraded' Snow Leopard to Leopard and the battery is working fine again. I will wait until Apple release an online update before I revert back to Snow Leopard. Maybe this is the appropriate course of action for everyone in my position? I was becoming very concerned that the Macbook was overheating and would become damaged as a result of running Snow Leopard.

Cheeers.

Is everybody reporting this to Apple? They seemed blissfully unaware when I called!

Yes. I spoke with a Apple Care support person about this and even referenced this thread.

My Macbook Pro has the same issue. iStatpro told me 54% health earlier today, and the battery service was shown. Now its up to 74% health. But just tried unplugging the power and now it says 82% health and the battery service has gone away. One day experience. Tomorrow, or later today, it will tell me that the battery needs service again.

No problem under leopard. Health was up to 94% and only 107 cycles.
It is a macbook pro 3.1 and the battery was swapped by apple 8 months ago.

Message was edited by: Hygom

Same issue, MBP purchased last July 2008, flawless performance under Leopard, regularly running Eclipse, multiple browsers, and multiple VirtualBox VMs under battery for over three hours four times a week. Upgraded to SL, and, in addition to abysmal Spotlight and VirtualBox performance, the battery tells me it requires service and will not run for more than 1.5 hours under only the OS load with no additional applications running. I deactivated Spotlight entirely, which has made the computer usable again. Battery issues persist.

Just adding one more machine to the list...hasn't seemed to affect my battery life, but I just noticed the "Service Battery" warning.

Hey HyruleBoy-
How did you do your "downgrade" to Leopard?

Never had to downgrade an OS before so want to do it right

thanks

OK, I have a MBP 3,1. The 20 month old original battery is telling me its in "Poor" condition, at 560 cycles, full charge capacity 2234 mAh out of orignal 5000. I also just rec'd boxed SL from Apple, but am not going to upgrade given what I read on this forum. I may even return the SL for my $30 (less shipping) and apply it toward a replacement battery. Hopefully this issue will be a) acknowledged by APPL and b) fixed in a near dot release.

i experienced the pluggin-unplugging thing even while my mbp early 2008 was equipped with Leopard, and it just keeps doing the same with SL.
i didn't notice a difference in battery performance, and the "service neede" went away since i booted in 64 bit mode...

no idea..i already had my battery replaced during the first year..with apple care..mah...!