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

i have the same problem with only 69 Cycles

Those battery pre-unibody models are a piece of crap! Don't bother with this, just replace it. I'd buy a generic one, from a reliable source of course, because it's important to know if it will not explode or anything. Anyways, another thing that always end up troubleing some people is the DVD drive. I've replaced mine 4 times already. This is ridiculous.

I am too grateful to this forum. I was going to buy an 'alternative supplier' battery and didn't after reading the warnings on here. I was going to pay apple another 101 quid for a new apple battery but didnt. Instead I took the same route as you, reset the SMP and battery condition is back to 'normal' according to the 'about this mac' tab.

The service battery icon has gone and its trickle charging the last 5%. Acid test tonight, no charger and footie through the wi-fi. Thanks to everyone who contributes. AtheR

thi morning when i look battery place its says 'service battery'
I dont know what should I do?
I'm just use my mac 2 years

Hi there, 

Two times now installing the upgrades to Snow Leopard have killed my battery (if you look at my other posts you will see how I came to this concusion {sorry for the spelling I am dislex..})

So this is now what I do/did  Before any system update I do;

a backup

remove the battery and run on the mains

this action saved my 3rd battery.

As for what you can do I am sorry to say not much,  The first time my battery when in my then 4 yearold laptop I lived near an Apple Store and I tock it there.  They looked at it by booting the MBR from a dianostic disk and could see that the battery was under the number of cycles that Apple say the battery can do and thay replased it free.  Perhaps you could try that.  The secound time I did the same thing.  Now I am in Greece and there are no "Apple" stores and so I brought a new battery from an e-bay store and so I am now very cerfel with updates see above.

I hope this helps

thank u thats helpfull

ATTENTION!----------   I too had this issue with my macbook pro 15" running snow leopard . I  have  two batteries one that functions perfectly and another that was having this very issue ( the reason i ended up here looking for an answer).  I tried all applicable suggestions , 3 months, repeated battery installs, sometimes it said under battery health  "check battery" other times "service  battery" but never  "normal" or " good"  so i gave up and

shelved the battery.  one month ago it dawned on me that maybe it was just a matter of oxidation on the metal connecters on the battery ?   so i used a metal dental pick lighty scratched all the connections on the battery , nothing major,   PRESTO !   it has since been in my macbook working perfectly ,   I DO NOT KNOW WHAT RISKS , IF ANY, ARE POSSIBLE , TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK (I did not touch connecters on computer mind you )   funny but it really seemed so obvious afterwards  ,  well i  hope this helps somebody , good luck ! 

ATTENTION!----------   I too had this issue with my macbook pro 15" running snow leopard . I  have  two batteries one that functions perfectly and another that was having this very issue ( the reason i ended up here looking for an answer).  I tried all applicable suggestions , 3 months, repeated battery installs, sometimes it said under battery health  "check battery" other times "service  battery" but never  "normal" or " good"  so i gave up and

shelved the battery.  one month ago it dawned on me that maybe it was just a matter of oxidation on the metal connecters on the battery ?   so i used a metal dental pick lighty scratched all the connections on the battery , nothing major,   PRESTO !   it has since been in my macbook working perfectly ,   I DO NOT KNOW WHAT RISKS , IF ANY, ARE POSSIBLE , TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK (I did not touch connecters on computer mind you )   funny but it really seemed so obvious afterwards  ,  well i  hope this helps somebody , good luck ! 

I used the apple support page here http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964?viewlocale=en_US

And it fixed the battery service warning for me as follows on a macbook pro from about 2007 with OS X:

For Mac portables experiencing issues related to the MagSafe power adapter and/or battery, try:

1. Unplug the MagSafe power adapter from the Mac and the wall power socket for several seconds.
2. Shutdown the Mac. Physically remove the battery, [press the start button], and re-insert the battery and startup the Mac.

That fixed it for me and i now have about 3 hours of battery left. I hope it stays fixed

And now the service battery warning is back.

Maybe I actually DO need a new battery...

Can somebody help me.  Early 2011 macbook pro.  Just updated to 10.8.4 from 10.7.  All of a sudden battery holds no charge.  I tried updating the smc, no luck

holds no charge.

Im on the same boat Im on 10.8.4 early 2011 macbook pro 15"

My macbook pro had a service battery message.  I unplugged it, took the battery out, held the power button down for five seconds, reinserted the battery and plugged it back in and the message cleared.  The battery is charging and working great.

OMG!   Thank you! I have a Macbook Pro from mid-2007 (3.1).  I always thought I had a 2008 by the way as that's when I purchased it from Apple.com.   Anyways,  I was just about to order a new battery from the Apple Store for $129 plus tax, and nearly ordered one today from OWC or USBPhoneWorld.com, ; definitely wasn't chancing one from any eBay vendors.   I decided on USBPhoneWorld and was just about to hit the "send" until I decided to check here first!     I don't know how long that Service Battery message has existed but I know my battery life shows 2:47 mins, but it never lasts that long.   In the System Profiler, under Power, I only have 44 cycles in all these years.   I guess I should let it discharge down more often, but I always have this computer plugged in. 

how do u get to that screen??? i have done it before but can't find it now!