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

Hey guys. I have the AppleCare warranty and have a Genius appointment. I am calibrating my battery right now and took a screenshot of the battery warning indicator as proof if the calibration fixes my problem. I assume that I probably will just receive a new battery. Unfortunate as this will be my third battery and second logicboard (replaced with video card defect). I will tell you guys what difference a new battery makes or the difference a freshly calibrated battery makes. I did have two random shut downs two weeks ago, but no battery warning. Just for kicks here are my battery stats:
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): 4009
Fully charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 4009
Health Information:
Cycle count: 152
Condition: Check Battery
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 148
Voltage (mV): 12605

Same story here, only I started having the problem with 10.5.8 (The auto-update prior to SL?). I popped in a new battery and same problem. The battery gets to between 75-85% and voila the compy shuts off without warning functionally negating the entire purpose of a laptop.

I left windows to get away from crap like this nonsense.

MacBook Pro 2,2 here Running OS 10.4.11. Have a 1 yr old battery with 41 recharge cycles only, giving less than an hour of bat life. It's recently taken a dive from 4,500 mAh to 2,500 mAh full capacity (sometimes reports 1,600mAh!) and now shuts off cold dead with 25 mins bat life left indicated.

Maybe some other apple update is giving issues and it's not just a Snow Leopard issue?

Message was edited by: Martyn Howett

HERE WE GO One MORE Addition to THIS Discussion:

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): 3341
Fully charged: No
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 4013
Health Information:
Cycle count: 236
Condition: Check Battery
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): -1470
Voltage (mV): 11789


Nothing is working, SMC RST, Calibration everything is useless... DO I NEED TO CHANGE MY BATTERY OR my OS?????



HOlllllla..... i dont know whats going on here, see the status now changed to NORMAL???

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): 3625
Fully charged: No
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 4511
Health Information:
Cycle count: 236
Condition: Normal
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): -1552
Voltage (mV): 11705

Message was edited by: RazRut

"
Same story here, only I started having the problem with 10.5.8 (The auto-update prior to SL?). I popped in a new battery and same problem. The battery gets to between 75-85% and voila the compy shuts off without warning functionally negating the entire purpose of a laptop.

I left windows to get away from crap like this nonsense. "

Wow!!! I worry a lot after reading the above. I just bought a new battery. I will be extremely angry if i will put it in my machine and it will be dead like the battery that i have now.
I called the apple service in my country and they told me to bring the computer to check it, but since my computer is not under warranty i will have to pay 55 euros just to have it checked. I am sorry but i will pay 55 euros just to tell me that i need to buy a new battery and then i will pay another 150euros for that???? Are they crazy or what???

I am newbie to Apple Computers, and I have a 15" MacBook Pro (early 2008). I bought it used because I was not sure if i would like an Apple PC. I upgraded to Snow Leopard when it first came out. I noticed that my battery seem to run down faster, but other than that I had no issues. However, suddenly my battery status indicator shows "check battery"!. I took it in to an Apple Genius and he ran a test via an iPod, and it showed that my battery was "BAD". He replaced the battery!

Thank you, Apple! I am sold on you! I love my MacBook Pro and your customer service is fantastic.

Message was edited by: madrich

Message was edited by: madrich

I'm having the same problem. Have a MBP from April 2006 but the battery was replaced within the last year and only has 47 cycles. I'm waiting for the battery to drain all the way right now to see if it re-calibrates and fixes the problem but after reading this thread, I'm not too hopeful. Considering so many people are having a return to better battery life when booting from Leopard, I don't see how Apple can ignore this issue much longer. Hopefully they're already on it...

Here's my battery info, if it helps get them to see there's a problem:

Battery Information:

Model Information:
Manufacturer: Sony
Device name: ASMB012
Pack Lot Code: 0001
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 0110
Hardware Revision: 0500
Cell Revision: 0303
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 749
Fully charged: No
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 2602
Health Information:
Cycle count: 47
Condition: Check Battery
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): -2009
Voltage (mV): 10680

You all can go on thinking whatever you want but it won't change the fact that my new battery works flawlessly under snow leopard.

There is a problem and that problem is hardware (battery) failure.

splatnikG :

then how do you explain the fact that many people report that their battery works fine when they boot in windows and it does not work when they boot in snow leopard? If it were a hardware problem it should not be affected by the operating system in which they boot their macbook...

When I took my battery to the Apple Genius, I did not take my PC with me, The Genius put my battery in a store PC, The battery icon showed "Normal" , although with my home PC it showed "Service Battery". It was not until the Apple Genius ran the battery program check on a iPod that it showed BAD battery.

Good morning,

Everyone in the Discussion experiencing suspected battery health errors with Snow Leopard should go to see the Genius just as MadRich & I did. My battery was reported as needing service, the Genius also ran the test from his iPod nano (I gotta get that tool) to find my battery has failed.

Is it the way SL reports the health?
Is it the way SL manages the charge process?
Is it the newer code in SL discovering all the troubled batteries unreported by 10.5.x?
Is is all of the above?

Wait for 10.6.2? I do not see how the OS is causing this, perhaps its "improved" code is revealing a revenue stream for Apple (so much for being Green with all the retiring batteries needing to be disposed of somewhere.)

I doubt Apple will send anyone a new battery just because they are reporting this issue over the phone, I suggest you find an Apple Store & Genius. I know some people are not exactly close but until you get them to run the utility on the battery, you will not get any satisfaction.

And if your machine is old, you may be SOL. I have AppleCare and I still had to go to the store to get this resolved (twice.) I was told it was my imagination the first day I visited, but I also did not speak to a genius at the bar. I spoke to a floater who was walking around trying to alleviate the excessive wait times (it was a Friday.)

I am not under any predisposed idea these Genius's spend any time after hours reading these comments. They deal with folks like us all day, the last thing I'd want to do after spending all day clarifying what AppleCare does and does not cover, I'd rather go over to Houlihan's for alcohol.

Good luck to all reporting this issue, I found resolution at the Genius Bar. It might be an inaccurate presumption to assume just because your battery is failing or reported as such Apple will not replace it. When can any hardware manufacturer claim to "perfect" battery technology? It is always being improved upon.

Let the flames begin.

Moose

I must have a magic battery. When I shut down two days ago I had 40 minutes remaining with the check battery warning showing. Now I've just booted up and it says I've got over two hours remaining, and hold your breath, no check battery warning. system info says my battery condition has returned to normal:

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): 3089
Fully charged: No
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 5041
Health Information:
Cycle count: 62
Condition: Normal
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): -1532
Voltage (mV): 11504

Just had another quick look, it now says I have 2.5 hours remaining and no check battery status. I guess my battery is only faulty 'sometimes'.

Same problem, showed up just now - the computer was about to go into sleep because of lack of power, and I plugged the AC in. This is when the "Service battery"-message showed up. My stats (in Norwegian, but you know what the lines mean):

Modellinformasjon:
Produsent: SMP
Enhetsnavn: ASMB012
Pack Lot Code: 0002
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmwareversjon: 0110
Maskinvarerevisjon: 0500
Cellerevisjon: 0200
Informasjon om ladenivå:
Gjenværende strøm (mAh): 267
Fulladet: Nei
Lader: Ja
Full ladekapasitet (mAh): 3823
Informasjon om tilstand:
Syklusantall: 218
Tilstand: Kontroller batteriet
Batteri installert: Ja
Ampere (mA): 1587
Volt (mV): 11693

Is it free to see a Genius? Or can I install their battery testing software on my iPhone? I'm getting really irked and would like to escalate this, the nearest Apple store is a good 2 hours from my home.

With so many users reporting the same issue it does seem obvious that it's Snow Leopard causing the problem. Last night I was able to watch Netflix for over an hour with 45 minutes left remaining when I shut down. This is AFTER it told me I only had 40 minutes left a few days before. Somehow by sitting on my couch for a few days the battery became "good" again. I'm guessing it's possible for a defective battery to flip flop from good to bad and back and forth, but jeez, I never had any trouble with my battery at all until I installed SL.

I saw a Genius the other day. The batteries are usually defective beforehand from what I heard. There is no problem with the OS.