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

I posted last night, I also reset the SMC and sofar every thing seems to be working OK again.

I'd promised to post a follow-up on this thread a while back, so here it is.

Short Version: I probably had a problem with my logic board, which Apple replaced gratis.

Long Version: The Apple Store dude offered to send it in for repairs for $300, and I accepted, pending a final backup. In the time it took me to get my backup squared away at home, I'd kept the MBP on a completely level surface whenever working on it, and used it mostly as a crude WiFi modem for other devices. Once I brought it into the Apple Store to send it away for repairs, I could not reproduce the symptom. The Apple Store took my MBP anyway, couldn't find anything wrong with it, and gave it back, gratis. That day, I was able to reproduce the symptom when the MBP had been warmed up (streaming Hulu, for example). I brought it back to the Apple Store (for the third time!) and was able to reproduce the problem once the computer was warmed up. They took it in for repairs, and gave it back about a week later, again, gratis. I haven't been able to reproduce any battery problems, since.

Hi all,

New poster with the same problem: battery life cut in half since installing SL (under 45 minutes); low cycle count 112; shut downs without warning at about 25%.

I went to the genius bar today and was told that it was my fault for leaving the laptop plugged in. I have a constructive idea: a proper power management system be able to allow a laptop to be plugged in without damaging the battery. I was told that I would have to buy a new battery, but this explanation doesn't account for why the same battery could give me twice as much use before upgrading, so I am hesitant to do that.

I had an interesting experience with an earlier version of this post: it was removed by apple for being 'non-constructive' and 'non-technical'. This suggests to me that at least someone at Apple reads these posts. Has there been an official response somewhere in the thread that I missed? I would be disappointed if Apple is aware of the problem and has not addressed it.

Same story: Dramatic and sudden decrease in battery life from over 80% to about 20% (with actual realistic life of about 10 mins) after installing Snow Leopard. All this with a 2008 Macbook Pro that was about 15 months old and had gone through 130 battery cycles.

After an unsuccesful visit to the Apple Store, I wrote them a couple of letters and insisted that the battery just wasn't up to it (regardless of whether this had anything to do with SL). In the end they agreed to replace the battery at their expense, even though it was more than one year after I bought the computer.

Let's face it - it would be too much of a coincidence for this issue not to be linked to SL. My sense is they're keen to keep the SL issue quiet. I guess it doesn't really matter in the end - just insist that the battery is faulty and you should get there.

I am getting the "service battery" warning, even after SMC restart.

Cycle count on the battery is 173, it is an early 2008 model.

Even with these warnings though, I am getting no real change in battery life. I'm wondering how many people are experiencing these battery problems after doing an upgrade, versus a clean install of Snow Leopard? I did a clean install on a new hard drive.

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): 3770
Fully charged: No
Charging: Yes
Full charge capacity (mAh): 3770
Health Information:
Cycle count: 212
Condition: Check Battery
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 213
Voltage (mV): 12615

Went to my local authorized service provider (university bookstore) who checked using their utility which indicated "BAD" -- They said the battery is not covered under AppleCare after 1 yr so I'd have to get a new one.

WRONG! Called AppleCare (after reading this thread), and after they took the number of cycles, capacity, and health numbers, plugged them in to their calculator and said it's covered since it's considered "defective," not "depleted."

I highly recommend calling AppleCare if you're still under their service.

Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 4187
Fully charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 4187
Health Information:
Cycle count: 164
Condition: Check Battery

I second giving AppleCare a call, if you have that option. I just called today and I've got a free replacement battery on the way. I have to return the defective one, and shipping is paid both ways. Just for reference, my battery had 76 cycles and is about 1.2 years old.

Hello everyone:

I finally made an appointment at my local Genius Bar in the Apple Store. My battery was tested and replaced for free by Apple--even out of warranty (for a different reason).

I made an appointment and added additional comments that I'm having battery related issues as identified on the user forums after my upgrade to Snow Leopard.

Identified all the symptoms and what not, so they ran their battery test and my battery came back "good". Even though I let him know that in another hour it might not be.

They seemed pretty aware that Snow Leopard does do something different in the way it interacts with the battery.

I did let them know that I had to push the outer battery cover down, as it was "separating" from the main battery a while ago.

Either way, they pulled my old battery out and placed a new battery next to it so they could compare, and even to "my surprise" my battery appeared to have "enlarged" itself.

The tech said this is the "expanding battery" problem, and is a safety issue. They had "0" problems popping in a new battery for me.

I should say that I did manage to speak to the store manager, and probably 3 of the employees there as I waited my turn at the genius bar.

It probably also helped that I had my OS X T-Shirt on today

Here is the new battery information. My old battery stats are out here on the forums as well in my earlier posts.

Bottom Line - From what I can see, it is up to the store and their "discretion" as to whether or not they replace the battery--safety issues notwithstanding.

I'll post again after its had a good two days in the charger without interruption.

For now, here are the stats from the "new" battery:

Battery Information:

Model Information:
Manufacturer: DP
Device name: ASMB016
Pack Lot Code: 0003
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 0110
Hardware Revision: 0500
Cell Revision: 0102
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 5473
Fully charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 5473
Health Information:
Cycle count: 1
Condition: Normal
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 111
Voltage (mV): 12622

Run SMC reset got rid of the service warning for me. On my machine just press the pozer on for % seconds until q long beep occurs. Like everybdy else this ovvurred after I installed Snow Leopard.

Chaps and chapesses, I've had the "service battery" appear, maybe a couple of days ago, after removing and then replaceing my battery, and tried all the things very kindly listed in the previous pages, but being a maintenance engineer, i thought i'd try and use a bit of know how.

It'd had a new battery 4 months ago and i figured something else was wrong as mine gets cycled like mad.
I grabbed a bit of 2000 grit sandpaper from the garage and after folding it a few times, cleaned up the terminals on my battery and in the base of the macbook pro.

On rebooting, the warning has gone away.
It may be luck, it may have cured it, but i'll keep you informed if it does anything untoward!!

AWESOME! Accidentally disconnected the battery on my laptop and it died after 5 minutes, turn it back on and the battery is at 93%, so the battery is continue to deteriorate, from 60% to 93%, looks like I can't use the laptop without it being plugged in.

Worst part is that this is my second battery. I sure hope that the new laptop's don't suffer this issue, I have one of those too, I don't want to have to think about the downtime necessary to have that battery replaced.

well, it came up with the warning again. then it went away. then it told me that the battery needed replacing, then get it serviced then...you get the idea.
I looked at the terminals and gave the gold parts on the laptop a LIGHT tweak to one side to see if they'll connect a bit better. and it went away....
Again..will keep you posted...

here's my update. Sometimes I get a warning, sometimes I don't. My battery health goes from 83%, which seems reasonable for a year old battery with 65 cycles or so, to below 50%. I've had one random shutdown now.
Apple still won't answer the phone and tell me if this behaviour is indicative of a bad battery, but like everyone else, my battery worked fine until I updated to Snow Leopard. I'm not holding my breath for a fix, they won't talk to anyone without Applecare, most of us are too far away from the Apple store, they've got deniers on here telling us to buy batteries, and I don't think they'll get tired of selling new batteries.
I'm waiting a good long time before any future "upgrades". Lesson learned. This update kills batteries, wish I'd known.

I had the same problem and went to the apple store in Dedham,MA. They ran a program from usb drive and told me that I need to buy new battery as my current one is used up. I did not buy it at that time. Then when I bought Belkin N wireless router and tried to connect my macbook to it I found that it was not able to. This seemed to be case with Belkin routers post Snow Leopard!! So I was forced to downgrade to 'regular' leopard and it worked. Both of my issues were resolved. I mean it no longer shows replace soon messages and connects wirelessly to internet.