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

This is really strange. A couple of days ago, I started having this same problem with my original MacBook Pro, on a battery that had only been through 66 cycles. Previously, iStat Pro had shown battery health to be about 90%, and I was getting about 3 hours per charge. Suddenly, when I clicked on the battery icon, the service battery message was there, the time remaining was less than 2 hours, and iStat Pro showed battery health of about 50%. I tried all the fixes in the KB article, and it didn't seem to help. In fact, I was running the MBP on battery power just now, and originally the service battery indication was still on. However, I noticed that the charge was going down more slowly than it had been before. A couple of minutes ago, I just checked the battery status again, and all was normal. No service battery indication, the time remaining was almost 3 hours (with 85% charge), and iStat Pro indicated a battery health of 90% again.

A couple of notes. I have had SL in this computer since it first came out. Second, I had another battery that also gave me the service battery indication a month or so ago, and I switched it out for this battery, both obtained at about the same time (about 2.5 years ago).

These are the readings taken in intervals of god knows how much time. Just every now and then with the MagSafe unplugged I will check max mAh of the battery.

4382mAh
4382mAh ~Microsoft Messenger caught using 100% CPU. Termination of app frees approx. 3 hours.
4382mAh
4382mAh
4451mAh
4451mAh
4451mAh
4451mAh
4471mAh
4471mAh
4457mAh
Plug cord in for 3 seconds and unplugged cord. Doing so somehow stimulated the battery's time estimation to 3 hours.
4403mAh?
Plugged and unplugged cord 20 times.
4404mAh?
4404mAh
4404mAh…
4404mAh!
4452mAh!!
4492mAh
4492mAh!!
Do not forget my friends that my battery has only had 253 cycles!
4430mAh?
The current mAh remaining is 1106 Activities that have been persistent during this examination include iTunes constant playing, iChat, Textedit, Skype, Address Book, Mail, Software update, and the System Profiler every now and then and also not to forget I have been browsing the internet on Safari. iStat at start told me I had 79% health, then quarter way through 80%, then 82% and as of now it has settled to 81%…
4430mAh w/ 733mAh left. plugging in the MagSafe power adaptor now..

One thing I noticed once was that even though it was the last set of numbers recorded into the memory bank of the computer the maximum battery status did fluctuate. However I am now beginning to wonder whether its a matter of firmware or not as the OS may or may not be able to recognise and remember the numbers of the battery. It is exactly the same with a plane that once crashed. They had installed a fuel gauge that belonged to a bigger plain (The new macs with bigger batteries) into an old plain (a mac with an older battery i.e. the MacBook and MacBook pro computers of early 08 and all intel models before that). What happened was the gauge could only recognise a certain amount being more than what it was in the smaller plain because in the bigger plain it obviously was double the length and width but not necessarily height. But in the smaller one the height obviously being the same the width and length of the storage compartment for the fuel was obviously a lot smaller. Hence why the meter was basically doubling the capacity. Being computers that do not operate the same it may be a different fault but I think it could possibly be similar. This could actually be a fault in recognition. There is no way no Apple can ignore the issue with a theory such as that and also there is no way that they can ignore the numbers I have recorded.

yesterday i saw that message about battery disappeared and max mAh got back to ~4700б but today all of these problems returns...what it means?

Sadly enough it is quite spontaneous. The problem occurs out of the blue at times you would not expect.. I do not know what the go is with this... Surely it is some miscommunication between the Operating System, Motherboard, particular Chipsets, or the Battery.. Or it is trying to communicate with an older version of the SMC which would make sense considering the new computers have new motherboards. This new Operating System prides itself in being finely tuned. I would assume that by finely tuned it is tailored to fit the newest Macintosh computers. Are they ditching the old intel computers for the newest ones on the shelf? Shame on Apple if that is the case.

These posts are getting to be pretty funny imo. 10.6 and 10.5 are very closely related so stop even trying to convey that there is an issue with the 10.6 OS. The issue stems from the new OS making the user more aware of issues. The reason why your perception is skewed is that the 10.6 runs on a true 64 platform. While this is great it makes the battery performance suffer greatly as we noted probably way back on page 15. Anyways the issue, or a way they can resolve it is to allow users to go back to 32 if they wish OR do an SMC update that regulates the battery performance better. Not sure what you can expect from that. The next option is for the new battery technology to improve. It has been noted and tested as previously posted by myself that once the battery hits 80% there is a huge decline in performance over a new battery.

Will a new battery fix the issue? Yes no doubt. Is that fair for the consumer? Probably not but Apple has no control over the battery. This is and relies with Sony the battery manufacture and its technology. For those that threaten a law suit, not much I can say, but sure call Apple. Again what you guys provide is frustration but no core foundation of 10.6 issues other then battery statistics. Could we see another battery extension program from apple? Who knows?

It appears the Apple spokesman is back. He conveniently ignores those that have bought new batteries that continue to experience the this same issue, but that must be an anomaly (they must have received bad replacements, probably their fault too).

He is correct that it is laughable, just for the wrong reasons. It IS laughable to blame Sony for battery life being reduced to half after this OS upgrade. It IS laughable to blame Sony for random shutdowns when battery life is reportedly well above 50%. It IS laughable how Apple has chosen to be completely silent on what is obviously a big problem for the worldwide customer base.

When a Windows laptop becomes a more reliable platform than a Macbook you have to wonder what the powers at Apple are thinking...

You did manage to neglect the shut down vs hibernation bug. If the computer went into hibernation I would agree with you, that its probably a battery related issue, since the computer doesn't go into hibernation and instead shuts down, I tend to believe its a software related issue.

IMHO Snow Leopard introduced new features intended to monitor battery life, probably specifically aimed at the new unibody laptops and their internal batteries. They probably didn't take into account how that new monitoring system would work with older computers and as a result, in some discrepancy between the Sony Battery and the 64bit system, and some fluctuation in the battery's performance signals a shut down.

As I've previously stated, my battery doesn't go from 80% - 0%, it goes from 80% to shut down. The battery remains at 80% when the computer is restarted. If, when I restart the machine, it shows 0% I would be inclined to agree with you, as that is the typical performance I've had with faulty batteries (I've experienced at least 2-3 faulty batteries with various Apple Laptops). This is a new behavior, and I am not going to pay for an additional battery, until its proven without a shadow of a doubt that Snow Leopard isn't at fault. 77 Cycles seems a little low for Battery Failure.

Apple spokesman? I think not, no relationship at all. If a new battery fails to fix the issue the MLB needs to be replaced as the SMC module is placed on the board itself. You like to point fingers but at least point them in the right direction and help those that have the issue. Telling people to revert back to an older OS will not help that at all. 10.6 is far superior to that of 10.5 and that they should stay at 10.6. If I remember correctly moving from 10.4 to 10.5 we had a similar issue as well, just not as noticeable because the battery technology is not what it is now. Its ok, I can understand your frustration because the lack of knowledge and research of the hardware you use. Its normal to hate on something you do not understand. Again the OS reads the information from the SMC which receives its data from the battery. The OS has no control over what the battery does other then going to sleep or shutdown.

that bug you mention was in 10.5 because I had it probably a year ago, and Apple gave me a new battery. This was prior to there battery test software they came out with for the genius'.

I am not sure what you refer to 64 and new uni body frames? The uni body and previous body MLB are pretty close as far was chip "standards". Those chips were always able to handle 64 but the OS did not. 10.6 now makes that standard so the chip and MLB do not really care. What does make a difference is speed throughput and memory allotment. The more memory you use and the more speed the more power you use. Something has to give and that is the battery.

My battery would go from 60% to off no shutdown or hibernate. I had another that went from 94% to off as well. All on 10.5! Its more then cycle count. Have you taken your battery in for testing?

If nothing else rkovelman, you are a piece of work. I have no frustration with this issue as I have an unbiased, complete understanding that this is an Apple issue, though YOUR frustration is apparent.

Anyone choosing to upgrade a Macbook to 10.6 with this issue still unresolved deserves what they get, they have been warned. If easily downgrading to 10.5 is an option, it is HIGHLY encouraged, unless battery life and reliability are unimportant to you.

At best there is a serious OS disconnect with the information it interprets from the SMC, but that is up to Apple to resolve. All we can do is make them aware of the issue.

Its an Apple issue, Yes. From a technical aspect, it is not a 10.6 issue. Telling people to downgrade will work as the OS is not running in 64 mode and uses less power. You telling people to downgrade in fact might temporary fix the issue but the long term solve is 10.6. 10.6 as far as speed, reliability regardless of battery issue, and over all Unix integration is well beyond that of 10.5. Networking improvements are far superior as well.

I do suggest people call apple, as that is the only way to make them aware. It is stated when you sign up that these forums are not regulated by Apple nor does Apple support them. If you have a battery issue take it to the Genius bar and have your battery checked. Apple will have a record of all cases as they are entered and can come to a resolution on this so called issue. I can say a new battery will fix the issue as I have had all these issues people have posted about even with 10.5 and I have encountered them in 10.6. Again no reason you would want to not run in a non 64 environment.

I have not taken my battery in for testing, neither am I inclined to. The original battery I had died in less then a year, I have applecare, they refused to replace it, claimed it was normal wear.

Based on my experience with Apple, I doubt taking it in will do little more then result in them telling me to buy a new battery. Even if they do replace it I have no confidence it will fix the problem. This is not the first time I've dealt with faulty performance problems with my laptop. The SuperDrive died, I had it replaced. There was a graphics card issue, that was actually a software bug and not a hardware one, but they replaced the logic board anyways, problem still persisted until they updated the OS.

Also, I am having performance issues with Snow Leopard on my Unibody MBP, all which lead me to believe its a software issue. If I am wrong, I will fully admit it, but Apple's practice of absolute silence on everything leads to such speculation. If they released an official announcement documented the issue and what is needed to resolve it, then speculation wouldn't occur.

I find it hard to believe that Battery failure on the scale that this appears to be, is simple battery failure.

look, mr. "I don't work for apple but I'll defend them til' my dying breath", if we were all just users with bad batteries things would be a lot easier to figure out. If my battery with only 60 cycles on it was bad, why would the health FLUCTUATE? None of the deniers have touched that subject. If the battery has really somehow dropped from 86% health to 40% health OVERNIGHT then it seems logical it would STAY there. It wouldn't magically jump BACK to 86% and function normally (3.5 hours) with NO SERVICE BATTERY WARNING. The warning comes and goes. The performance comes and goes. The health comes and goes. This doesn't sound like a bad battery to me. It sounds like a battery that stops charging because faulty firmware/software is reporting that the battery is fully charged. It sounds like incorrect reporting and power management. Lots of us are well under 100 cycles. These batteries are supposed to make it to 300 cycles. Oh, and the FACT that none of us (except for you) had any battery life problems before the Snow Leopard update, let's just ignore that...

It fluctuates because its a bad battery, its that simple. Believe me the amount of laptops Apple sells this is a small number. I am in no way stating Apple is not to blame, as I just said it 2 posts prior. What I am stating is the reason why it is occurring and how to resolve it like adults and professionally. You ignoring that 10.5 also had these issues makes you ignorant. Do some searching there was an issue. While your at it, visit some Dell forums and IBM forums and you will find battery issues there. And guess what? Its the same battery manufacture and same battery type. Go figure...

Fair enough. If my experience with Snow Leopard was as stellar as yours I would be inclined to believe you, but since my experience with Snow Leopard has been, well, less then satisfying (I should point out, I seriously considered Windows 7 as an option) I choose not to believe you.

I've read too many posts of people upgrading to Snow Leopard followed by battery failure to believe its solely a coincidence, and as an adult, that is my prerogative.