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

So after having my first battery replaced because of the "Service Battery" error message about 4-6 months ago on my MBP 15" (2007), I'm getting that error message once again. *** is going on here, and why hasn't Apple provide real support for this mess? Here's the information on my power (see below), and the condition says "Check Battery" so this must not be good. My computer is out of warranty now, so do I have to foot the $129 bill to have my battery replaced with a new one? EVEN THOUGH this is a known issue that Apple should be addressing?!?

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): 1931
Fully charged: No
Charging: Yes
Full charge capacity (mAh): 3650
Health Information:
Cycle count: 124
Condition: Check Battery
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 1496
Voltage (mV): 12492

System Power Settings:

AC Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 180
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 20
Automatic Restart On Power Loss: No
Wake On AC Change: No
Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes
Wake On LAN: No
Current Power Source: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
Battery Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 60
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 15
Wake On AC Change: No
Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
Reduce Brightness: Yes

Hardware Configuration:

UPS Installed: No

AC Charger Information:

Connected: Yes
ID: 0x0100
Wattage (W): 85
Revision: 0x0000
Family: 0x00ba
Serial Number: 0x00410a7f
Charging: Yes

dustrho wrote:
So after having my first battery replaced because of the "Service Battery" error message about 4-6 months ago on my MBP 15" (2007), I'm getting that error message once again. *** is going on here, and why hasn't Apple provide real support for this mess? Here's the information on my power (see below), and the condition says "Check Battery" so this must not be good. My computer is out of warranty now, so do I have to foot the $129 bill to have my battery replaced with a new one?

Have you asked them, dustrho?

In your case your battery clearly appears to be defective and as it is only a few months old, and has few cycles on the clock, even though your computer itself is out of warranty , there is a good chance they will do the right thing by you. Contact your AASP or whoever you obtained the replacement battery from.

Cheers

Rod

Exactly the same here!

I'm taking mine to the genius at the local Apple Store. As far as I know they should replace it, again, because it's a: less than a year old and b: only had 55 cycles and Apple should replace any defective battery with less than 300 cycles on the clock.

Either these batteries are defective or something in Snow Leopard is killing them.

so... 722 replies. anything definitive yet? i ask because my wife's macbook just got the warning and died. one minute it's at 95%, the next it's at zero and dies. also, the indicator on the bottom - the green LEDs - shows no capacity. cycle count is 122.

It would be interesting if people from this thread were able to schedule appointments at the same Apple Store for approximately the same time. It would be interesting to see if every Apple Genius was handling SL related battery issues at the same time.

I contacted Apple phone support, and after discussing this with them I may no longer be an Apple customer/fan. I am absolutely outraged by the entire experience, that I may no longer buy anything from Apple ever again.

In a nutshell, I was informed that since I already had a defective battery replaced on my 2007 MBP, that I would have to pay for a replacement at retail cost ($129). I tried explaining to three different people (last one was someone in Customer Relations) that this was the second defective battery I had experienced, and even though the 2nd person deemed this latest battery being "defective due to it having less than 300 used cycles" they will not provide me with a new replacement battery free of charge. I don't care if my laptop is out of warranty, if I have a DEFECTIVE PART then the supplier (i.e. Apple) should replace it for FREE.

The thought of me buying some other branded laptop sickens me, but after the ordeal I experienced this morning I just don't know how I could possibly continue enjoying my MBP.

Apple is not the supplier, that would be Sony. I am sure Apple is in talks with Sony about this.

Hi,

Same problem here, with MacBook Pro MB134. Warranty expired and I live in Ukraine where we don't have Apple Stores or Apple branches. So I'm just preying the problem will be resolved via usual Software Update system!

My technical details:

Battery Information:

Model Information:
Manufacturer: SMP
Device name: ASMB012
Pack Lot Code: 0002
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 0110
Hardware Revision: 0500
Cell Revision: 0200
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 3534
Fully charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 3607
Health Information:
Cycle count: 222
Condition: Check Battery
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 0
Voltage (mV): 12467

System Power Settings:

AC Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 0
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 0
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Automatic Restart On Power Loss: No
Wake On AC Change: No
Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes
Wake On LAN: No
Current Power Source: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
Battery Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 0
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 0
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 15
Wake On AC Change: No
Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
Reduce Brightness: Yes

AC Charger Information:

Connected: Yes
ID: 0x0100
Wattage (W): 60
Revision: 0x0000
Family: 0x00ba
Serial Number: 0x00bXXXXX
Charging: No

MBP 2006 I've bought 2 battries, the second one was only 14 months old and 44 cycles the outfit "We Love Macs" would not even give me a replacement at a discount, so I will never buy from them again and I think everyone should do the same. I've had the new battery for about 2 months now and have been able to get 2-3 hours with no power connection and no "Service Battery" has come up yet. I've been an Apple user from the old 128K Mac. but I also may never go back to Apple if this isen't resolved soon and replace my second battery since it went bad after SL was installed.

I am not sure I understand why Apple would need to speak to Sony. Surely Apple is responsible for ensuring that the software/firmware/OS they produce is compatible with the hardware they install in their machines?

Everyone's batteries seemed to work fine under Leopard, but die a death when SL is installed. This is Apple's problem not Sony's. I suggest Apple fixes it.

Keep posting your complaints people!

stop...if i'll buy second battery, it will have the same problem?

stop...if i'll buy second battery, it will have the same problem?

yes.

Apple! Please! Fix this issue! :'(

lapwolf wrote:

stop...if i'll buy second battery, it will have the same problem?

yes.

Some of us have gone as far as buying second and third batteries. I stopped after the third. $450 on spare batteries that in a matter of weeks dwindle in usefulness is unacceptable.

Now, with 3 batteries, I get between 20-30 minutes per battery. Then if I'm not near an AD outlet, I'm screwed.

I'm not a happy camper. Last night I wanted to work on a Word document on the balcony. I got less than 60 minutes **TOTAL** of use from all three batteries, and they were all fully charged.

This has to be one of the most frustrating issues I've ever had to wrestle with in all the years I've used Macs. I'm **SURE** Apple is working on this issue and will release a fix (who knows, Snow Leopard may be hosing the on board chip on the battery?). I'm not sure how Apple will address all the money we've spent on batteries (so far).

Don

Don,

Again what you perceive is full is actually not. As the battery degrades or fails the battery able to with hold the power goes down. Am I to assume these batteries are also around the same age?

Again, I have had a bad battery in 10.5 and in 10.6 and both times replaced and fixed the issue. 10.5 does not display the bad battery as it does in 10.6 but the same error is in system profiler.