battery status icon meaning (?)

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Level 1

56 points

battery status icon meaning (?)

this seems like a dumb question, but i can't for the life of me find any apple document that explains what the battery status icons mean.

there's one with a lightning bolt and one that looks like a power plug.

i'm assuming that lightning bolt = charging and power plug means it's running off the adapter and the battery is fully charged?

i'm on a new macbook pro now, but the reason i ask is that in my old powerbook it was giving me both readings even while charging, so i'm confused...

probably due to faulty power adapter, which i've gone through like 4 of them....(due to them shorting out because they always seem to be on the wrong side of the computer from where i need to plug it in, and therefore causing connection problems due to the bend in the cord).

can anyone confirm what the icons mean?

PeanutButter 15" 1.67 GHz, macbook pro 15" 2.8 GHz, 2nd generation click-wheel iPod 10 GB, Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Posted on Mar 5, 2010 1:50 PM

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Answer 1

Rod Hagen

Level 7

32,000 points

Mar 5, 2010 2:20 PM in response to 666dorado

666dorado wrote:
there's one with a lightning bolt and one that looks like a power plug.

i'm assuming that lightning bolt = charging and power plug means it's running off the adapter and the battery is fully charged?

That's exactly right, 666.

Cheers

Rod

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Answer 2

eww

Level 9

53,028 points

Mar 5, 2010 2:22 PM in response to 666dorado

i'm assuming that lightning bolt = charging and power plug means it's running off the adapter and the battery is fully charged?

You're correct. Also, when the lightning bolt shows, the light on your adapter plug is orange. When the plug icon shows, the light is green. So you can check on your battery's charge status by looking at either the icon or the light.

in my old powerbook it was giving me both readings even while charging, so i'm confused...

No wonder. There was a hardware problem of some kind behind that oddball behavior.

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Answer 3

Rod Hagen

Level 7

32,000 points

Mar 5, 2010 2:29 PM in response to Rod Hagen

Another little feature of the current MBPs that may not have been present (in other words, I can't remember whether the lights on the battery on the PBs did the same thing 😉 ) on your old PB involves the behaviour of the battery status lights accessed by pressing the little button on the left hand side of your computer towards the front. These lights not only indicate the the charge level, and whether the battery is charging or not, but also play a diagnostic role, helping to identify bad batteries etc..

see http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3205 for details.

Cheers

Rod

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Answer 4

666dorado Author

Level 1

56 points

Mar 5, 2010 2:37 PM in response to Rod Hagen

thanks.

the reason i'm asking now is that i have a separate issue that doesn't seem to be a problem yet. my current magsafe adapter's green light seems to go out when it's fully charged, if i wiggle it, it comes back on. but in any case, it charges normally and the battery icons function as they are theoretically supposed.

i live overseas and have converted many of my friends to mac's in the last few years, but everyone seems to have the same problem with these chargers, that the plugs short out near where they connect to the computer, this is due to apple putting the power plug on the side of the machine. many times you have to plug it into a wall on the opposite side, and it bends the cord, and after time it starts to fail.

i don't think it's happened yet to this charger, but i wanted to make sure...i swear that i saw the "plug" icon in my battery status with my old powerbook as it was charging, and the lights didn't correspond to what they were supposed to be.

anyway, thanks!

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Answer 5

666dorado Author

Level 1

56 points

Mar 5, 2010 2:50 PM in response to Rod Hagen

@ Rod:

"...battery status lights accessed by pressing the little button on the left hand side of your computer towards the front."

wow, thanks. i didn't even know i had that button. i have one of these silly plastic computer covers to protect the machine from getting scratched, but i see that the case even accounts for the button...

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Answer 6

Rod Hagen

Level 7

32,000 points

Mar 5, 2010 3:05 PM in response to 666dorado

Sounds as if you are pretty hard on power adaptor leads, 666! 😉

Perhaps you should consider putting some tape around the junction area when you first get it to strengthen it and transfer the natural flex point a little further along the cord? I must say that while I did see this happen on one of the "barrel connector" adaptor connectors on one of our iBooks we haven't seen any sign of it on any of our magsafes, a couple of which are now over three years old.

You might want to check that your problem is not simply with the pins in the adaptor sticking a little. See http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1713

Cheers

Rod

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Answer 7

666dorado Author

Level 1

56 points

Mar 5, 2010 4:33 PM in response to Rod Hagen

rod,

well, i've gone thru 5 barrel connectors dating back to an old ibook and then with my powerbook. my friends here have gone thru 2 barrel and 1 with a mag safe. we get them repaired locally (i'm overseas, and replacements are super expensive).

i'm not saying it will happen to my magsafe, but the green light is flickering. i'll do some research on that, it seems i'm not alone in that, but i'm on a 5 kb/sec satellite connection, so web surfing is a pain.

so far, it's charging as it should be as far as i know, that was the reason for the original post, i was wondering if my battery status icon (and system profiler) were telling me accurate information.

so far, nothing's wrong, but the plug is in the same spot as before, and it seems no matter where i go, i have to plug it in on the right side of me. there's usually no stress on the cable if i'm at a desk, but there is if it's in my lap.

thanks.

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