Macbook Air 13 Early 2015 battery slow to charge

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Level 1

9 points

Macbook Air 13 Early 2015 battery slow to charge

Recently upgraded the macOS to Mojave. With Version 1, everything worked fine. Since version 2, and now with version 3, my battery has been slow to change, going to 40% only. Did replace the battery in spring of 2018 due to normal life usage. Worked fine after until Mojave v2 upgrade.

Took it to an Apple Store this past weekend. Said battery was good, but could not figure out the problem. Recommended total erase with clean install of Mojave v3. Did that. Now battery is charging slowly. After two days it is at 82%. This is abnormal from before. Even did SCM resets (multiple; even at the Apple Store, with no change).

Plan to get to full charge (whenever that will be), use on battery until complete drain, and recharge. Probably to a couple times to see if that resets the battery.

However, I am interested in anyone experiencing same issue and with a fix.

MacBook Air 13", 10.14

Posted on Feb 4, 2019 2:49 PM

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Answer 1

John Galt

Level 10

156,530 points

Feb 4, 2019 6:33 PM in response to Rainman58

Despite what Apple determined I don't know of any condition that would cause that behavior other than a battery that needs replacement. Sometimes they fail prematurely for reasons that may never be determined. Sometimes they last three times as long as they are supposed to. Both of those extremes are unusual.

Apple has plenty of battery diagnostic tools at their disposal, but just because they couldn't figure it out doesn't mean there isn't a problem. Did you (or they) try a different power adapter?

Is it possible another component is faulty such as the dc-in board? They are not known to fail though. In the end I suspect the only remedy will be another new battery. Since you already did everything reasonable short of that, see if you can persuade Apple into replacing it.

Plan to get to full charge (whenever that will be), use on battery until complete drain, and recharge. Probably to a couple times to see if that resets the battery.

I have never found that to be a useful exercise, and it will just add another cycle to a cycle-limited component. It sounds as though you have nothing to lose though, so if it makes you feel any better go ahead and try it.

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Answer 2

Rainman58 Author

Level 1

9 points

Feb 5, 2019 3:16 PM in response to Ruskes

Thanks for the responses. On the adapters, I use two different ones (both are the same); one at home, one at work. I have the same charging issue with both adapters regardless of where I plug them into. I am using the 45W MagSafe 2 adapter; one came with the computer, one I purchased later.

Here is my charging info:

Charge Information:

Charge Remaining (mAh): 3703

Fully Charged: No

Charging: Yes

Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 6457

Health Information:

Cycle Count: 270

Condition: Normal

Battery Installed: Yes

Amperage (mA): -144

Voltage (mV): 7779

For weeks, I could not get a full charge. It would hold at about 40% at the highest. I did the erase & clean install of Mojave over the weekend. Last night, it got to 100% charged, but it took two full days to get there. Running on battery only now & is down to 61% currently. Seems to be normal discharging rate based on my usage.

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Answer 3

Rainman58 Author

Level 1

9 points

Feb 5, 2019 3:29 PM in response to Rainman58

Ok, did it a second time after leaving the charged plugged in a few seconds. Here are the results. Better on Amperage this time. Don't think I had it plugged in long enough to reset the figures.

Charge Information:

Charge Remaining (mAh): 3665

Fully Charged: No

Charging: Yes

Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 6462

Health Information:

Cycle Count: 270

Condition: Normal

Battery Installed: Yes

Amperage (mA): 1702

Voltage (mV): 7773

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Answer 4

Ruskes

Level 4

1,421 points

Feb 4, 2019 6:48 PM in response to Rainman58

Lets verify what Mojave is telling you about Battery.

Click on Apple Icon (top left)

About this mac >

System Report >

Power >

Charge Information:

Charge Remaining (mAh): 6569

Fully Charged: No

Charging: Yes

Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 6760

Health Information:

Cycle Count: 231

Condition: Normal

Battery Installed: Yes

Amperage (mA): 527

Voltage (mV): 8560

What does yours says ?

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Answer 5

stedman1

Level 10

265,246 points

Feb 5, 2019 3:28 PM in response to Rainman58

The fact that you battery indicates a minus value shows it is not charging. This could indicate that there is an activity maximizing the CPU, and causing the battery to drain faster than it is being charged. Assuming you are using the correct wattage charge block, it may be helpful to use Activity Monitor to determine if there is a runaway process.

How to use Activity Monitor on your Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 6

Rainman58 Author

Level 1

9 points

Feb 5, 2019 3:23 PM in response to Rainman58

After looking at yours, Ruskes, I find my Amperage (-144) much lower than yours (527). Otherwise, our info is pretty much the same.

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Macbook Air 13 Early 2015 battery slow to charge

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