Battery not charging after macOS Catalina Update

I wish people would stop commenting on this thread that just have unrelated charging problems. Also you shouldn't have to take your Macbook apart to make it work again. It cost you likely thousands of dollars to purchase. If that is your issue, then it is clear your problem was NOT the Catalina update and shouldn't be posting it here.

I've also upgraded macOS to Catalina 10.15.1 and after that, my battery health is 1%.

I've tried every solution from web and done downgrade do Mojave but it didn't fixed the problem.

Tomorrow I'm going to check parameters of battery, because I'm afraid that this Catalina upgrade broke it.

I can't afford new computer right now, but it's definitely end of my adventure with Apple.

This is pretty strange. My computer has recovered from the not charging issue. However, my battery health has also precipitously declined. I don't have detailed records in Coconut Battery, but on September 27 of 2018, I was at 79 load cycles and 96% of original capacity. On October 24 of 2019 after installing Catalina, I had 391 load cycles and only 79% of original capacity. I don't have any intermediate records, unfortunately.

Haha, Apple censors these conversations, this is not forum protected by the First Amendment, but come on Apple, what are you afraid of?

Fact: Apples Catalina system Fried My Battery in a 2017 MacBook Air and Apple refuses to address the issue.

Despicable behavior, really.

I Will Never Purchase Apple Products Again.

Nothing strange about it, Catalina is frying batteries and Apple refuses to do anything about it and it’s techs appear forced to gaslight Apple device owners when they call seeking solutions.

Independent Apple Certified Technicians have verified that Catalina is destroying certain batteries.

Same problem here with MacBook Pro 2018. After updating to Catalina, battery will have issues charging. Initially, the problem could be solved by restarting but the last time it got so bad that nothing worked. Macbook heated up so badly I could hear the fans overworking. Chat with Apple support, went through all the steps. SMC reset etc but battery still couldn't charge and percentage keep dropping. Went in to the store and they told me they just plugged in and battery was charging. Nothing they could do at their end. Came back and the same issue happened again. This is so frustrating!

Both of my MacBooks are now afflicted by the same problem.

The 2015 MacBook Air is misbehaving most times that I use it.

Here's what it was saying at mid-day today.

For no obvious reason, it woke up, a few minutes later and started charging, but still with no LED light

on the Magsafe charger. Later, the charging light on the Magsafe re-appeared.

Prior to the Catalina upgrade, there were no such problems. Never even once.

This is a Catalina issue, and both of my MacBooks are now unreliable. Thanks Apple, you achieved a 100% failure rate on your new OSX release.

An interesting article by Apple on 2019 MacBooks randomly shutting down, and to do an OS update to fix it!

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210615

May want to help them realize it goes beyond 2019 models. I sold mine off and have migrated to an iPad Pro for my workflow, but thought ya’ll might find this helpful.

Hello, I’m having the same issues in Budapest, Hungary.

My MacBook Pro 13’ 2016 (no touch bar) was working flawlessly with its original healthy battery and charger til the Catalina upgrade (10.15.1) which I did last week. Then every charging cycle has taken longer, until it reached 10% of charge in 10 hours and then the charging completely stopped.

Did all the troubleshooting, reset SMC, even tried my colleague’s brand new MacBook Pro 13 charger but nothing helped. The battery drained and now I have a lifeless brick that doesn’t take up energy from the charger.

So I went to the official service store where I told my story and their first reaction was: oh, Catalina has killed your MacBook, too?

Then they brought my MacBook to their mechanics for 5 minutes and came back saying that the base board is dead and needs replacement. They didn’t open the MacBook just tried to power it on but no success. I asked if they mean this was caused by Catalina. And they said yes, it happens. But they told me to talk to Apple Support first before I ask for maintenance as it is very expensive (the complete base board needs to be replaced).

I contacted Apple Support and they got furious as it is not proven to be a Catalina issue yet and this service point is to blame if a panic starts. They told me I should bring it to another service point they are also contracted with.

What should I do? I don’t want to pay 600$ to solve a problem which not even existed before my Catalina upgrade...

Well at least your device is new and under warranty, will be interesting to learn of your resolution/outcome with Apple, please post it here?

For those of us whose devices are out of warranty, in my case by just over 6 months beyond the one year mark, Apple has decided to simply refuse to acknowledge the issue is related to Catalina upgrade and left us with no resolution except to spend money on diagnoses whose costs run an average of more than $500, why would any consumer invest over 50% of a replacement cost of a new device to diagnose a problem Apple refuses to acknowledge?

It makes no sense to consumers who have limited knowledge of the pervasiveness of the issue but my guess is that it makes a lot of sense to Apple who either has a clear picture of the number of devices/components effected and have determined that number to be small enough to simply screw us over and not stand behind their products. Or, they are unable to predict how wide spread the issue may be and they are waiting to determine when they need to take action and get out in front of the narrative to defend what mistake occurred in the development of Catalina that has resulted in charging system failures/frying of logic boards in devices with certain component parts.

These are horrible business practices by Apple and their customer service models in interacting with consumers has slipped dramatically into a combative relationship with loyal consumers.

Wow, so now Apple confirms the cause, a cause they claimed previously was impossible, “software updates cannot damage hardware.”

Since I disposed of my device I have no means for Apple to provide a remedy for my loss, but I am quite concerned that Apple only acknowledges the known issue when someone individually persists through seven lengthy phone calls and a trip to an Apple. What happens to the rest of us?

Apple acknowledges an issue and yet fails to publicly announce a replacement/repair program so that it may fairly and equitably resolve an issue it created that harmed consumers?

if Apple acknowledges the issue, what assurances are they giving that this will not occur on as of yet non-updated devices?

I have other devices that we refuse to update because Apple has provided no assurances that its software update will not damage hardware components in those devices.

As comforting as it may be that Apple resolved your individual problem this is hardly a solution for the unknown number of other customers who have been harmed by Apple and its Catalina software “upgrade.”

jobo49, if you have read this entire thread, THIS IS NOT A SOLUTION FOR THIS PROBLEM. Please stop replying to threads saying you have a solution because it fixed it for you. We have a different problem than you.

After updating to the macOS Catalina Version 10.15.2, the battery is no longer charging anymore. Is it the software issue? Before the software update, my mac book was charging fine. Please guide me how to fix it.

This fix used to work for me too!! Till it didn’t. I have been struggling to get a solution in a country where there is no official Apple genius store. The authorized service center took my adapter in — and then replaced only the plug!!! — as if that would solve the problem. I describe this to Apple as a temperamental adapter charging issue, and they keep claiming no one has reported problems.

Brand new laptop — bought in September, and been having this issue since October or November.

Yes, I've tried reversing the cable several times. I've even tried different cables. It seems like it's going to start charging as it 'calculates the time until charged' and then reverts to not charging.