macbook air 2012 battery management gone?

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david braun Author

Level 4

2,563 points

macbook air 2012 battery management gone?

Hi friends!

My old Macbook (Macbook Air mid 2012, MacOS 10.15.7) is getting old.

Here's a bit of the story, just the "major" events and symptoms, as I loosely recollect them:

I replaced the battery around 6 months ago, and was able to run the macbook for several hours on the battery.
I had some serious troubles with Safari constantly crashing for like 2 hours and then (after deleting caches etc.) suddenly worked again, this happened a few times in the last few weeks...
it repeatedly forgets the wlan-password (all other devices are connecting to it flawlessly), but all other stored passwords are good.
Now, the battery management seems to be broken: The magsafe's led is staying red, when shut down, the laptop does not boot without it plugged in. (I haven't tried to unplug it when the computer is running)
The battery-indicator (from system-preferences) in the menu can not be enabled, it disables itself in < 1 second, so I can't check/manage the battery's health anymore.

Does this sound like something ?

What could I do (aside getting a new one) ?

(I tried to record it, but the menu-bar is not being recorded)

Thank you!

Posted on Jul 3, 2023 11:52 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

HWTech

Community+ 2026

Level 9

74,226 points

Jul 6, 2023 1:57 PM in response to david braun

May be just a bad battery. The quality of third party Lithium batteries is extremely poor. All things being equal and there is no accidental damage, then the battery is usually the weakest link.

Can you see the battery information in the Apple System Profiler "Power" section? You can access the System Profiler by Option-Clicking the Apple menu and selecting the first item. If you cannot see the battery information here, then most likely the battery is at fault (assuming there is no accidental liquid damage).

Try running the Apple Diagnostics to see if any hardware issues are detected. It is not unusual for a third party battery failing the diagnostic since a third party battery may not be communicating the same way as the original Apple battery. However, if you see any other errors, then they may be important.

Edit: You may want to unplug the power adapter from the electrical outlet for a minute to reset the power adapter's internal circuitry. Here is an Apple article for dealing with Magsafe charging issues:

If your MagSafe cable or power adapter isn't working - Apple Support

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Answer 2

sberman

Level 10

276,408 points

Jul 3, 2023 3:48 PM in response to david braun

It sounds like your choices are very limited.

david braun wrote:

What could I do (aside [from] getting a new one) ?

Nothing. Live with a broken machine.
Replace it with an iPad.
Replace it with a refurbished machine.
Replace it with a used machine (certainly not a good idea).

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Answer 3

david braun Author

Level 4

2,563 points

Jul 6, 2023 11:11 PM in response to HWTech

Good morning HWTech!

Thank you so much for the guidelines!

Just went to see the informations in the system profiler:

Everything battery is set to "0", "no" or similar, as if there wasn't even a battery in the laptop. (see screenshot, unfortunately in german)

Funny enough, when I unplug the magsafe the laptop instantly goes off, and does not goes on without the magsafe. But when I plug it in and open the lid, the laptop more or less instantly wakes (a few seconds too late to be flawless) from sleep with the login-screen. Had it been cut off from any power, it would have shut down completely and would have had to reboot, wouldn't it?

I guess I won't replace the battery again as it is too expensive and too unreliable... The installed battery-replacement was from ifixit, and has been performing well for about 6 months or so.

I didn't see anything else being wrong/weird, but haven't run the diagnostics yet—will do right after this reply.

Again, many thanks!

david

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Answer 4

david braun Author

Level 4

2,563 points

Jul 26, 2023 9:35 AM in response to david braun

I have updates: After a 3 weeks holiday, during which I left the laptop on standby, but without charger, I came home and BAM! all seems to be back.

Laptop responsive, battery-loading is working, as is it's display in the menu-bar.

So it may be a secret, not-so-serious pro-tip: If you encounter unsolvable problems, have a break, take a trip ;)

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macbook air 2012 battery management gone?

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