I have replaced the battery of my MBP 15" Retina Mid 2015. I have fully cycled the battery 4 times now, in an attempt to recalibrate the "notion of capacity". I have also reset the SMC per the instructions for a non Apple MBP. But the message is still there.
System info says this:
Any thoughts on how to get rid of it? Thanks.
MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 12.7
It is a third party battery from a brand I have never seen before. Most likely this brand of battery will always report "Service Recommended" because it doesn't communicate the proper information to macOS even if the battery is healthy. Apple only designed macOS to communicate with official Apple OEM batteries since Apple knows their OEM batteries provide certain detailed information to macOS. Third party batteries must also provide the same details, otherwise they will be shown as bad since macOS is receiving unknown or incorrect information from the third party battery. It is up to the third party battery manufacturer to make sure their batteries are fully compatible.
A third possibility is you accidentally damaged the Logic Board or the replacement battery during the replacement process. I have seen a lot of users on this forum accidentally damage something when replacing the glued in batteries.
Or @John Galt is correct and the battery is bad.
Unfortunately there is no way for us to tell the difference to know which reason is causing the problem. It may even be both reasons.
The quality of third party Lithium batteries is extremely poor even when purchased from a respected vendor such as OWC or iFixIt. I've even had these third party batteries report properly & pass the Apple Diagnostics, but then a moment later report incorrect information.....which in that case usually means the battery is bad.
FYI, calibration would have no bearing on the "Service Recommended" condition...only on whether the battery will give macOS enough time to properly hibernate when the battery charge level reaches 1%. And to kind of exercise the battery to iron out any internal cell charge inconsistencies which seem to be common with third party batteries.
If the battery is working fine, then the Service Recommended condition is normal for this third party battery. Just use it until it no longer performs properly. If it is not performing properly, then you will need to deal with the battery vendor/manufacturer. If you need to another third party battery, then I would only trust the batteries from OWC or iFixIt.....keeping in mind you still may encounter a bad battery from them as well (I have on occasion had bad batteries from both vendors over the years).
It is a third party battery from a brand I have never seen before. Most likely this brand of battery will always report "Service Recommended" because it doesn't communicate the proper information to macOS even if the battery is healthy. Apple only designed macOS to communicate with official Apple OEM batteries since Apple knows their OEM batteries provide certain detailed information to macOS. Third party batteries must also provide the same details, otherwise they will be shown as bad since macOS is receiving unknown or incorrect information from the third party battery. It is up to the third party battery manufacturer to make sure their batteries are fully compatible.
A third possibility is you accidentally damaged the Logic Board or the replacement battery during the replacement process. I have seen a lot of users on this forum accidentally damage something when replacing the glued in batteries.
Or @John Galt is correct and the battery is bad.
Unfortunately there is no way for us to tell the difference to know which reason is causing the problem. It may even be both reasons.
The quality of third party Lithium batteries is extremely poor even when purchased from a respected vendor such as OWC or iFixIt. I've even had these third party batteries report properly & pass the Apple Diagnostics, but then a moment later report incorrect information.....which in that case usually means the battery is bad.
FYI, calibration would have no bearing on the "Service Recommended" condition...only on whether the battery will give macOS enough time to properly hibernate when the battery charge level reaches 1%. And to kind of exercise the battery to iron out any internal cell charge inconsistencies which seem to be common with third party batteries.
If the battery is working fine, then the Service Recommended condition is normal for this third party battery. Just use it until it no longer performs properly. If it is not performing properly, then you will need to deal with the battery vendor/manufacturer. If you need to another third party battery, then I would only trust the batteries from OWC or iFixIt.....keeping in mind you still may encounter a bad battery from them as well (I have on occasion had bad batteries from both vendors over the years).
That battery is no good. Return it.
For future reference: Find out how to service or repair your Mac - Apple Support
Thank you. But I am going to wait for other responses.
Many thanks for your elaborate response. This makes sense to me!
"(battery) service recommended" not disappearing after battery replacement
