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User profile for user: Neil Forrest
Neil Forrest Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

MacBook Pro - battery 'flat' despite full charge

I have a 13-inch, 2018, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports MacBook Pro running latest MacOS (Sonoma 14) with a battery that has 'normal' health. The battery itself lasts as would be expected and takes normal amount of time to charge etc. 'Low power mode' is set to never, as are 'nap' and 'hard disk to sleep' power settings.


Over the last few months, it has started to intermittently display a flat battery screen despite actually having a charged battery (ranging between all percentages, including fully charged) after being either shut down or in sleep and won't turn on until it's plugged in to power. Once plugged in however, it starts up almost immediately and displays the correct battery percentage. This causes issues with taking laptop mobile as sometimes it's unusable despite being charged and there seems to be no pattern to when this is triggered - has anyone else experienced this or have any solutions?


Many thanks.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 14.0

Posted on Jan 1, 2024 2:52 AM

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User profile for user: Allan Jones
Allan Jones
User level: Level 9
72,842 points

Jan 1, 2024 8:14 AM in response to Neil Forrest

If the steps that our wise WheelieNIck posted do not work, you have a failed battery. One of our iPads did the same pattern of failure you describe. It would only run 12-14 minutes on a full charge, yet showed "normal" with an external battery evaluator.


Apple still provides a factory battery service for your model. I cannot strongly enough recommend that you let only Apple service the battery. There are no genuine batteries sold as parts, and even Apple Authorized Service Providers cannot do a battery service in a retail setting due to HAZMAT, OSHA, and fire codes that address the highly flammable and toxic solvents used to remove the glue—yes, glue—the battery in place.


Apple Authorized Service Providers and independents can only order a new upper case assembly (upper chassis deck; keyboard; trackpad; battery) and will have to charge you over US$500 for parts and labor. If you send the notebook to Apple (it qualifies for their convenient mail-in/ship-in service), it goes to one of their centralized repair facilities and gets the same treatment for less than half the cost.


You can start here: Mac Repair & Service - Apple Support


By the way, our iPad that had the factory battery service in early 2021 is still going strong.

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User profile for user: WheelieNick
WheelieNick
User level: Level 8
42,071 points

Jan 1, 2024 6:05 AM in response to Neil Forrest

Try and restart the Mac to see if the issues persist


If the issues persist boot the mac in safe mode to see if the issues will persist. If it does not persist in the safe mode it is caused by an external piece of software


Start up your Intel-based Mac in safe mode

  1. Turn on or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key until you see the login window.
  2. Log in to your Mac.
  3. You might be asked to log in again.
  4. On either the first or second login window, you should see “Safe Boot” in the menu bar.



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MacBook Pro - battery 'flat' despite full charge

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