MacBook Pro A2159 Battery Will Not Charge

DCR5160 wrote:

1. I am at a loss on this one. I replaced the battery on a MacBook Pro A2159. Everything is connected correctly. The computer will run on battery or on the charger. But the battery will not charge. As long as the charger is plugged in, the battery charge does not go down, but it won't go up either. It is basically stuck at 68%. If the charger is unplugged, the charge will go down, which of course is normal, but it won't go back up when the charger is plugged in. So, I have a new battery, connected to a new 87 W USB-c charger, but the battery will not charge.

The things I have done so far are below. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Power Cycled the computer.

2. Reset PRAM

3. Reset SMC

4. Updated the OS to Sonoma 14.3

5. Turned off Optimized Battery Charging and Manage Battery Longevity

6. Checked and cleaned both USB-C ports (this shouldn't be an issue since the charger powers the computer but doesn't charge the battery)

7. Left the charger plugged in overnight with the computer shut down.

I have noticed that the 2 USB-C ports are Thunderbolt 3 ports and the Thunderbolt 3 status is disabled on both ports. I don't think this would have anything to do with charging, since the Thunderbolt ports are for data transfer and connecting external monitors and other computers but I could be wrong.

I should also add that the battery icon on the main screen shows that the computer is running on the charger but the battery is not charging, but when you go to the battery settings it says the battery is charging, but the number never goes up.

On an Intel Mac you would think to sort the issue by

resetting the System Management Controller Reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support

In or out of warranty you can get a free over the counter 'Apple Service Diagnostics' test /assessment

Make an appointment for a "hardware issue"

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

Outside the USA

Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support

Get help with your Mac notebook battery

Learn how to optimize the life of the battery in your Mac notebook, fix battery issues, and get service.

If you see Service Recommended on your MacBook Air or MacBook Pro - Apple Support

continued.....

You can try inspecting the contacts on the laptop's USB-C ports to see whether there is any liquid residue or corrosion on the contacts. It is very hard to assess the contacts by just looking into the ports since there is so little room to view the contacts, plus you need a good strong light and a magnifier. Even then, there have been many times where I missed seeing the corrosion on the pins even though I have gotten fairly good at looking into those ports. In my own personal experience supporting my organization's 2016+ Macs, I find there is usually some sort of damage to the contacts in those USB-C ports. Only a direct examination by removing those I/O Boards will give you an accurate assessment of the condition of those contacts, but that involves removing the Logic Board (if you do that, then I would examine the Logic Board itself for signs of liquid residue and corrosion....yes I see a lot of it).

Usually if all things are equal, the battery will be the weakest link (especially a third party battery), but like I said these Logic Boards on the 2018+ Macs are very quirky.

You can try running the Apple Diagnostics, but they may fail with some third party batteries (it would be a battery failure notice).

I know you said you performed an SMC Reset, but did you perform it correctly? The process has changed for the 2018 - 2020 Intel Macs. Personally I like to perform an SMC Reset while the laptop is booted to the Option Boot screen showing the Apple boot picker menu so when the SMC Reset is performed, the laptop should immediately power off giving you a good indicator that it was performed correctly. For a 2018-2020 Intel Mac you must press & hold the Left Control + Left Option + Right Shift keys all at once for 7 seconds, then press the power button....the laptop should immediately power off. You can only perform an SMC Reset using the laptop's built-in keyboard and you must use the keys on the proper side of the keyboard since two are on the left side and one is on the right side.

Reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support

It sounds like you replaced the battery yourself using a third party battery. If so, did you remember to reattach the Battery flex cable and latch it? The latching lever for this battery cable is very easily damaged & tends to pop off easily especially when closing the lever to latch it. Also make sure this battery flex cable is fully seated...it is easy to have it go crooked or pull out before latching it. Also make sure this cable not damaged or torn. Sometimes the battery flex cable may have another connector...if so, make sure the other end is still fully seated & latched.

Unfortunately the quality of third party Lithium batteries is extremely poor even when purchased from a respected vendor.

There is also a chance you may have accidentally damaged the Logic Board during the battery replacement.

If you had Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider replace the battery, then take it back to them since you have a 90 day part/repair warranty on it.

Thanks for the extra information.

The battery flex cable looks good.

Even though you may have had great success acquiring third party Lithium batteries from your vendor, I have found that even those vendors may have trouble sourcing these batteries reliably and may acquire ones of lesser quality from time to time. I also had a vendor like that providing me third party Lithium batteries and iPhone/iPad screens, but will get some lemons at times which my vendor has so far always replaced for free (helps to have a good relationship).

It also does not help that these 2016+ USB-C Apple laptops (especially the 2018+ models) are very quirky when it comes to charging & power issues. I suspect that the Logic Boards on these laptops are prone to issues where the battery may become disconnected from time to time since there have been numerous times when I've encountered the red battery symbol while trying to power on these laptops even with a brand new Apple OEM battery (from an Apple authorized repair) with sufficient charge on the battery. Since the same thing usually occurs after a repair since the battery must be disconnected for a repair. I've even had cases where I've encountered a power on issue after an SMC Reset & PRAM Reset....sometimes they can be fixed by disconnecting the charger & reconnecting it, but occasionally I have to disconnect the battery to get the system to power on again.

I also know that macOS is very slow to update the battery status information especially when the charger is connected or disconnected. Sometimes it may take up to a minute before macOS has the correct charger status.

You can get some more details on the battery state by using the command line to check the battery information and charging rate (Intel Macs only since Apple broke this functionality on the Apple Silicon Macs....the command still works, but most of the information presented is useless on an Apple Silicon Mac). The first command will give you a one time status, while the second command will keep running and printing updated information about once per minute, although some things may cause it to print updated information sooner. To terminate the second command, just use Control + C on the open Terminal window where the command is running.

pmset  -g  rawbatt

pmset  -g  rawlog

If you know anything about the command line, then you could save the output to a text file to make it easier to review the output.....the Terminal window seems to allow me to review data from 24 hours before most times when I keep the command running.

The output will show the amperage of the charge & discharge rates which may help you in assessing the laptop & battery.

Usually if the charger has a bad connection where it connects & disconnects, you will hear a "ding", but if the charger never fully connects/disconnects, then the system may never sense a change and there will be no "ding". Do you hear a "ding" after connecting the charger? Usually you should hear a "ding" within about 10 or 15 seconds, but sometimes when there is a problem I have seen it take a minute (on rare occasions maybe 5 minutes).

You can try unplugging the charger from the electrical outlet for a minute in order to reset the charger's internal circuitry. Sometimes the Apple power adapters can get into a weird state.

You can also try rotating the connector of the charging cable 180 degrees upside down in case the USB-C port is half bad (whether the laptop/MLB, or I/O Board, or charging cable, or charger itself).

Make sure to disconnect all other external devices in case one of them is causing a problem. Connect the charger directly to the laptop as well since adapters/docks/hubs may not allow the full power of the charger to reach the laptop.

What size power adapter are you using? Do you have a larger power adapter to try? Sometimes when there is a hardware issue, the larger power adapter may be able to compensate.....of course you still have to fix the actual problem, but it may provide you another clue.

You should also try using another USB-C charging cable & power adapter just to be sure it is not one of them.