2019 MacBook Pro 16" Will not charge and overheating

Two days ago this issue started overnight. My MacBook will not charge while MacOS is running. If the laptop is fully shut down it will charge the battery. As soon as MacOS boots, it gives me the "Battery is not charging" in the menu bar battery icon. There is also inconsistent information across the battery menu in settings, the menu bar and elsewhere.


Additionally, before closing my laptop I've been closing every app. Even so, when I take it out of my bag between classes or work sessions it comes out burning hot. I just updated to the most recent software version.


I've seen people with similar issues before, the solutions are usually reset PRAM, SMC or replace battery. I'm confident mine is a software issue because it popped up overnight, does charge when the OS isn't running and has inconsistent info across the OS. I even got it to charge while MacOS was running for 1 cycle, but then it stopped again.


I have reset SMC many times and reset PRAM to no avail. Next step is to reinstall the OS, but I don't want to do that. Is this an issue others have started experiencing? Is this a known issue with a recent update? Looking for any amount of help.

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 14.4

Posted on Apr 23, 2024 10:02 AM

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Posted on Apr 23, 2024 6:03 PM

Make sure you are using the 96W or larger power adapter.


Make sure you are connecting the charging cable directly to the laptop since some adapters may not allow the full power of the charger to reach the laptop. Try using another USB-C port especially on the other side of the laptop.


Try using a different charging cable. Some USB-C cables will only allow slow charging of 60W, while others support 100W charging, and others support charging up to 140W.

My MacBook Pro 16in take 8 hours to charg… - Apple Community


Also, disconnect all other external devices in case one of them is causing a problem.


Try running the Apple Diagnostics to see if any hardware issues are detected.


Here is an Apple article for troubleshooting USB-C charing issues:

If your USB-C power adapter isn't charging your Mac laptop - Apple Support


FYI, if you have at least 80GB+ of Free storage space, then you can create a new APFS volume (make sure to give it unique name), then install macOS to that new APFS volume. This APFS volume will reside next to your existing macOS installation. Test the new OS without installing any third party apps, without restoring from a backup, and without logging into your AppleID or iCloud. Before deleting the new APFS volume, make sure to reselect the original boot volume for the default Startup Disk in System Settings.


You can also just boot into Safe Mode to see if that makes any difference with charging.



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11 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 23, 2024 6:03 PM in response to nickrcole

Make sure you are using the 96W or larger power adapter.


Make sure you are connecting the charging cable directly to the laptop since some adapters may not allow the full power of the charger to reach the laptop. Try using another USB-C port especially on the other side of the laptop.


Try using a different charging cable. Some USB-C cables will only allow slow charging of 60W, while others support 100W charging, and others support charging up to 140W.

My MacBook Pro 16in take 8 hours to charg… - Apple Community


Also, disconnect all other external devices in case one of them is causing a problem.


Try running the Apple Diagnostics to see if any hardware issues are detected.


Here is an Apple article for troubleshooting USB-C charing issues:

If your USB-C power adapter isn't charging your Mac laptop - Apple Support


FYI, if you have at least 80GB+ of Free storage space, then you can create a new APFS volume (make sure to give it unique name), then install macOS to that new APFS volume. This APFS volume will reside next to your existing macOS installation. Test the new OS without installing any third party apps, without restoring from a backup, and without logging into your AppleID or iCloud. Before deleting the new APFS volume, make sure to reselect the original boot volume for the default Startup Disk in System Settings.


You can also just boot into Safe Mode to see if that makes any difference with charging.



May 6, 2024 12:34 PM in response to nickrcole

Using a different charge cables is a check against a broken cable, but it does nothing against Inadequate cables. Many ordinary cables can only charge at the 60 watts level, and this is not enough to both run and charge the MacBook Pro you are using.


 menu > about this Mac > (system report) > Hardware > Power


what is the power adapter capable of, and how much power is it currently sending to the Mac?

May 7, 2024 6:54 PM in response to nickrcole

You can try a DFU firmware Revive which resets the T2 security chip & system firmware. I doubt this will help, but it doesn't hurt to try.


When you performed the SMC Reset, did you use the proper procedure? I forgot to mention this in my previous post. The process has changed for the 2018-2020 Intel Macs:

Reset the SMC of your Mac with T2 security chip - Apple Support


You can check the charging rate while booted into macOS by using the command line and the following command which will display the charging status and the amount of electrical current charging or discharging the battery (the first value is the battery's charge level:

pmset  -g  rawlog  |  awk  -F  ";"  '/AC/ {print $3, $2, $7}'


Probably best to copy & paste this command into the open Terminal window since just the slightest mistake will cause it to either fail or display the wrong values (or even nonsense values). This will output the electrical current in mA (milliamps) with a negative value meaning the battery is draining and a positive value meaning the battery is being charged. This command will generally print an update about once a minute with some exceptions. To terminate the command, just press Control + C within the open Terminal window.


Usually you should see a charge rate of 1500-3000 mA. It will vary sometimes due to system load, but it should be at the higher end when the battery charge level is lower & the system is relatively idle. Once the battery charge is about 80% you will see the charge current drop below 1,000mA until it is 0mA when fully charged. I've never really paid too much attention to the charge rate so I cannot say how it varies in any more detail.


May 6, 2024 3:17 PM in response to nickrcole

Batteries are a wear item, like the soles of your shoes and the tires on your car. Their expected lifetime depends on use (as reflected in Charge cycles) and also in the passage of time, used or not. After a while, you should expect to have to replace the battery.


Battery life also depends on two factors you may be able to control a bit better. Lithium polymer batteries deteriorate when they get too hot, and when they are subject to very deep discharge. These should be avoided when possible.


Despite using these batteries in millions of Apple devices, there is still a lot of of randomness in exactly which battery will fail when.


Apple SUGGESTS (but does not Warrant) that your battery MAY last as long as 1000 charge cycles, provided all other factors are well-controlled.


Apple uses the criterion that a battery that doesn't to hold 80 percent of its original charge capacity should be serviced, and likely replaced.


When designing systems, that 80 percent rule is intended so that, over a Very large sample of devices, almost all will be able to achieve their 'mission' -- still have at least 80 percent capacity at the three-year mark.



Your battery appears to have reached the end of what Apple considers its useful life. if you wish, you can continue to use your Mac on power adapter "until the wheels fall off".

May 6, 2024 12:30 PM in response to nickrcole

Intel Macs used a System Management (micro-) Controller to manage certain always-on functions like Main processor-clock speed regulation, power-button press detewction, Main Processor power-up and power-down, temperature sensor reading, fan speed regulation, power adapter and battery charge level, and setting the green or amber LED in the MagSafe connector (when present). These functions were controlled even when the computer was nominally OFF. Some Power was consumed when nominally powered off, but it was small enough to be considered negligible.

May 6, 2024 12:56 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Using first party power brick and cables designed for this Mac. Checked against my friend's equipment (also first party, out of the box for 16" MacBook Pro) and same symptoms. My charging equipment works for his Mac, his charging equipment (or mine) does NOT work for my Mac. Here's the full system report you requested:


Battery Information:




  Model Information:


  Serial Number: <>


  Manufacturer: DSY


  Device Name: bq40z651


  Pack Lot Code: 0


  PCB Lot Code: 0


  Firmware Version: 0b00


  Hardware Revision: 300


  Cell Revision: 2309


  Charge Information:


  The battery’s charge is below the warning level: No


  Fully Charged: No


  Charging: No


  Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 7317


  State of Charge (%): 65


  Health Information:


  Cycle Count: 968


  Condition: Normal




System Power Settings:




  AC Power:


  System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 1


  Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10


  Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10


  Wake on AC Change: No


  Wake on Clamshell Open: Yes


  Wake on LAN: Yes


  Current Power Source: Yes


  Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes


  Hibernate Mode: 3


  Low Power Mode: No


  Prioritize Network Reachability Over Sleep: No


  Battery Power:


  System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 1


  Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10


  Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 2


  Wake on AC Change: No


  Wake on Clamshell Open: Yes


  Wake on LAN: No


  Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes


  Hibernate Mode: 3


  Low Power Mode: No


  Prioritize Network Reachability Over Sleep: No


  Reduce Brightness: Yes




Hardware Configuration:




  UPS Installed: No




AC Charger Information:




  Connected: Yes


  ID: 0x7002


  Wattage (W): 94


  Family: 0xe000400a


  Serial Number: C4H01650B5WPM0WA1


  Name: 96W USB-C Power Adapter


  Manufacturer: Apple Inc.


  Hardware Version: 1.0


  Firmware Version: 1070051


  Charging: No




Power Events:




Next Scheduled Events:




  appPID: 1015


  Type: Wake


  Scheduled By: com.apple.alarm.user-invisible-com.apple.calaccessd.travelEngine.periodicRefreshTimer


  Time: 5/6/24, 11:35 PM


  UserVisible: 0




  appPID: 1015


  Type: Wake


  Scheduled By: com.apple.alarm.user-visible-com.apple.donotdisturb.server.ScheduleLifetimeMonitor.timer


  Time: 5/7/24, 12:00 AM


  UserVisible: 1




  appPID: 28


  Type: Wake


  Scheduled By: com.apple.alarm.user-invisible-com.apple.acmd.alarm


  Time: 5/7/24, 3:37 PM


  UserVisible: 0



May 6, 2024 11:42 AM in response to HWTech

Thanks for all the great info here. My classes just finished up so I've finally had time to poke around with this problem and try some of the solutions you suggested.


So far I've erased all content and settings, reinstalled macOS, booted into safe mode, and run apple diagnostics. The issue persists, even in safe mode. Apple diagnostics turns up nothing.


I'm still confident it's a software issue, because I can easily charge it up to 100% overnight if I turn off the operating system. And the sporadic overheating/battery drain issues persist when the computer is not in use. Occasionally, it will charge while the OS is running, but this is rare, and tends to only be one cycle after a clean restart.


Does anyone know any more detailed information about the SMC? Is it a part of the macOS kernel? Does it run independently of macOS, like a bios? If this is the case, that may explain why reinstalling macOS didn't do the trick. Is there a way to "reinstall" the SMC if it's separate from the OS? I'm on an intel based system.


Oh also, I've tried all the different ports, charging cables, bricks, etc. All the hardware I'm using is first party, and works to charge my friends' devices. I experience the same symptoms when switching out with my friends' brick and cable (he owns the same 16" intel-based MacBook Pro). So again pretty confident none of the hardware is the issue.


Thanks.

May 9, 2024 12:39 PM in response to HWTech

Lots of good info here. That command is interesting. I get an output that says "3% Not Charging 0mA", and it reports about once a second. What are the exceptions you were talking about in regards to how fast it updates? Because my output is consistently fast. Does this mean anything?


I've tried the SMC reset multiple times with that procedure. However, I'm intrigued and optimistic about the T2 revive. Don't have access to another Mac at the moment, but will report back as soon as I get the chance to perform that.

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2019 MacBook Pro 16" Will not charge and overheating

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