I took my macbook pro 2017 to apple last month and they confirmed the battery needs replacing. It was way too expensive but the genius person did say the macbook would continue to work on power only. Now when it’s under load even when plugged in the battery goes flat and the macbook shuts off. Can I run it like a desktop and bypass the battery altogether somehow?
MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 13.7
if it is shutting off, it is possible you power adapter is too small. if using USB power adapter, especially for a larger MacBook Pro, the charging cord may be a standard 60Watts type, and what you need is a premium 100W type.
it is also possible your battery and charging circuitry is in a world of hurt and malfunctioning badly.
The reason you have been advised that you can NOT bypass the battery is that the battery in portable computers serves a VERY important additional purpose. it is like a rubber bag for Over and Under Voltages, smoothing them all out. The battery serves to protect the sensitive electronics from the ravages of unfiltered power. A comparable desktop system is required to have Power Capacitors that do that filtering, because it does not have a battery.
Using your portable computer without the battery connected (for more than quick bench test during repair) risks having a power surge damage it.
if it is shutting off, it is possible you power adapter is too small. if using USB power adapter, especially for a larger MacBook Pro, the charging cord may be a standard 60Watts type, and what you need is a premium 100W type.
it is also possible your battery and charging circuitry is in a world of hurt and malfunctioning badly.
The reason you have been advised that you can NOT bypass the battery is that the battery in portable computers serves a VERY important additional purpose. it is like a rubber bag for Over and Under Voltages, smoothing them all out. The battery serves to protect the sensitive electronics from the ravages of unfiltered power. A comparable desktop system is required to have Power Capacitors that do that filtering, because it does not have a battery.
Using your portable computer without the battery connected (for more than quick bench test during repair) risks having a power surge damage it.
"Way too expensive" may in fact be difficult to justify for a seven year old Mac, but that's up to you to decide. Battery depreciation amounts to about 50¢ a week.
Older Macs (very old) could run without a battery but this hasn't been the case for a long time now. Modern Macs always draw power from the battery, and if that battery is malfunctioning the Mac may or may not work depending on the nature of the malfunction. It sounds as though yours is depleted to the point it is demanding power in excess of what the Mac needs to function reliably. The power drawn by the battery is no longer charging it — it is lost as heat.
If the battery is not connected in these USB-C Macs, then the system performance is terrible. Sometimes it could take all day for the laptop to boot to the login screen. Even if the battery is connected, some battery problems may cause power related issues which can also cause system performance issues.
You can certainly keep using the laptop if you keep it connected to the power adapter, at least as long as everything keeps working & performing correctly. You will need to keep an eye out for the battery swelling which can be seen by a rising trackpad and/or the bottom case beginning to separate from the bottom case.
Also, if the battery goes completely, then it may prevent the laptop from powering on even with the power adapter. Just some things to keep in mind.
A straight battery replacement service for most Apple laptops in the US is US$250, complete, with 90 days warranty.
if the price you were quoted was substantially more, then what they were telling you is that this is not JUST a battery problem -- other systems are involved, and repairs will be much more extensive and expensive.
Many users run their old dead-battery Macs on power adapter alone. In a typical situation, if the battery does not swell, you may be able to do this for a long time. Nobody has lied to you.
THIS computer sounds like it has many more problems than just regular battery replacement will fix.
From what people are saying it seems what I was told at Apple about it continuing to work on the power adaptor even after the battery fails was incorrect then, which is annoying. I’ve had older laptops (not mac) where you could tell it to run off plug in only, but these 2017 macbooks don’t have that feature. Thank you for your responses.
You can but you'll need to keep it plugged in. If it shuts off when under power I would not use it anymore due to dangers using depleted batteries
No.
Can I use my macbook by power only and bypass the battery?
