My battery has 0% charge, so why is it still working?

The most important piece of information that you have provide is the Condition: Replace Now. I suggest that you do exactly what it says, replace the battery with a new one from Apple. Third party batteries have in general a very poor reputation.

Ciao.

Please post this from your MBP. Open System Information:

Ciao.

The battery information shows that your battery has seen use but certainly is still functional. Try a SMC reset:

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3964

Brannan New wrote:

The only problem that I've had with the battery before this, was occasionally when taking it my bag to and from school, in a padded pocket specifically for laptops, the battery had disconnected itself, meaing I couldn't even switch it on. I solved this numberous times by simply opening up the laptop and reinserting the battery connector (NOT taking out the entire battery).

Could the this old problem be related to my current situation?

That is very much a possibility if the SMC does not alleviate the situation. Based on my intrusions into the innards of my MBPs the battery connection has always been tight. Apparently that has not been the case with yours. Based on the symptoms you have described, the issue you have appears to be with the connection or the circuitry, not the battery. Make an appointment with an Apple store genius bar and discuss in detail what you have experienced. Determine if they can test for that. (The Apple Hardware Test doe not).

Ciao.

When the battery in a MBP is charged to 100%, with the power adapter attached, it will power the MBP but no longer charge the battery. The battery will slowly discharge until about the 95% level and then the battery will begin to be charged again. During that period of time, the MBP will indicate that the battery is charged even though it does not show 100%. This cycle will be repeated as long as the charger is connected.

I am wondering if your MBP actually reached the 100% level. The mAh values should be nearly identical when that occurs. The last few %'s of charge take a relatively long period of time. If you can, monitor when the led on the charger turns from amber to green and see what the values are.

You said: "NOTE: The repair place I took it to are authorised Apple resellers and qualified service provider, and does contract work for the local government, so unless they've been BSing them, I'd say they know how to do their job." I do not question their ability, but were they looking at the possible problem area(s) aside from the battery. That is why I think a one to one chat with you and the technician may be required.

Ciao.

Brannan New wrote:

There's about a 9 mAh difference between the charge remaining and full capacity values, it's currently at 100% battery.

If it makes any difference, I have installed iStat Pro, which says that the battery is at 89% health.

The 9 mAh difference is inconsequential and the 89% health figure is within Apple standards of a functional battery. When it falls to 80% or less, then its useful life is considered over.

I've also been noticing that the magical shutdowns seem to be happening more frequently, and occur within minutes of unplugging the charger now.

This is what troubles me. What you should try to do is reproduce this shutdown at the repair facility. It can only occur if the battery is defective (which they is not) or there is a fault in the circuitry (which then needs to be investigated). Does this occur with 'heavy' loads on the CPU or is there no apparent correlation as to what applications are in use? It would help a lot if you can determine a cause and effect relationship.

Ciao.