My Macbook Pro ran out of battery last night and wouldn't turn back on even when connected to power for a period of time. However, when I woke up, it did turn on. Is there a reason this happened and should I get it looked at?

A general rule, keep your MBP connected to AC whenever possible. To keep the battery healthy, about once per month run it with the battery to the 40% discharge level. That is my procedure.

Read these Apple articles for more detailed information:

http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1446

Post from System Information>Power the following to determine if there are any potential issues. Have your power adapter connected:

Ciao.

@C Hi C, indeed. How are you?

@jeff: you can see yourself in the list that the files are still there.

Maybe you were in the wrong Library:

there are THREE Libraries:

Homefolder/Library with a LaunchAgents and an InternetPlugins folder folder in it.

SSD /Library with a LaunchAgents folder and a LaunchDaemons folder and a InternetPlugins folder in it.

SSD /System/Library with a LaunchAgents folder and a LaunchDaemons folder and a InternetPlugins folder in it.

Lex

If I might suggest you STOP letting the battery run down to Zero causing the system to shut down from lack of electricity. This is very bad for the battery and can corrupt the operating system.

Just because it is an Apple Mac computer doesn't mean you can't break it beyond all repair.

When you let the battery go below dead for hours, it takes a lot of time to charge it again to the land of the living.

Mine did that last night, but it was because I was calibrating the battery. I had a quick panic when I tried to turn it on this morning, nothing happened, even after waiting 10 minutes. Then, I had a brainwave, took out the battery and it started fine.

I assume the laptop went to sleep and there wasn't enough power in the battery yet to wake it. With the battery out it was running straight from mains and started up straight away.

I can't see that running the battery till it shuts down is going to harm anything in your macbook, at a certain power level it will shut itself down and there is still a reserve in the battery to keep everything safe.

Allan

You are completely mistaken and even suggesting that it won't harm anything is very foolish.

What happens when that reserve you suggest is there is used up? What then?

Allan Mac wrote:

Mine did that last night, but it was because I was calibrating the battery. I had a quick panic when I tried to turn it on this morning, nothing happened, even after waiting 10 minutes. Then, I had a brainwave, took out the battery and it started fine.

I assume the laptop went to sleep and there wasn't enough power in the battery yet to wake it. With the battery out it was running straight from mains and started up straight away.

I can't see that running the battery till it shuts down is going to harm anything in your macbook, at a certain power level it will shut itself down and there is still a reserve in the battery to keep everything safe.

Allan

Allan Mac wrote:

I can't see that running the battery till it shuts down is going to harm anything in your macbook, at a certain power level it will shut itself down and there is still a reserve in the battery to keep everything safe.

I suggest that you read this article regarding the levels of discharge as reflected on battery life:

http://battery university lithium ion charging

Ciao.

Lowluster is correct.

Starting up without battery you can do. It "solves" nothing.

But the 10 minutes charging is much too short to revive the battery after a deep zero out.

Lots of threads here that tell how to treat the battery, calibration is not one of the recommendations.

You may find some clues here:

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/low_voltage_cut_off

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2011/02/ask-ars-what-is-the-best-way-to-use-an-li -ion-battery/

My guess is that the OS is now determining how power will be allocated. You may test this by depleting the battery again until your MBP shuts down. Remove or disconnect the battery and then attach the charger. If the MBP operates, then is stingily indicates that the OS does take control of charging.

Stating the obvious, this will not help the health of you battery.

Ciao.

When it Suddenly Shut Off it had Depleted all power in the battery. When that happens the battery needs time to recover from such a traumatic event, it doesn't like being drained all the way and needs time to power up the cells inside of it.

Whenever I connect my AC adapter after using the battery it always shows Green for a few moments before turning amber showing that it is charging the battery. I have never run my battery down to the point the system would power off so I've never been through this personally but I suspect the charging circuit needs time to check the state of the battery and the state of the charger before it starts to put power, starts recharging, the battery.

Only thing wrong with your Mac is that you abuse the battery. Stop doing that and you will never go through something like this again until the battery finally stops working from age, number of recharge cycles or the abusive treatment you have subjected it to.

Kbbrezin wrote:

Thank you for all your insight. I guess I still am confused about a couple of things...first, when I did plug my computer in - which was like a minute after it suddenly shut off - the light on the MBP was green, not amber which was confusing since obviously it had no battery. Why is that? Is there something potentially wrong with my MBP? FYI, I tried multiple outlets and it always showed up with a green light. Also, the fact that I plugged it in only a minute after it shut off concerns me. Why would it take 30min-1hr to charge enough to turn back on when it had only died for about 1 minute? Finally, when I did open the computer this morning and it was working, all the settings had reset. Is that usual with this type of problem?

Thanks again.

@kbbrezin:

As Lowluster said:

When it Suddenly Shut Off it had Depleted all power in the battery. When that happens the battery needs time to recover from such a traumatic event, it doesn't like being drained all the way and needs time to power up the cells inside of it.

Whenever I connect my AC adapter after using the battery it always shows Green for a few moments before turning amber showing that it is charging the battery. I have never run my battery down to the point the system would power off so I've never been through this personally but I suspect the charging circuit needs time to check the state of the battery and the state of the charger before it starts to put power, starts recharging, the battery.

The same has been said more or less by Ogelthorpe, with links to more information.

And I.

I have more experience with batteries. And I can tell you that the Apple batteries are very advanced technology, and they have not just a charging/protecting circuit built in the MBA and MBP, but enormous complicated circuits to check and charge all cells per cell. This takes some time on a completely discharged battery, and it needs some time to slowly start charging without kicking the current in.

Lex

LowLuster

"You are completely mistaken and even suggesting that it won't harm anything is very foolish.

What happens when that reserve you suggest is there is used up? What then?"

Its not a reserve I "suggest" it is how it works. So, what do you mean by "foolish" and "what then"?

Apple recommend calibrating the battery when you buy a new Macbook and then every few months, or monthly if it used on mains all the time. This, as Apple says is to keep the battery operating at maximum efficiency. When the battery discharges and shuts the macbook down, it still has reserve power for a good number of hours. There is also a logic board battery to hold various settings.

I rather think I will take Apples advice on using their equipment not yours, but I would be intrigued to discover what is it you know that Apple doesnt about its batteries?

Allan

Apple Does Not recommend that. Please Read.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1490

From that article

"Portables with built-in batteries"

Current Apple portable computer batteries are pre-calibrated and do not require the calibration procedure outlined in this article. These computers use batteries that shouldbe replaced only by an Apple Authorized Service Provider.

MacBook

MacBook (13-inch, Late 2009) and later

MacBook Air

MacBook Air (all models)

MacBook Pro

• MacBook Pro with Retina display (all models)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2009) and later
• MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009) and later
• MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009) and later

Thanks.

Allan Mac wrote:

Apple recommend calibrating the battery when you buy a new Macbook and then every few months, or monthly if it used on mains all the time. This, as Apple says is to keep the battery operating at maximum efficiency. When the battery discharges and shuts the macbook down, it still has reserve power for a good number of hours. There is also a logic board battery to hold various settings.

I rather think I will take Apples advice on using their equipment not yours, but I would be intrigued to discover what is it you know that Apple doesnt about its batteries?

Allan

Alan, I just returned and read your comment.

The knowledge on modern batteries is moving quickly foreward.

Lowluster and I are up to date.

You can find it everywhere: but an easy access is the battery university, and a lot of threads here.