Retina macbook pro battery says charged but computer thinks not

Question

Level 1

15 points

Retina macbook pro battery says charged but computer thinks not

I've been having this issue lately.

In the morning I'll open up the computer and hit esc to wake it from sleep. sometimes it's all fine and comes to life, but often it will come to life, show say 60% battery life. I'll then start doing something with the computer and the screen will just go dark. I can't get it to come back to life and hitting esc or power doesn't do anything until finally a dead battery indicator pops up on the screen.

So, I'll plug the laptop in and the indicator will start to show charging and about 1-2 minutes later it will allow me to start it again from ? sleep ? and then login and what does the battery charge then say 62%.

So the battery isn't actually dead, but the computer THINKS it is dead.

this has all started happening just since the install of el capitan.

rMBP 15" 2012 model, 2.6. 16GB, etc.

Posted on Oct 11, 2015 4:06 PM

Reply

Answer 1

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

Oct 11, 2015 4:09 PM in response to tivoboy

Reset the SMC and NVRAM:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063

Ciao.

Reply

Answer 2

tivoboy Author

Level 1

15 points

Oct 12, 2015 10:42 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

Thanks.

I should have mentioned I have tried resetting both SMC and PRAM before, is the NVRAM different?

Reply

Answer 3

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

Oct 12, 2015 10:48 AM in response to tivoboy

tivoboy wrote:

is the NVRAM different?

Yes it is different. Pleas read the link contents. If there is no change, a reinstall of the OSX may be in order.

Ciao.

Reply

Answer 4

tivoboy Author

Level 1

15 points

Oct 13, 2015 9:56 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

Thanks,

I did both again.. the NVRAM seems to be the same as the PRAM set that I had already done. We'll see.

question though. something now appears to have happened since doing those two resets yesterday.. the SCREEN BRIGHTNESS is dimmer.. I would also keep the screen brightness three clicks down from high, even on battery (and yes, in energy prefs having the "dim on battery" UNCHECKED so they would be the same across bat/powered) and yet today the brightness is lower regardless. Is this something that would have been reset as to thresholds in el capitan and only now since doing SMC or NVRAM/PRAM resets is now at a lower threshold?

Would seem to be quite a little trick if that is the case.

Reply

Answer 5

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

Oct 14, 2015 7:28 AM in response to tivoboy

tivoboy wrote:

I did both again.. the NVRAM seems to be the same as the PRAM set that I had already done. We'll see.

When I said they were different, I meant the NVRAM and the SMC. The NVRAM is the same as the PRAM (old designation). Pardon for the misinformation.

question though. something now appears to have happened since doing those two resets yesterday.. the SCREEN BRIGHTNESS is dimmer.. I would also keep the screen brightness three clicks down from high, even on battery (and yes, in energy prefs having the "dim on battery" UNCHECKED so they would be the same across bat/powered) and yet today the brightness is lower regardless. Is this something that would have been reset as to thresholds in el capitan and only now since doing SMC or NVRAM/PRAM resets is now at a lower threshold?

The SMC addresses the display brightness. Try it again and see if there is any change. If not, then the best option is a genius bar appointment for a free evaluation.

Ciao.

Reply

Answer 6

tivoboy Author

Level 1

15 points

Oct 28, 2015 7:53 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

So, after having done both of these things it appears to be happening again.. not really sure where to go, it's almost like the iphone 9.0 problem I had, phone would apparently shut off, show me the battery sign but when plugged in and getting going again it would show 50% battery.

This thing is usually in the AM, the laptop starts up fine I'm working, opening windows and tabs etc, and the the screen just goes dark, machine appears to go to sleep and several clicks of the esc or power button wake it from sleep but only to show the Battery icon. I plug in the power, again several clicks of the esc or power button and it finally wakes up and everything is as it was and charging with 60% battery or so. What IS this?

Reply

Answer 7

Duane

Level 10

124,267 points

Oct 28, 2015 9:58 AM in response to tivoboy

Hold down the option key and click the Battery icon in the menu bar. Does it say "Condition: Normal"? If not, what does it say?

Also you can install the app "Battery Health" (from the App store). It will give you many details about your battery.

Reply

Answer 8

tivoboy Author

Level 1

15 points

Oct 28, 2015 10:43 AM in response to Duane

Yes, battery says normal. And I run that battery app as well as others (not all at the same time)

got about 560 cycles on this machine and while my max is down to about 6400 (7100 usually after a full recalibration) I'm not sure why it would show 40-50%, and then all of a sudden thinks it can't power the machine.

Reply