MacBook 'Service Battery' Warning

Question

MacBook 'Service Battery' Warning

Hi all.

I was checking to see what apps used a lot of battery so I clicked on the battery indicator and at the top it said, 'Service Battery'. It also had a triangle with an exclamation mark next to it.

I am really concerned about this, as it has never happened to me and I checked the health of the battery on an app called 'Battery Health' from the Mac App Store.

Is there actually anything wrong with my battery, or does it just need to be calibrated/configured?

If it needs to be replaced, I will more than likely look at replacing it then.

Thanks.

MacBook, OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Dec 3, 2015 3:54 PM

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Answer 1

SeaPapp

Level 7

26,492 points

Dec 4, 2015 3:10 AM in response to TheAwesomeGamer

Regarding battery information you're better off using Apples in in About this Mac. 500 cycles seems to be a good life though, time to replace. Make sure you get the correct battery or you could cause more problems. OWC sells quality batteries for less than what Apple charged but more than the cheap knockoffs you can get on Amazon. Avoid ebay. http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/BAP13MBU65W/

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Answer 2

Pmintz25

Level 4

2,058 points

Dec 4, 2015 12:03 PM in response to TheAwesomeGamer

Determining battery cycle count for Mac notebooks - Apple Support

Find your model and it will tell you the max cycle count. If it is a MacBook (Not a Pro) the max is 300 or 500, except with the newest MacBooks

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Answer 3

Dec 4, 2015 12:21 AM in response to SeaPapp

Sorry, it's a MacBook7,1 A1342 model. I have upgraded it to an SSD and it has 4GB of RAM.

The health of the battery (told to me by BatteryHealth) is 76%. It says the OS X status is 'Check Battery'.

It has 496 cycles so I'm assuming that has something to do with it.

Thanks.

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Answer 4

Dec 4, 2015 11:58 AM in response to SeaPapp

Thank you for answering!

I thought it was time for a new battery but luckily enough, I have a battery in my old MacBook (exact same model as this one) that had about only 300 cycles.

I will use that as a temporary solution.

Thanks! 🙂

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Answer 5

SeaPapp

Level 7

26,492 points

Dec 3, 2015 5:20 PM in response to TheAwesomeGamer

How old is the battery? How many cycles and what is the health? Which macbook? You really haven't given us much to work with.

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