# Macbook won't charge the battery!



## gtgt

I haven't used my Macbook for a few weeks and the battery went dead. Since then, the Macbook wont charge it. The plug just stays green and provides power to the MB, but not the battery.
I tried zapping the pram and holding the power button for 5 seconds while the battery was out and the cord was unplugged. Neither worked.
Any thoughts on how to fix it?


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## monokitty

Do any lights come on or blink when the button on the battery is pressed? If not, the battery is toast. (Beyond hope and repair.)


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## lennui

gtgt said:


> I haven't used my Macbook for a few weeks and the battery went dead. Since then, the Macbook wont charge it. The plug just stays green and provides power to the MB, but not the battery.
> I tried zapping the pram and holding the power button for 5 seconds while the battery was out and the cord was unplugged. Neither worked.
> Any thoughts on how to fix it?


Same thing just happened to me today. I'm off to get a new battery. I got 21 months out of this one with some pretty heavy applications running on battery power and 473 cycles out of it. Not too bad I guess. I just hate the idea of shelling out $159 for a new battery because I'm uneasy about trying one of the other replacement brands that are cheaper.


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## BigDdy31

lennui said:


> Same thing just happened to me today. I'm off to get a new battery. I got 21 months out of this one with some pretty heavy applications running on battery power and 473 cycles out of it. Not too bad I guess. I just hate the idea of shelling out $159 for a new battery because I'm uneasy about trying one of the other replacement brands that are cheaper.



Before anyone runs out to buy a new (and expensive) battery, call Apple and be persistent because there is evidently something of a 'stealth' battery recall going on with MacBook and MacBook Pro. Some folks say that even though they are out of warranty, they have gotten new batteries due to defects. I figure it's worth a try before shelling out the cash.

And Lars, thanks for the tip. I've got an almost identical problem to gtgt's. Mine has the green power light but no lights on the batt at all. Guess it's cooked. I'll be trying to get the defect replacement as well.

Cheers!


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## Pete

there's common issue with macbook and macbook pro batteries. apple has a software patch that fixes this. if that doesnt work and the battery is under 300 cycles apple may replace the battery. for more info see below

Apple - Support - MacBook and MacBook Pro Battery Update


battery fix About Battery Update 1.2

my macbook battery recently did the same thing though i let it "sleep" on the little charge that battery had for 4-5 hours. then restarted (it totally died) attached the AC and let it fully charge now it works great.


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## lennui

They won't exchange my battery, I've talked to 3 agents at apple so far. Apparently because I have 473 cycles on my battery that I "got enough time out of it".

I haven't purchased a new one yet, I'm waiting until right before I go to school in Sept. If I'm only getting on average 21 months out of the battery I'm not wasting any of it right now.


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## ruffdeezy

@ gtgt
How old is your macbook?

@ lennui
That is quite a long time for a battery and within the average life expectancy. Look on ebay for a cheaper one if you dont want to drop 150 for the oem model.


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## lennui

I don't mind paying the $150 on it. I did get a lot of time out of it. What gets me is it just died all the sudden. No signs or anything. It was sleeping for about 7 hours and then nothing.

The rather annoying thing right now is the a/c adapter. The quick release on it is great until you have no battery backup. Now anytime it releases or the cats accidentally pull it I have to reboot


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## thedave

*same thing here...*

having the same problem - had left my battery unused for about a month, and when i went to use it again the battery was totally dead (right now system profiler says no battery is installed at all). works fine on ac, but shuts off the second i unplug it. also tried zapping the pram to no avail 
had very few cycles on it, so maybe i'll try to hit up apple for a replacement, despite being long out of warranty.
does anyone have a link for more info on the 'stealth recall' ?
cheers
dave


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## chas_m

lennui said:


> They won't exchange my battery, I've talked to 3 agents at apple so far. Apparently because I have 473 cycles on my battery that I "got enough time out of it".
> 
> I've had my BlackBook for about a year and a half now, and use it frequently for presentations so it goes "out" with me a lot as well as being my main computer.
> 
> So far, 61 cycles. How you got 473 in less than two years I can't fathom, unless you ran the battery all the way down EVERY SINGLE DAY and charged it up every single night.
> 
> With that kind of usage pattern, I agree with Apple -- you got your time out if it.


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## zuluedison

Sorry I have to disagree chas. People use their computers for different things. As student I use my laptop much more than you, and my laptop (currently exhibiting the signs detailed above, despite working completely fine 2 hours ago) has 471 cycles.

Here is the problem, apple rates their batteries at about 1000 cycles...so if mine only got 471 and then stopped working and they won't replace it, that's really lame, and I can garuntee this will be the last apple product I will buy. The rule isn't 1000 cycles--unless you use your computer a lot. if it was the situation would be different, and I wouldn't have bought the product.

I want to buy a product that performs as described, deceptive advertising is not ok in my book.


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## broad

whoa, whoa there tiger..where did you get 1000 cycles from? the new unibody batteries are "rated" for 1000 cycles, but no one knows yet how many cycles apple will allow before considering the battery to have failed under use. 

also i can tell you there is definitely no "stealth" battery recall going on. if your battery tests as "bad" on the battery test and you are within warranty it gets replaced...at 470 cycles i can pretty much guarantee you your battery will show as consumed, meaning you have used it to the point where it is worn out...there are no replacements issued in that case. 

which computer do you have zuluedison?


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## zuluedison

LOL what?

so you agree that Apple has stated that they are rated for 1000 cycles, but you think getting literally less than half of that is an appropriate amount? I call that false advertising. Look if I had bought the battery and they had said 500 or even 600 cycles I'd be fine with this, but they didn't, they said 1000, which is MORE THAN DOUBLE what I have gotten. that is a big difference.

As for the info, I have a macbook alu unibody late 2008 (not pro, I got it in that weird timeframe before they named them pro's)
My battery capacity is still at 96%, so its plenty healthy. (and was working completely fine as of 4 hours ago). I will freely admit I have actually used my macbook even more than lennui, with 482 cycles in 17 months meaning about .94 cycles a day (not literally, but as an average. obviously there were many days when I didn't use it and some where I used it a lot), but regardless, if the case is that they only claim that it gets 1000 cycles with limited use then they need to state that. 

Before you start saying that it is unusual for someone to use their laptop as much as I have remember that Apple heavily targets their laptops towards the College student market (in fact I would say close to 90% of the students on my campus have macbooks, it's bizarre to walk into a classroom and see them all out to say the least, haha). In doing so Apple obviously knows the usage hours that their machines get on average in this environment, they aren't dummies. But then to continue to "rate" them at 1000 cycles if that isn't really accurate is false advertising.

I understand that I use my computer a lot, but it is not in the warranty information, nor in the guide book that you should not use your computer a lot. Immagine if you bought a car and the dealership told you, oh its rated to 200,000 miles, but only if you drive it 2 times a week. That is basically what you are telling me now.


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## IllusionX

I have read apple will NOT replace non-unibody batteries if it reached 350 cycles.


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## adam.sn

Ebay macbook/ mbp batteries are pretty cheap these days... $50 instead of $150. 

And are you sure its the battery and not the logic board. My logic board went and it had the same symptoms yours does. Plug in a new battery at the apple store before you buy it. I just skipped replacing my logic board and got a new MBP.


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## Mckitrick

zuluedison said:


> so you agree that Apple has stated that they are rated for 1000 cycles, but you think getting literally less than half of that is an appropriate amount? I call that false advertising.
> 
> Immagine if you bought a car and the dealership told you, oh its rated to 200,000 miles, but only if you drive it 2 times a week. That is basically what you are telling me now.


I would expect that those 1000 cycles are only during the warranty period and not forever.
A four year old battery with 300 cycles is probably not as good as a one year old battery with 400 cycles.

With the car anology, they always say X amount of miles or Y amount of time. Things deteriorate with age regardless of use (including ourselves - LOL!)


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## zuluedison

Went in today to the apple store and they were really no help at all. The guy totally skirted telling me what the problem was. But basically said it was "probably" the board. 

So previous discussion aside, I think we can all agree that 17 months is way too short of a time for the logic board to start failing, and they want 250 bucks to fix it? Excuse me?? it's less than 5 months out of warranty and the core freakin component of the computer fails for no reason and its my problem?

They told me I could have bought applecare...which they also said would have been about 250 bucks, so great...Now my nice laptop is a nice desktop...which is really annoying.


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## broad

> As for the info, I have a macbook alu unibody late 2008 (not pro, I got it in that weird timeframe before they named them pro's)
> My battery capacity is still at 96%, so its plenty healthy. (and was working completely fine as of 4 hours ago).


if you are a student, i sincerely hope you pay a little more attention in school than you do when ranting and raving on the internet

the battery in the alu macbook isnt a 1000 cycle battery. those were only introduced in the 13" models last june when the 13" pro was launched. its a completely different battery with completely different characteristics. 

Apple - MacBook Pro - Meet the new MacBook Pro family.

click on "watch the battery video" for a little explanation about the differences between yours and the new ones

as i mentioned above, if you have 470+ cycles on anything but a new unibody battery, then the battery will show as "consumed" rather than "bad", meaning it has expired through use and needs to be replaced at your expense

think about it like this: if you buy a car and drive it 23 hours a day, you are going to wear through tires quicker than a guy who drives his car 1 hour a day.


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## broad

also what do you mean "probably" the board? did they troubleshoot it with a known good battery to determine the cause of the issue? if not run, don't walk, to an AASP or another apple store where they understand the basics of troubleshooting


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## zuluedison

broad said:


> if you are a student, i sincerely hope you pay a little more attention in school than you do when ranting and raving on the internet
> 
> the battery in the alu macbook isnt a 1000 cycle battery. those were only introduced in the 13" models last june when the 13" pro was launched. its a completely different battery with completely different characteristics.
> 
> Apple - MacBook Pro - Meet the new MacBook Pro family.
> 
> click on "watch the battery video" for a little explanation about the differences between yours and the new ones
> 
> as i mentioned above, if you have 470+ cycles on anything but a new unibody battery, then the battery will show as "consumed" rather than "bad", meaning it has expired through use and needs to be replaced at your expense
> 
> think about it like this: if you buy a car and drive it 23 hours a day, you are going to wear through tires quicker than a guy who drives his car 1 hour a day.



Well to begin with your ridiculous post (and I mean that in the nicest way possible) it is pretty difficult to find information on the unibody non pro's, so if you can point me to where apple shows what exactly they rate MY macbooks battery at, I would really appreciate it. 

Next off, as I stated my battery is actually fine EVEN WITH 470+ cycles, in fact its better than fine, the health is still at 96%. 

So as it turns out it has absolutely nothing to do with the battery, even with me using it that much. So please point me to where (and I am asking this with sincerity, not trying to offend you, really.) apple rates my macbooks specific battery. I am having a hard time finding it. but either way we can all be happy to know my battery is actually doing great...


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## zuluedison

broad said:


> also what do you mean "probably" the board? did they troubleshoot it with a known good battery to determine the cause of the issue? if not run, don't walk, to an AASP or another apple store where they understand the basics of troubleshooting



Yeah listen to this, it was ridiculous..

He tried to have me agree to pay the 250$ to which I said "Well do you mind if we check another battery to see if that is the problem?", to which he responded, "I guess it couldn't hurt, right?"
  

I wanted to slap him. Of course it couldn't hurt, just put a damn battery in man.

What does the term AASP stand for?
I don't think there is another apple store near by enough, so thats a bit out of the question. Of course no I'm confused to how it could possibly be my logic board, because if that was failing shouldn't, oh I don't know, my whole computer be pretty shot?


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## broad

are you on glue?


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## zuluedison

sorry I'm confused by your post. 

I took it to an apple store, and they did a really poor job of testing it. So you recommended I take it somewhere else. To which I responded basically "Yeah, they did a terrible job testing it, so bad that even *I* was the one (between the employee and me) that had to recommend that we even test the battery, which is what I told him the problem was in the first place. 

So you respond to that by insulting me and offering nothing constructive or remotely helpful. thanks man, really cool. :clap:


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## broad

just to summarize...

you entered a thread started by a poster who was experiencing battery issues, proclaim that your laptop is "exhibiting the signs detailed above", then start spouting off some jibberish about your battery not lasting 1000 charges (when no one, apple included has ever claimed that it would)

then 2 posts later you post saying your battery is fine, and is actually better than fine? this is in the same thread where you were *just* bemoaning your battery a few posts above? 

you don't seem to know a lot about computers and yet you are running around half-cocked making silly statements that don't make a lot of sense like:

"of course no I'm confused to how it could possibly be my logic board, because if that was failing shouldn't, oh I don't know, my whole computer be pretty shot?"

it kind of ensures that anything relevant you may say will get lost in the shuffle a bit. 

take a look in the "troubleshooting" section of this board..people come on here all the time, detail their issues and get advice and help. look at how they post, then look at how you posted and try to figure out the difference between your angle and theirs...


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## zuluedison

broad said:


> just to summarize...
> 
> you entered a thread started by a poster who was experiencing battery issues, proclaim that your laptop is "exhibiting the signs detailed above", then start spouting off some jibberish about your battery not lasting 1000 charges (when no one, apple included has ever claimed that it would)


you seem to find it ridiculous that I changed my opinion about the battery. The facts changed...so of course I changed my opinion, it would be stupid of me not too. It seemed at first that my battery failed very prematurely. As it turns out it doesn't appear to be my batteries fault at all, despite exhibiting many of the same problems as the original posters. When that turned out to be the case, then obviously you'd have to be stubborn and stuck in your opinion and not care about the facts to not change your opinion. I am not here to ignore information and make ridiculous claims, I'm here to figure out whats wrong with my computer and see if anyone had any helpful advice and had had problems similar to mine...

Ok, then please as I have politely asked, tell me where I can find the information on MY battery. You keep saying its not 1000 cycles, but I am having a hard time finding information proving what it actually is... My computer is obviously most closely related to the current macbook pro 13" as it is almost the exact computer and we all know the "pro" designation upgrade from my laptop was largely a change in status, while the machine didn't change much.



broad said:


> then 2 posts later you post saying your battery is fine, and is actually better than fine? this is in the same thread where you were *just* bemoaning your battery a few posts above?


right...because my computer was exhibiting the same symptoms as the original posters, but after taking it into the apple store, where they were completely unhelpful and didn't even bother checking the battery itself until I recommended it, it turns out it wasn't the battery.

HOWEVER then this poster mentioned...



adam.sn said:


> Ebay macbook/ mbp batteries are pretty cheap these days... $50 instead of $150.
> 
> *And are you sure its the battery and not the logic board. My logic board went and it had the same symptoms yours does. Plug in a new battery at the apple store before you buy it. I just skipped replacing my logic board and got a new MBP.*


so I decided to look into that.



broad said:


> you don't seem to know a lot about computers and yet you are running around half-cocked making silly statements that don't make a lot of sense like:
> 
> "of course no I'm confused to how it could possibly be my logic board, because if that was failing shouldn't, oh I don't know, my whole computer be pretty shot?"
> 
> it kind of ensures that anything relevant you may say will get lost in the shuffle a bit.


Maybe you need to re-read what you quoted from me...I am clearly stated and admitting that I AM confused, and to the best of my knowledge the logic board is pretty important, and if it was failing I'd be in trouble, and I would assume my computer wouldn't be working much at all. I am looking for help, not attacking your dear apple.



broad said:


> take a look in the "troubleshooting" section of this board..people come on here all the time, detail their issues and get advice and help. look at how they post, then look at how you posted and try to figure out the difference between your angle and theirs...


I certainly hope everyone is as helpful and nice as you. 

you seem to find it ridiculous that I changed my opinion about the battery. The facts changed...so of course I changed my opinion, it would be stupid of me not too.


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