My MacBook battery doesn't go up to 100% anymore and if I unplug it, it goes down very quickly. Today my mac shut down but the battery icon said 57%. Is that normal? I should have had some time left. I'm guessing I am going to have to replace it soon.

As the age of the battery increases, its ability to charge to 100% decreases. This describes the overall "health" of the battery. Apple has said that if the battery health is below 80% (NOT the same as the charge level), it is time to replace the battery. I don't know if your MacBook Battery System Preference lists the "health", but there are free apps in the App Store that will tell you what it is. Search with "battery health" in the App Store.

Thank you, Ira. I will check. It's odd, but it's at 100% now. But yesterday, even though it was plugged in, it went down. So probably losing steam.

I downloaded two different battery health apps. Neither would open even though one of them said it worked on my particular mac. Today I got a message saying "You are now running on reserve power." It recommend I connect the adapter. I WAS connected. It said I had 1% power at that time. Now it says I have 83% power. My question is even though the battery may be bad, and I'm getting warning messages, will my MacBook still work as long as I have it plugged in if it's just a battery problem? The adapter light is orange continually, not green anymore. I called a repair guy but he said Apple has the monopoly on their parts and he can't get them. He told me the off brand batteries weren't trustworthy in his experience.

I live too far away from am Apple store anyway. Plus, I don't want to wait in line like is always required because they are always busy.

Addendum: I just ran a hardware test and got the message: Battery may not be working properly, unplug adapter and plug in again and re-run test (which I did). The results were no problems found.

• Leaving the charger/adapter plugged in 24x7 will keep your MacBook running until the battery fails completely or the charger/adapter fails.

• Contact Apple Support and they will send you a shipping box for your MacBook and have it back in your hands typically within five working days.
• There is a reasonable flat fee charge for battery replacement.

REMEMBER: I have preached from this pulpit before, and dislike being repetitious, but due to changes in battery technology, ie. the switch from NiCD to Li-Ion, Apple has significantly altered their recommendations on battery charging. (Unfortunately, some of the old recommendation documents have not been removed from the web.)

1. Leaving a device on full charge for an extended length of time IS NOT RECOMMENDED
2. Fully discharging the battery periodically IS NO LONGER RECOMMENDED
3. Recent versions of iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and macOS(?) have an Optimized Charging feature that when activated attempts to bring your device to full charge just before the start of your day to MINIMIZE THE TIME THE BATTERY IS AT FULL CHARGE.
4. If you are not going to be using a battery operated device for an extended length of time, DISCHARGE THE BATTERY TO ABOUT 80% BEFORE STORING THE DEVICE.

Thanks, Joe.

Since neither Apple nor Battery University has addressed the maintenance of batteries that are never used, i.e., in machines that are always plugged in (such as mine), in years, I've defaulted to following Apple's long term storage guidance using the freeware version of AlDente to maintain a 50% charge.

I went to the AlDente sight but couldn't find a version for Catalina. Plus I read the comments and there were several complaints, including by you! I think I will pass.

[/quote]
Since neither Apple nor Battery University has addressed the maintenance of batteries that are never used, i.e., in machines that are always plugged in (such as mine), in years, I've defaulted to following Apple's long term storage guidance using the freeware version of AlDente to maintain a 50% charge. [/quote]

Yeah, it's only available for Big Sur and later (programming language issues), and it's nowhere near a finished product under any circumstances.

I had a problem with it a while back, and I trashed the latest update, because it kept asking me to jump through hoops for no apparent reason. In addition, there's no way to report problems unless you've purchased the paid version.

I have learned how to work with it, though, and it keeps my battery at 50% without requiring any attention.

(Hmmm... I just looked at the FAQs on the AlDente website, and on the one hand, it looks like my problem could have been avoided had I looked sooner, but on the other hand, I had no reason to think I needed to look before I ran into my problem. Catch-22!)

Live and learn as they say!

You might consider the possibility that bits of dust or debris are partially clogging the mating surfaces of the charger plug and MacBook port. I've experienced this with an iPhone, and the symptoms included some wonky behavior, i.e. charging sometimes happened, but sporadically.

OK, so I just got my canned air and sprayed it into the port and onto the adapter. My battery is at 86%, but the light on the adapter is still orange, though it shows green when I first plug it in. I thought it was supposed to go to green at 80%, though I may be wrong about that. I've watched for a few minutes, but the battery percentage hasn't changed. That was a good idea though. Even though the hardware test showed a good battery, I have my doubts. It could just be a problem with the adapter too. The Apple brand is $72.00 for the power adapter on Amazon. The other brands get some reviews that say those don't last. I will wait it out.



You might consider the possibility that bits of dust or debris are partially clogging the mating surfaces of the charger plug and MacBook port. I've experienced this with an iPhone, and the symptoms included some wonky behavior, i.e. charging sometimes happened, but sporadically. [/quote]

I have an older MacBook, but on mine, the charging light doesn't go to green until the battery is fully charged.

That's the way it always worked with my laptops when they had a charging light.

That's what I thought. I don't know why it starts out green for a split second then goes orange. It rarely goes to 100%. It's at 74% now.

Good to know since mine goes green for a split second and then turns orange.

I guess the green is "default," i.e., the machine doesn't stop to think when it's started up...just assumes it's fully charged until it learns otherwise.

Maybe d/l Battery Monitor <https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/50775/battery-monitor> (freeware) and see if it tells you anything helpful.

Maybe d/l Battery Monitor <https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/50775/battery-monitor> (freeware) and see if it tells you anything helpful. [/quote]

How do I interpret this? Battery App

It says your battery can only take a charge of 23% of its original capacity, and that it's currently charged to 74% of that, i.e., about 17% of its original capacity.

I'm not particularly a battery maven, but it seems very odd to me that a battery that's supposed to have a 1,000 cycle life is so badly degraded after only 255 cycles. (1,000 is an assumption without knowing exactly which MBP you're running. Exactly which one is it? Maybe add it to your profile.)

If you can live without extended battery power, just grin & bear it. Otherwise...

Right.

According to Mactracker, your MBP's battery has an expected maximum life of 1,000 cycles.

Since it's past warranty, I guess they won't make it right.

Two interesting facts from the wide world of the Internet:

1. How long is a cycle in battery life?
Each round of full discharge and then full recharge is called battery cycle life. A battery's cycle life can range from 500 to 1200. That means a life cycle of 18 months to 3 years for a typical battery.

[Note the term "full discharge". I imagine most people do not let their battery go to 0%.]

2. At what percentage should I replace my battery?
When the capacity of your iPhone battery dips below 80%, you'll see the following message: “Your battery's health is significantly degraded. An Apple Authorized Service Provider can replace the battery to restore full performance and capacity."

[Maybe plantsower never saw this message, but her battery is well below 80% (it shows 23%). And artie's math is correct—the battery will always operate at 23% or less of the charge life of a new battery.]

I just did the SMC thing as suggested by someone online. It didn't make much difference but it now says 24% instead of 23%. LOL! And no, I never saw that battery message, but then this is my MacBook pro, not my iPhone that is having battery problems.

[Maybe plantsower never saw this message, but her battery is well below 80% (it shows 23%). And artie's math is correct—the battery will always operate at 23% or less of the charge life of a new battery.] [/quote]

Just to clarify, "full discharge" is a cumulative computation, i.e., 20 x 5% discharges = 1 full discharge, as do 2 x 50% discharges.

Quite true. And the discharges can be over a period of days or weeks, so that the duration of a life cycle can be even harder to determine. That's why I think the maximum battery charge, rather than cycles, is a better indicator of battery life and power. And in the case of this thread, to me, 23% (or now 24%) is not a good sign.

You're right, it's not a good sign. I rarely use my mac without the adapter, so as long as it works with that, I'm good. When that stops, time for a new Mac. It's way too inconvenient for me to go to an Apple store from where I live. And I don't want to bother to have to send it in.

Quite true. And the discharges can be over a period of days or weeks, so that the duration of a life cycle can be even harder to determine. That's why I think the maximum battery charge, rather than cycles, is a better indicator of battery life and power. And in the case of this thread, to me, 23% (or now 24%) is not a good sign. [/quote]

I agree. % charge is more important than number of discharge cycles...considerably more important, in fact. And you're quite right about Rita's battery taking only a 23/4% charge being ominous (and that's to say the least).

But it seems to me that there should be some degree of correlation, and a battery that's only used up 1/4 of its life yet only takes 1/4 of a charge seems anomalous to me.

Has anybody got any insights into that?

I just learned something. Even though my MacBook says my battery is at 84% (battery app says it's at 84% at 9% Capacity), as soon as I unplug it to run down the hall to use the printer, it shuts down. So actually next to no battery life at all. Thankfully, it still works with adapter.

Eight-four percent of nine percent capacity means that you are at eight percent of a new battery. And despite marketing claims to the contrary, those numbers are at best a guestimate, based on arguable data, it is entirely probable your battery is incapable of supporting more than "low power" operation. I would urge you to bite the bullet and send your MacBook to Apple for battery replacement as it is possible that, if the battery fails completely, it is possible that it will not run even with the charger plugged in.

Yikes! Maybe I will send it in. I'm stubborn, but we will see. I wouldn't for sure if I didn't have my iMac backup.

Well, my computer shut down just now even though it was plugged in. I was able to get it back up but it says 0% battery. The battery app doesn't even work when it's zero. The funny thing is that the adapter light is now green. It used to be orange because it was trying to charge. Green means fully charged, right? So weird. I think I am going to just get another MacBook. I have to do this every few years anyway. They just don't last very long for me.

Yes, I could get a battery but I don't want to go to Apple or even deal with ending my Mac there. Bye, bye early 2015. It's been real!

I dunno, but it seems to me that even with a non-functional battery, your MBP should work while plugged in.

I can only guess, but the green light may mean that the battery is fully charged as respects its ability to take a charge, i.e., 0% = 100%?

Yeah, but you would think the battery app would acknowledge it. It is working now but for how long? Maybe when the battery died, the Mac didn't acknowledge the adapter, who knows. But, for now, it works. I just can't take my Mac into the other room where my printer is and use it. I have to transfer everything I want to print to the iMac and that's a pain. Thus, that's why I am looking for a new Mac per my latest post.