March 17, 2006 1:38 PM PST

MacBook Pro Special Report: Battery problems: Shuts off when not connected to power, more

by CNET staff

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A handful of readers report an issue where the MacBook Pro either goes to sleep or shuts off completely when disconnected from external power, despite the presence of a full battery charge.

This seems to be an issue that affects a limited number of units which Apple is replacing on a case-by-case basis.

One reader writes:

"Just wanted to share some problems I?ve had with my MacBook Pro. I bought one of the first 2.0 GHz MacBook Pro?s available at the Las Vegas Apple Store. I had a problem with it that it sometimes would not run off of the battery. About 30% of the time if I were to unplug the MagSafe connector, the machine would just die. The battery indicator lights showed a full charge. If I put the machine to sleep and then unplugged it, it would usually not reboot from battery, and if it would it would come back from the Safe Sleep. Restarting using the power key while the machine was plugged it would restart using safe sleep. The battery didn?t seem loose and the contacts looked ok. I took the machine back to the Apple Store where I was lucky to exchange it for another 2 GHz unit they had in stock. "

MacFixIt reader Stephan Smith writes:

"Another MacBook Pro story of woe...ordered one, which out of the box, the battery would only charge to 78% max - even after being charged overnight. The power level button showed 4 lights, but as soon as the power cord was removed - the unit would instantly shut down. Called Apple and after 1/2 an hour of back and forth, I was told a replacement would be sent."

Another reader reports that turning off all energy saving options in the Energy Saver pane of System Preferences resolved this issue for his MacBook Pro.

David McManis writes:

"I read your article and have a fix for the MacBook pro operating off battery. The problem is due to a faulty energy saver feature. All you need to due to stop it is open system preferences, then open energy saver. Change all setting to never then click on options and uncheck the automatically reduce brightness of the display before display sleep."

In some cases, the cause has been an seemingly loose battery.

One reader reports that making sure the battery is flush with the bottom of the unit and that it clicks firmly in place eliminates the issue.

The reader writes:

"My 2GHz MBP is 2 weeks old now and worked hitch-free until now (not counting the annoying buzz or whine from the LCD). Then it started to show "no battery available" (small battery crossed out) in the status bar, while the computer was abviously running on battery power. Checked the battery state on the battery itself and the green LEDs came up nicely. Hmmm... A few hours later I got a random 'shutdown'

"Then started to closely examine the battery compartment, and found the solution: the spring-loaded latches may be mislocked (one corner of the battery sticked out maybe 1/100" or so on the bottom of the computer). Removing and reinserting the battery (making sure that it clicks firmly in place, then wiping the bottom surface by hand to "feel" that the battery case is in level with the housing) solved the problem. Looks like that the power may still flow while sensory connectors are not (or mis-) connected on the battery. And I am absolutely sure that the battery became loose while I was using it, it was firmly seated before. (I read emails laying in my bed, holding the MBP on my knees - friction may eventually loosen or work free the two sliding battery anchor latches. This could not happen with the earlier twist type anchors)."

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