Low battery warning comes on too late?

Hey guys. I've been having this problem where the computer shuts down like 20 seconds after the reserve battery power warning. I literally dig into my backpack for it as soon as the warning pops up, and then as I'm plugging it in, it shuts off. The point of having the warning is to give me enough time to plug it in. Is there a way to change when the warning comes on? Say, at 15% instead of 7%? And isn't it supposed to go to sleep, not shut down? Because mine is completely shutting down less than half a minute after the low battery warning.
I'm running a 2008 Macbook Pro and have a brand spanking new battery and battery charger that I bought from the apple store about 2 weeks ago. I remember the low battery warning used to come on at around 9% when I first got it, and then it would still run a good 15 minutes after that before going to sleep.
Also, I am running it on higher performance, not better battery life. Oh and I'm still on Snow Leopard. Let me know if you need any other information. Thanks in advance.

think your battery is bad but you can also try the smc & pram reset.
SMC: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964?viewlocale=en_US
PRAM: Hold Command Option P R at startup until you hear the chime twice.

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MPB C2D fully charged at 85% low battery warning keeps coming on?

I purchased my MPB C2D back in Nov 06, recently I've been experiencing drastic drop in battery life after charging overnight. When I use my MBP the following morning, battery meter shows 85%, "low battery warning " comes on, and within 5 mins, it goes to sleep. Anyone know what the problem is?

When did you last re-calibrate the Battery ?

Why does "low battery" warning always come up when I start the iMac?

I've been getting a "low battery" warning lately when I turn on my computer. I've tried 3 sets of new AA batteries (bought from 3 different stores), but that doesn't seem to help. Of course it could be caused by the unlikely event that all three "new" battery packs were not fresh, but that's unlikely.

and you're talking about the mouse ... the keyboard ... ?
also, does the message vanish after a while? what does the battery indicator say?

No "low battery" warning anymore

I have a Macbook Pro and noticed lately that it never gives me that "low battery" warning any longer. Rather, it just completely shuts down when it runs out of juice. Oftentimes I am sitting in front of the tv and surfing the web and while I realize it's running low, it'll just shut off. In the past - and I admit I mostly use my Mac plugged in at my desk - I'd always get that warning. Why is that and how can I get the warning back? At least it would give me ample time to get it plugged in before shutdown. Thanks.

The full charge capacity of the battery actually looks pretty good for 3 to 4 years old if this is a 15" MBP, Bluesygirl. (If it is a 17" then it is not so positive)
The problem with the cycle count is actually that it is way too LOW if the battery is this age. Lithium batteries actually need to be regularly used to maintain their condition. (see http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html and http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1764220 for good advice on maximising battery life). A battery that had been used in a fashion likely to maximise battery life would probably have completed at least 100 to 150 cycles by now at that age.
The age of the battery (if it is the same as the computer) also counts against it. The "real world" life expectancy of the batteries fitted in the 2006 to 2008 generally seems to be about two to three years.
Given the comparatively good full charge capacity that System Profiler identifies it is worth doing two things. Firstly you should try to recalibrate it following the instructions in the link in my previous post. THis will give a better idea of whether the battery really does have the capacity claimed. Secondly you should take it to an Apple store or AASP to get tested. Sometimes even though batteries maintain a fairly high voltage level / total capacity they lose the ability to meet sudden high current demand situations.
You might also consider resetting your SMC ( see http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964 ), but I think it would be wise to do the calibration and get the battery tested first, given the symptoms you describe.
Cheers
Rod

Macbook no longer "sleeps" after 'low battery' warning, just suddenly dies

My macbook (just over a year old) used to give me a warning with 10 minutes left that it would sleep so as my data was not lost, if I didn't plug it in. However, recently, it has stopped doing this - instead of sleeping, if I don't get to a power source in time within 10 minutes, it simply cuts out, with the sound of the hard drive stopping - like if you shut down a frozen macbook with the power button.
This is REALLY irritating - what's going on? Why does it not sleep anymore, and is there any way to fix it?
I'm on Tiger 10.4.11, with an intel macbook...

Same Problem here. Tried several calibrations, smc and pram zap (well i guess there is no pram any longer so it zaps something else). Now I found another post where they talk about the battry 1.2 update. http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1449128&tstart=60
I remember when trying to do an battery update to 1.3 manually the update told me that it is not for my macbook. But - I found the 1.3 update Bundle in /System/Library/Configuration/BatteryUpdater.bundle
1. I Removed /System/Library/Configuration/BatteryUpdater.bundle from my system
2. rebooted
3. Emptied trash
4. Installed update 1.2 by Softwarupdate.
I will now do an SMC reset an then let the battery run low and watch what happens.
Then do a calibration.
I have the problem here in different ways. Sometimes Macbook shuts down suddenly after low battery warning, sometimes it sleep, almost never it hibernates.
My Battery was replace after showing the x symptome about a year ago but now it looks bad again
Full Capacity (in mAh): 3866
Remaining Capacity (in mAh): 1982
Power Consumtion (in mA): 1564
Voltage (in mV): 11974
Number of cycles: 148

No "Low Battery" warning on new (November 07) MacBook - Kernel Panic

Hello,
I'm not sure is this is the right forum for this, but since the problem occurs during a specific battery state, I'm going to post it here.
I just got one of the new November 07 MacBooks. The machine is great, and screams with the pre-installed Leopard.
First thing I did was plug it in to charge as I started configuring software. Once it was fully charged, I pulled the plug, and began using it on battery. My plan was to calibrate the battery, by running it all the way until it forced a sleep, then shutting down and plugging it in again, as Apple recommends.
Problem is, I never got the "Low Battery" warning, or even the sleep warning. At around 10 minutes of power left, I simply got a kernel panic. A few seconds later, the laptop just switched off.
I plugged in again for a few minutes, then ran it down again to see if I could reproduce the error, and I did get the low battery warning.
The next time the battery ran down, it gave me the kernel panic.
Is this happening to anyone else? Is it a new MacBook problem, or a leopard power management problem? I'm having no other issues at all with the MacBook or Leopard. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!

I'm a little hesitant to force a firmware update on a MacBook it wasn't meant for. These are brand new models, and I would think Apple didn't ship them with the known faulty batteries or bad firmware.
The frustrating thing is I have no way of knowing who the culprit is. Is it the brand new OS that I'm sure has a fair share of bugs? Is it the new hardware having a power control issue? Or is it a combination of Leopard and the new hardware? I was hoping to find some users who had the same problem so I could narrow it down. Battery drains out, kernel panic, then the machine shuts off after a few seconds. Funny thing is, the indicator says I have like 10 minutes or so left, but it appears that the battery must be completely dead, since it forces a panic and the machine just dies. So it might be a calibration error. The Mac thinks it has some juice, but in reality it's just about dead.
I made an appointment for the Apple store tomorrow, so we'll see what they have to say. It's otherwise running beautifully, thankfully.

I just got a "low battery warning" on my iMac... What is that all about???

Just got a low battery warning on my screen. What does it mean? What do I have to do to correct this? Could this be why it seems to take so long for pages to refresh/display; why the screen seems to frequently freeze and why I frequently see that spinning rainbow wheel?

Your pram battery probably needs renewing.
You can check which one you need here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2295?viewlocale=en_US

Low battery warning percent fixed??

I have Vaio VPCYB15AG with Win 7 Ultimate SP1 32Bit retail. In it's advanced power options even though I can set percentage value for Low battery warning, I find that the warning is given (Blinking green power LED) when battery falls to 12%.Is this level kind of hard wired into the product or will it be a software / hardware bug?Thanks

Hi mmp_2013,
Thank you for considering Sony Community!
If the LED or the light indicator is blinking, then something is going on with the battery. It could be hardware but we cannot tell right away. Please follow the steps here to isolate your issue:
Check the battery health on Vaio Care (Desktop) - If indicated as "critical" then it already hardware issue
Power cycle - Remove the battery and all peripherals -> press and hold the power button for 5 seconds OR, if the battery is not removable, remove all peripherals-> look for a battery off button on the bottom of the laptop -> push the button for 5 seconds -> you may use a safety pin if you see a pinhole.
Reset BIOS - Turn off the unit -> press and power button and immediately, keep hitting F2 key. Once in BIOS, go to Exit tab -> Get Default Values -> hit Enter -> Save changes and exit.
Download or update Sony® Shared Library, Sony® Firmware Extension Parser Device Driver, BIOS Update Utility from Sony's website based on your location or from where you purchase the laptop.
Your Vaio VPCYB15AG is an Asia-Pacific model and we have limited information about your unit.
For further assistance regarding your concern, please contact the Sony offices/Sony representative offices nearest to your place of residence in Asia Pacific region http://www.sony-asia.com/countryselector.html?hpid=countryselector:AsiaPacific. Due to proximity, they are in a better position to respond to your questions or concerns.
Hope these help.
Regards,
Vincent
If my post answers your question, please mark it as "Accept as Solution"

Low battery warning not appearing at 20% of charge left...

When the low battery warning dialog should come in?

My warning went off like at 5%, it said something that I was running in reserve battery.

Low Battery Warning doesn't appear

I used to get the warning.
I searched for it, and don't see an option to have it appear.
Not a huge issue, just that it was a handy warning.
Thanks'

It may help to train the charge and run time estimation (which the low battery warning depends on) if you run your PowerBook's battery down from 100% to 0% nonstop and then recharge it to 100% once or twice. If that does not help, try [resetting the power manager|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1431?viewlocale=en_US].

Low battery warning prompts

I got the 20% low battery warning after a standby of 59 hours and usage of 5 3/4 hours. I was browsing the web through Edge when I got the 20% warning. Less than 2 minutes later, the 15% warning showed up. I continued to browse the web for more than 5 minutes and didn't receive anymore warning. At that point I decided to charge the phone. How did I lose 5% of battery power from 20% to 15% in less than couple minutes? Does this happen to anyone? Dropping 5% in less than 2 minutes doesn't make any sense.

I was able to use my iPhone to listen to music for about an hour between the time it said 15% and from the time it just shut off. It probably just depends on what you are doing on the phone. 59 hours is a very long time on standby and it's possible that your battery reading wasn't accurate at that point.

HT1446 No low battery warning before it shuts-down

Under MAvericks OS-X, our MBP isn't giving a low battery warning before it shuts-down. And yes the battery status icon is active in the status bar.. So why no warning??

Read this earlier non-Mavericks discussion: https://discussions.apple.com/message/11218017#11218017
Phil

Strange low battery warning...

Evening all.
I recently bought a new Nike+ sensor for my touch as the battery died in the old one.
I successfully paired the sensor with my touch but when I started the app the low battery warning still showed up! thinking this was wrong, given it was a new sensor, I went for a quick jog, calibrated it and continued jogging. when I had finished it said I had done 0 miles!?!
Now thinking it was a duff sensor I took it back to the shop and got a new one. paired it again and the low battery still comes up!!
Could this be a software problem? I have paired it several times and the warning still comes up and after a jog it records a distance of 0 miles
Anyone have any ideas??
Thanks,
Andrew

When I took the above stats, I had recharged the battery just onced. Now I've gotten up to two recharges. I think you are correct, it takes a few cycles to stabilize. Thx for the comment.

No low battery warning, just shuts off

I have an Core Due Macbook back from September 06, and recently I've stopped getting that low battery warning message. Now my laptop will just shut off at 20min (sometimes even 30min) without any warning. I tried recalibrating the battery, it solved the problem for one charge (I saw the warning message once) but after that it went back to shutting off at 20min again. I've heard that Apple has extended their battery coverage, but my laptop is at 315 cycles now. I do have the extended warranty though-will that cover a replacement battery?

Hi. Recalibrating the battery does not prolong battery life. It will only help in getting a more accurate battery charge when using the computer on battery power alone. What you can do is make sure that you have the battery update and latest software from apple. Also, try resetting the SMC of your computer. Here are the links for more info. Hope these help.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303319
http://www.apple.com/support/macbook_macbookpro/batteryupdate/

No low battery warning and shut down

My MacBook is no longer showing the "low battery" warning and even with the batery status showing charge suddenly shuts down. If I check manually pressing the button of the bettery flashes 2 or 3 lights.
I have calibrated the battery several times but i am having problems doing it again because after the shut down there is still charge in the battery.
I have OS X 10.5.8 and all the software updates done.
Thanks.
Dan

Same Problem is happening to me. I have a Late 2008 13" Aluminum Macbook. If some one knows what to do please post. Thank you
Información de la batería:
Información sobre el modelo:
Número de serie: 9G84703BA3NYB
Fabricante: DP
Nombre del dispositivo: bq20z951
Pack Lot Code: 0000
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Versión del firmware: 002a
Revisión de hardware: 0005
Revisión de celda: 0100
Información sobre la carga:
Carga restante (mAh): 1223
Totalmente cargada: No
Cargando: Sí
Capacidad de plena carga (mAh): 3285
Información sobre el estado:
Número de ciclos: 182
Condición: Normal
Batería instalada: Sí
Amperaje (mA): 1253
Voltaje (mV): 11966
Ajustes de alimentación del sistema:
Alimentación de CA:
Temporizador de reposo del sistema (en minutos): 180
Temporizador de reposo del disco (en minutos): 10
Mostrar temporizador de reposo (en minutos): 20
Reinicio automático en caso de corte de alimentación: No
Activar al cambiar el modo de alimentación: No
Activar al abrir la pantalla: Sí
Activar al acceder a la red local: No
Fuente de alimentación actual: Sí
El reposo de la pantalla utiliza atenuación: Sí
Carga de la batería:
Temporizador de reposo del sistema (en minutos): 15
Temporizador de reposo del disco (en minutos): 10
Mostrar temporizador de reposo (en minutos): 5
Activar al cambiar el modo de alimentación: No
Activar al abrir la pantalla: Sí
El reposo de la pantalla utiliza atenuación: Sí
Reducir brillo: Sí
Configuración del hardware:
SAI instalado: No
Información del cargador CA:
Conectado: Sí
ID: 0x0100
Potencia eléctrica (W): 60
Revisión: 0x0000
Familia: 0x00ba
Número de serie: 0x00cd1692
Cargando: Sí
Message was edited by: Alfonso Sánchez

Low battery warning comes on too late?

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