Macbook pro late 2008 battery problem

I have a macbook pro late 2008 and I've been experiencing problems with the battery. I have changed the battery two times till now and now it's telling me to service battery. I am not a heavy user and I always try to drain the battery twice a month. Can it be the power supply?
I need help

Hi there,
I seem to have the same problem. My battery indicator gives me no more than 2 1/2 hours of battery life.
I checked to see if my computer was set to better battery performance and it was.
Now initially I thought that this may because of my external display (ACD 23") and my LaCie rugged external HD, which takes power from the FW connector. But even when I disconnect both of them I still only get two and a half hours of battery life, even when I leave the computer alone to just sit there.
Now I'm guessing this isn't normal. It may take an software update to correct this. But if this doesn't get corrected this thing is useless to me. And I will no doubt return it.

Similar Messages

MacBook Pro Late-2008 Battery Can't Keep a Charge.

I understand I bought my MacBook Pro Late-2008 just before they upgraded the MacBook batteries; it's never held a good charge, so I've had to keep it plugged in. Lately I've been finding myself needing it when outlets might not be readily available.
After I remove the power cord, it doesn't stay charged for more than 3 minutes, 30 seconds (I've timed it more than once). Even with its age, this seems like a significant problem with the battery.
I'm really not sure it's worth it to spend $130 on a replacement battery, and I'm not in a position to simply get a new MacBook.
Are those third-party batteries actually legit? Is there a chance that an Apple Store might be able to take care of it? I'm well past the life of my Apple Care, obviously, but three minutes for the battery?
What is my best option? Or just suck it up and deal with having to find an outlet wherever I go?
Thanks.

There are many third party batteries that are at best suspect. I have seen on Amazon what appear to be legitimate OEM Apple batteries which I suspect are graymarket products. You may try that at your own risk. If you purchase from Apple. you will know what you will be getting and with a warranty.
Ciao.
OWC has what appears to be a battery that will fit your MBP. They are a reputable vendor for Mac compatible products,
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/BAP15MBU54RS/
Message was edited by: OGELTHORPE

MacBook Pro late 2011 battery problem

Hi everybody,
My MacBook Pro late-2011 after I upgraded to Mac OS X Maverics the battery sometimes stop recharging, and whenever I click on the battery Icon it says,
Battery is not recharging and that the power source is: power adapter, I tried resetting the System Management Conrtroller (SMC), by holding Shift-Control-Option and pwoer it worked and it recharged the battery, after 2 days the same problem appered and telling me that the battery is not recharging, any ideas
Thanks in advance.

Hi OGELTHORPE,
I hate to hear it, but thanks.
The MBP is late 2011 MacBookPro 8,2, the battery is as old as the computer, I bought it Jan 2012.
Battery Information:
Model Information:
Serial Number:          D8*******MAX
Manufacturer:          SMP
Device Name:          bq20z451
Pack Lot Code:          0
PCB Lot Code:          0
Firmware Version:          406
Hardware Revision:          2
Cell Revision:          157
Charge Information:
Charge Remaining (mAh):          4538
Fully Charged:          Yes
Charging:          No
Full Charge Capacity (mAh):          4538
Health Information:
Cycle Count:          165
Condition:          Service Battery
Battery Installed:          Yes
Amperage (mA):          0
Voltage (mV):          12600
System Power Settings:
AC Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes):          0
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes):          0
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes):          15
Wake on AC Change:          No
Wake on Clamshell Open:          Yes
Wake on LAN:          Yes
Current Power Source:          Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim:          Yes
GPUSwitch:          2
PrioritizeNetworkReachabilityOverSleep:          0
Standby Delay:          4200
Standby Enabled:          0
Battery Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes):          0
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes):          0
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes):          2
Wake on AC Change:          No
Wake on Clamshell Open:          Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim:          Yes
GPUSwitch:          2
Reduce Brightness:          Yes
Standby Delay:          4200
Standby Enabled:          0
Hardware Configuration:
UPS Installed:          No
AC Charger Information:
Connected:          Yes
ID:          0x0100
Wattage (W):          85
Revision:          0x0000
Family:          0x0085
Serial Number:          0x*****a60
Charging:          No
<Edited by Host>

MacBook Pro Late 2013 battery problem?

I have the new MacBook Retina (bought it the day it was released). The first week I used it at 100% battery charge the remaining time I got was around the 10 hour mark and slowly went down.
Now only a couple of charge cycles when I booted it up (charge at 100%) time remaining started at around 3 hours and 47 minutes and increased 10 minutes every minute or so of usage until it got to around 6 hours 07mins or a bit more.
So my battery time starts low and increases but it used to do it the other way????
Anyone know what is going on? Running Mavericks. I didn't update or change anything in between uses. The Battery Health app is saying I got around 86% battery when in fact my Mac is saying 91%.
Also does the trackpad seem a bit different in the new Retinas? Almost like it doesnt fully click when you drag items?
Thanks.

To all: Remember that notebooks with larger screen sizes are fitted with higher capacity batteries. The "8200" referred to could be a 15-inch MBP.
So stop the quessing and assuming and get a utility that has a database of accurate battery design capacity specs. I use Coconut Battery:
http://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/
That utility will accurately report the design capacity of your battery so you are not inferring some parameter of a another Mac product on yours.
And a quick comment: "Design Capacity" is a target value. Every battery is a bit different. Yours could be a little under or a little over the "nominal" value. A 2012 13-inch MBP has a nominal design capacity of 5770 maH per Coconut Battery, but mine was on the high side--about 5850 maH--when new. So don't go compalining if your is a little over or under the "design capacity." What you see in the utility is your actual capacity.

My macbook pro (late 2008) shuts down but battery is at 25-30%

My macbook pro (late 2008) shuts down but battery is at 25-30% and I don't get a low power warning box before this happens. This only happens when the power chord is not connected, and it restarts with no problems once I put the power chord in. Does this mean I need a new battery, or is it an indication of something else? Using osx 10.5.8

Mine is Unibody 15" MBP late 2008, with the exact problem as yours. It can be a sudden shut down at 25-32%, or, after upgrading to OS 10.7.2, can be hang all of sudden on battery power.
Condition on, "Replace Soon". From 4.5 - 6 hours when new, goes down to 1 - 2 hours on discrete graphics.
But after 'abusing' it for the first year in the heat of Jakarta's climate in a non AC room when doing a video editing, before moving back to a comfort AC room at home sweet home, the battery performance is still top notch comparing to other kind than Apple. Also, it caused me to replace the right fan, after a lot of hard work on that first year. Oh, and by the way, I regularly done the battery calibration, at least once or twice between 3-6 months.
Here's also an useful link about battery I found on the internet:
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batterie s
My battery condition:
Battery Information:
Model Information:
Serial Number:          6N8389BD13EB
Manufacturer:          SMP
Device Name:          bq20z951
Pack Lot Code:          0
PCB Lot Code:          0
Firmware Version:          002a
Hardware Revision:          000a
Cell Revision:          100
Charge Information:
Charge Remaining (mAh):          2192
Fully Charged:          No
Charging:          Yes
Full Charge Capacity (mAh):          2716
Health Information:
Cycle Count:          616
Condition:          Replace Soon
Battery Installed:          Yes
Amperage (mA):          254
Voltage (mV):          12392
System Power Settings:
AC Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes):          0
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes):          10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes):          15
Automatic Restart on Power Loss:          No
Wake on AC Change:          No
Wake on Clamshell Open:          Yes
Wake on LAN:          No
Current Power Source:          Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim:          Yes
GPUSwitch:          2
PrioritizeNetworkReachabilityOverSleep:          0
RestartAfterKernelPanic:          157680000
Battery Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes):          10
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes):          10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes):          5
Wake on AC Change:          No
Wake on Clamshell Open:          Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim:          Yes
GPUSwitch:          2
Reduce Brightness:          Yes
RestartAfterKernelPanic:          157680000
Hardware Configuration:
UPS Installed:          No
AC Charger Information:
Connected:          Yes
ID:          0x0100
Wattage (W):          85
Revision:          0x0000
Family:          0x00ba
Serial Number:          0x0063ac36
Charging:          Yes
Got the battery replacement today. Hopefully it will last for at least 3 years like it predecessor.

HT3053 Can I run my MacBook Pro Late 2008 without battery forever? Is it bad in long term or anything? Does it make the system less stable?

Can I run my MacBook Pro Late 2008 without battery forever? Is it bad in long term or anything? Does it make the system less stable?
My battery got swollen (and I unfortunately noticed it very late and might have be running with it for months, which potentially explains all the crashes everyday and the trackpad not working anymore, the Apple test also says I have a bar of ram broken...) and I had to remove it because the back pannel did not close anymore... Can I still use my MBP normally forever that way? I was planning on buying a new mac anyway but maybe waiting for the next iMac upgrade in the year... Should I wait?

Other than the system shutting down instantly if you have a power outage, whcih could corrupt the OS. Nothing else bad will happen.

Macbook Pro (late) 2008 won't recognize HD and MAC OS X installed, but recognizes SAME HDD with Windows installed ... where is the problem !???D a

Macbook Pro (late) 2008 won't recognize HDD and MAC OS X installed, but recognizes SAME HDD with Windows installed ... where is the problem !???
And HDD is APPLE certified ( 250 GB )

Hello JashaCOLD,
Thank you for the details of the issue you are experiencing with your external hard drive. I found an article with steps you can take when an external device is not being recognized.
I recommend following the steps in the section titled "Top troubleshooting tips" in the following article:
USB and FireWire Quick Assist
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1151
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
Best,
Sheila M.

MacBook pro (late 2008) shutting down even without the battery

Hello
I have a MacBook pro late 2008 model, recently it started to randomly shut down.
I have tried the following
- Reseting Pram
- Reseting the SMC
- Recalibrating the battery
- New hard drive
- Returned to original RAM (from 4 to 2Gb)
- Removed the battery and run with the MagSafe only
- Downloaded a fan control program to run it at max and verify if this was not a heating issue (although this also happens right after starting the laptop)
Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm already loosing hope on my Mac :(
Thanks for any help that you could provide

Hi V,
Even though the symptoms don't match up exactly, you may have the NVIDIA issue. First, go to System Profiler > Hardware > Graphics/Displays and see if you have the GeForce 8600M GT GPU. This is the GPU covered under the free repair program. While there, also look at PCIe Lane Width. If it says anything other than x16, the GPU has issues (but this is only one potential symptom). If you have the 8600 GPU, bring the MBP to an Apple Store or AASP for free testing. If Apple's free test confirms the issue, repair is free. Read all about it here: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377
Also, whether you have the 8600 or not, you should run all the updates in Software Update.

Instaling ML on Macbook pro late 2008 from dmg problem

Hello all
a friend of mine has a macbook pro late 2008 with snow leopard installed.
He wanted me to clean install the machine and install ML on it
i checked the requirements and i saw that this is possible
went on my mac mini and restored the image file to a usb stick and holding option key while booting i started the process
first erased the hard drive and then back to main screen press install ML
the next screen after confirming that i agree the dialog box was reading tyhe instalation files..it went throughh till the last bit and then just stuck there!
left it almost all night and nothing happened
Any ideaw on how to proceed?
Maybe the installation image that i have used is only for my mac mini and that is the reason that this happens?
a possible solution is to install snow leopard again and inform him to buy the software so as to be machoine specific from the mac app store?
Any help will be much appreciated
Many thanks

Your friend has to purchase OS X Mountain Lion with his/her Apple ID. If you install OS X Mountain Lion without having purchased it with his/her Apple ID, he/she won't be able to reinstall OS X Mountain Lion if it gets damaged, so this is dangerous.
He/She must purchase OS X Mountain Lion, so he just have to open  > Software Update and install all available updates. Then, open App Store and purchase OS X Mountain Lion, so it will be downloaded into his/her MacBook and the Mountain Lion installer will show up when the download finishes, so just follow the steps to upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion.
He/She should make a backup of his/her files with Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner before upgrading, and also, check if the applications are compatible > http://www.roaringapps.com
The OS X Mountain Lion version used is the same for all Macs (except the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display, and the Late 2012 Mac mini and iMac because of driver problems), so this is not a problem

I have a MacBook Pro late 2008 edition with 2 Gigs of RAM and running Mavericks. When trying to download Yosemite from the App Store it gives me an error message. Anyone has a similar problem?

MacBook Pro late 2008 edition with 2 Gigs of RAM and running Mavericks (10.9.5). It gives me an error message when I try to download Yosemite

All,
I thought it may be related to spaces in the path in which the script was called from. I tried having the ODBC command script in another directory but the same thing happens. It will give me the "CONFIGSYSDSN: Unable to create a data source for the 'Oracle in OraClient10g_home1' driver: Could not load the setup or translator library with error code -2147467259". As soon as the script is done running I can manually double click the script and it adds the DSN fine.
Thanks,
Clif Bridegum

Macbook Pro (late 2008) memory upgrade problem

Hi,
I have an Macbook Pro (late 2008) 15'' 2.53GHz, 4GB DDR3, GeForce 9400m/9600M GT
4GB ram are by default. I tried to upgrade ram to 8GB, but my MBP doesn't recognize more than 4GB.
At Apple website I found information that maximum supported RAM memory is 4GB (which means that I cannot upgrade my MBP with 8GB of RAM), what isn't ok because it is a Pro machine. Are there some chipset drivers upgrade or BIOS firmware upgrade to let notebook to be able to has 8GB?

At Apple website I found information that maximum supported RAM memory is 4GB...
Yes, and that same information appeared in the specifications for your machine when you decided to buy it, and also in the owner's manual that came with it. So it's not a surprise — or at least it shouldn't be.
In spite of that information, and without support from Apple, you can put 6GB of RAM into it in the form of one 2GB and one 4GB module.

Macbook Pro Late 2008 Boot Issue

Hello All!
So I have an issue i would like to throw into the ring and see if I get any responses I have not thought of yet. Let me give you a quick backstory to my recent macbook adventures.... I will start with a quick prelude story.
Chapter One:
Purchased a used Macbook Pro, Late 2008 2.53ghz, 4gb DDR3 ram with no charger off ebay. And yes, I should know better. But honestly, it only had a cracked screen but still worked perfectly connected to an external monitor and i could not pass on the price of it.
Chapter Two:
After recieving my purchase, I determined that it was just a cracked cover over the LCD screen which is easily replaced, but the backlight was out on the LCD. So i ordered a new LCD. The new LCD did not fix my issue, which then pointed me to a problem on the motherboard. I then sent it out and had it repaired.
Chapter Three:
Upon recieving my newly repaired macbook, I installed a new SSD drive, battery and replaced the screen cover for the newly installed LCD. It looks Fantastic if I do say so myself! I then proceded to install lion and I have a perfect running Macbook Pro for less than 700 bucks after all was said and done.
Chapter Four:
Now, at this point you should know why I bought it... I use it for djing. That is it. There is nothing else on this. No apps, programs, or scripts. It has an updated lion OS on it and my serato itch Djing software. There isnt even any music on it as i store that on an external 3T WD elements drive. (I only installed an 80gb SSD for the OS system). Unfortunately i have had some instances where the Mac Pro has just shut down completely while im spinning! Not good for business!
Chapter Five:
Over the course of the last year I have noticed some things happening. Longer than normal boot times (especially since it has an SSD in it this seems wierd to me) and crashing of the Itch software while trying to analyze music or just not closing itch at all when im done playing a show and having to press and hold the power button to turn off the mac. Now for the kicker... Unbeknowst to me, apparently you cant use a 65W charger on a macbook that requires an 85W charger, this i just recently learned. The charger i was using was a 65W from a white 13 inch macbook 2006. I just recently aquired the 85W charger.
This brings us to the present.....
Here is the issue. I was analyzing my music files using itch, when suddenly & randomly one of the 2 analyzing indicators would just stop analyzing the track it was on... This leaves only one analyzer bar going and the other just stuck where it is (16000 songs will take awhile with only one analyzer going). If i stop analyzing and restart it, it picks up where it left off and continues for a bit and stops again, but its never the same track or same length of time before it stops analyzing. Now I have tried this with both Lion and Snow Leopard (the white macbook 2006 has snow) and it appears to happen with either OS.
So I decided to install Snow on my Mac Pro 2008. For some reason, and I dont know why, it would not let me install snow to the partion I made on the drive. The disc would just keep rebooting the Mac pro over and over again. I know for a fact that snow works because I took the drive out of the white Macbook 2006 and put it into the Mac Pro 2008. Booted right up.
So, I have re-installed itch on lion... Still has the same problem with lion.
I have restored a copy of snow to the partioned hard drive of my Mac Pro 2008 from my white macbook 2006. This seems to be the only way to do this if i want snow on my Mac Pro 2008 since it won't boot Snow from disc or USB. Installed a new copy of itch, still the same problem.
So my question is this.... Is it hardware or software?
And to stop those from putting the obvious, I have done all the PVRAM, SMC etc resets!! I am not some 12yr old trying to make daddys computer work again because i used it like i shouldn't have. Im looking for something besides the obvious!
Sorry, but I felt the entire story needed to be told in order to get the responses I'm looking for....
And thanks for taking the time to read about my issues! Hopefully someone can point me in the direction I need to go to get this to stop doing what it's doing. I will be more than happy to answer any and all questions concerning this issue as best I can.

The heat generated may be a function of what you are doing on the Internet. Watching videos will stress the CPU/GPU and create heat and result in faster fan speeds.
First try a SMC and PRAM resets:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3964
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14222?viewlocale=en_US
If there is no change, post back.
Ciao

MacBook Pro late 2008 no longer working with Airport Express

Hi,
since a few days I have big problems with my MacBook Pro (late 2008) and my Airport Express. The MacBook can't find the airport express anymore, even not with the airport utility...
The Airport Express is correctly configured as my Ipod, Blackberry and Dell pc are connecting to it and do have internet access...
I can only manage the Airport Express when I'm directly connected to it with an ethernet cable.
My brother has an airport expreme, I tested it with my MacBook Pro and there it just works fine...
Can anyone help me? Has it something to do with an update for Mac OS X or the firmware from the Airport Express?
Many thanks in advance!

Thanks for the response,
1. I live in Atlanta, close enough to an Apple store. But I just know that going there will probably mean I'll have to get the logic board replaced.
2. The only thing I noticed before the first USB port started acting funny was that my battery status changed to "Service Battery". I plan on replacing it this week too.
3. Nope only difference is that my battery drains kind of fast. After about 3-4 hours of my normal usuage with it (Internet, music, videos, and sometimes using Logic) it will be time to hook up the charger.
Would replacing the battery do anything? I'm not thinking it would but figure it'd be worth a shot since I've got to replace it anyway.
And to goofyziggy,
I too noticed that most people who had this problem had some version of OSX 10.8.x

Random hard freezing issues, Windows 8 64-bit on Macbook Pro (Late 2008)

Hi,
I recently upgraded to OS X 10.8.3 and got a hold on copy of Windows 8 64-bit. As I'm running on my old trustworthy 15 inch Macbook Pro (Late 2008), my hardware is officially unsupported. Over the years I've had XP, Vista, Win7 32-bit and 64-bit running running on the same machine, and thought I'd give Win8 a chance.
To be able to install Win8 on my unsupported hardware, I tricked the Bootcamp assistant that I was going to install Win7, and after the reboot and start of the Win7 installation, I exited the installer, rebooted, switched DVD to Win8 and did the installation from there. So far so good. For installing the Bootcamp drivers, I followed the instructions in https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4894920?tstart=90.
Now, the machine runs just fine with Windows 8, and I've installed some basic third party applications (Firefox, Spotify, Steam). However, I get completely random hard freezes on the machine (sound looping, no other activity whatsoever) during normal use. These can occur 20 minutes after start, or 3-4 hours in. The freezing behavior is very much similar to how my model can behave under overheating conditions (which mostly have occured in past Windows versions while gaming), however overheating doesn't seem to be the issue here (based on simple palpation ).
Have anyone experienced a similar problem, or know something about it? My current idea is that some weird things are going on with the Bootcamp drivers, so unless anyone comes up with a suggestion I might try doing a rollback to the point before I installed the drivers to see what I can make of it.
Thanks!

Had a few similar short system freezes, after installing Windows 8 x64 on 13” MacBook Pro Mid-2010 with BootCamp 5.0.5033.
There is a suggestion that DisableDynamicTick may fix the problem: https://discussions.apple.com/message/21565295#21565295. There were similar topics at Microsoft forums: 1, 2, 3. It was said “that this will likely reduce system battery life, so it should be undone when you update your Windows build or if it doesn't resolve your issue”, and that “this problem is resolved in the release versions of Windows 8”.
Another possibility is that there is indeed a buggy driver, within BootCamp 5.0.5033, or a 3rd party, like a wireless network driver in the following case http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-performance/system-fr eeze-randomly-after-installing-windows-8/49488183-26cf-4389-af21-a85dc366c99a?pa ge=2#LastReply.
The problem has been noticeable on my MacBook, but not annoying enough yet to spend time troubleshooting. If you find a robust solution, using the links above or other method, it would be interesting to know.
HTH

MacBook Pro (Late 2008) won't start up

Since December 2012, my MacBook Pro (late 2008) refuses start up. After trying many, many things (from online forums - nothing worked), the solution I found by hit and miss is to heat up the back of the laptop in front of my fireplace (or with a hair dryer), to remove the battery, to wait a few seconds and then to put it back in; after doing this, it turns on without a fuss and remains in perfect running condition until I turn it off again. I now leave it on 24/7 when at home, and I don't dare taking it away with me again... Seems to me a contact got loose and the heat expands it just enough to make it work again. Manufacturing problem?
Has anybody else got the same or a similar problem? I hope to fix this without going to an Apple store if possible, as it's not under warranty any more...
By the way, I have since replaced the battery and the hard disk, but that particular problem remains; I'm running OS X 10.8.2.

It coule be one of two things:
1) Your hard drive has become corrupted, and you'll have to reinstall the OS and cut your losses.
2) Your logic board is fried. I seriously hope that this isn't the problem, but if it is, then it's time for a new mac.
My macbook pro was stuck on a bootup loop, and I finally had to reinstall the OS. This fixed my problem. On the other hand, I had this same problem on my iMac, and an OS reinstall didn't do anything.
Before making any judgements, take it to the genius bar and get some expert advice.

Macbook pro late 2008 battery problem

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