battery problems

mark campion · Apr 17, 2007

hi
i bought a new macbook in january. No problems logging on with my power adapter. Nothing happening with my battery though. the icon on the right of the menu bar has an 'x' on it !?!
what's going on?
mark

christm · Apr 17, 2007

does the battery hold ANY charge ?

cwa107 · Apr 17, 2007

Try resetting the PRAM (start with the computer turned off, press and hold Command-Option-P-R, wait for the system to chime 3 times and then release). If not, check with AppleCare.

plpete · Apr 17, 2007

i got my mbp in mid feb. it was a refurb but the battery has taken a dump on me too. it holds the charge for about 10-15mins and then it just turns off on me. when i turn it on the battery health is 0-5%. ill get that replaced since im still under the warranty.

cwa107 · Apr 17, 2007

plpete said:
i got my mbp in mid feb. it was a refurb but the battery has taken a dump on me too. it holds the charge for about 10-15mins and then it just turns off on me. when i turn it on the battery health is 0-5%. ill get that replaced since im still under the warranty.

I hate to be a downer, but the Apple hardware warranty specifically excludes items that are considered to be "consumables", and batteries are specifically covered under that clause. You can read it here. I would recommend giving them a call at your earliest convenience to double-check that, but it's not uncommon for notebook manufacturers to have a shorter-term warranty on the battery (I know Dell is 90-days on the battery).

dadsgravy · Apr 18, 2007

The battery has a one year warranty. If you have more than 300 cycles on your battery in a year, then your battery wouldn't be covered. As far as the x goes, that is apples fault. Either because of a defective battery or what I think is something going screwy with the firmware. I have the x over my battery icon and I had 54 cycles and 94% battery health before it took a dump. Apple will fix it, just give them a call.

plpete · Apr 18, 2007

well it says my battery has only 37 cycles and its dead already? i think it is covered and it should be because it is kind of unlikely for a battery to die after about 3 months with so little cycles.

gilesjuk · Apr 18, 2007

They can come up with as many policies as they like. However the battery is a component of the laptop and therefore they have to replace it if it develops a fault under normal use.

Consumer rights apply here.