OK, I'll take it as a bonus anyway, but that old MacBook Pro (2017) that
my daughter passed my way, originally had loads of issues, mostly
attributed to a 'Service Now' battery indicator. It seems to have fixed
itself?

All I've done is use a more powerful PSU (65W) than she had been using
(having lost the original one), and left it permanently desk mounted.

After a few weeks of leaving it like that, it's showing as 'Normal' in
the Battery preference panel. Coconut battery concurs as well.

It's showing State of Health 78.5%, and holding at 74.2% charge in
Coconut. Battery panel says it's put it into Desktop mode, and the
battery is used 'rarely'.

It's also been completely stable, so as long as it continues like that,
I'm happy - I use my iPad Pro for all mobile work.

Anyone heard to the batteries reversing status like this before? Is it
likely to be a bit of borrowed time?

Cheers.

--
Andy H

On 06.01.24 17:09, Andy Hewitt wrote:
> Anyone heard to the batteries reversing status like this before? Is it
> likely to be a bit of borrowed time?

It is a bit of speculation: If you emptied the battery after months or
years on charger it could be the case that the charging electronics
recalibrated itself which happens from time to time.

My wife's former MBP 13" from 2017 which is running a Linux Mint LMDE 21
reaches still slightly over 80% battery health. It was also most of the
time on the hook before I converted it to a Linux-machine for some tests.

Suggestion: From time to time discharge down to roughly 10-20% level and
then recharge it to 100% in one go. That triggers the calibration.

--
"Roma locuta, causa finita." (Augustinus)

Andy Hewitt <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:
> OK, I'll take it as a bonus anyway, but that old MacBook Pro (2017) that
> my daughter passed my way, originally had loads of issues, mostly
> attributed to a 'Service Now' battery indicator. It seems to have fixed
> itself?
>
> All I've done is use a more powerful PSU (65W) than she had been using
> (having lost the original one), and left it permanently desk mounted.
>
> After a few weeks of leaving it like that, it's showing as 'Normal' in
> the Battery preference panel. Coconut battery concurs as well.
>
> It's showing State of Health 78.5%, and holding at 74.2% charge in
> Coconut. Battery panel says it's put it into Desktop mode, and the
> battery is used 'rarely'.
>
> It's also been completely stable, so as long as it continues like that,
> I'm happy - I use my iPad Pro for all mobile work.
>
> Anyone heard to the batteries reversing status like this before? Is it
> likely to be a bit of borrowed time?

How many cycles are on the battery? Coconut should tell you, otherwise
it's in System Report from the Apple menu.

The number of cycles is a fact, whereas the SoH figures are software
guestimates. Apple say the battery expects to have 80% usable capacity (not
necessarily the same as SoH) after 1000 cycles - I'm guessing you are beyond
that point? The usable capacity figure is based on metering energy in and
out of the battery, which depends on how you use it - so it could change
from cycle to cycle.

What can happen as the battery gets old is the voltage sags when a lot of
current is drawn - think dimming headlights when starting a car. If the
voltage sags too much the laptop can shut down. If you use it plugged in
then the PSU can make up for the sag and the laptop keep going.

What can be awkward (speaking generally) is booting: the CPU is busy and
often the power management isn't fully enabled in early boot, which could
make heavier demands on the battery than just sitting in idle. This can
cause boot loops. (I have no specific knowledge of how Apple do power
managaement during boot though).

FWIW I can recommend https://www.replacebase.co.uk/ for decent aftermarket
batteries at a good price, although I couldn't speak for the replacement
procedure in your Macbook.

Theo

On 06/01/2024 17:38, Theo wrote:
> Andy Hewitt <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:
>> OK, I'll take it as a bonus anyway, but that old MacBook Pro (2017) that
>> my daughter passed my way, originally had loads of issues, mostly
>> attributed to a 'Service Now' battery indicator. It seems to have fixed
>> itself?
>>
>> All I've done is use a more powerful PSU (65W) than she had been using
>> (having lost the original one), and left it permanently desk mounted.
>>
>> After a few weeks of leaving it like that, it's showing as 'Normal' in
>> the Battery preference panel. Coconut battery concurs as well.
>>
>> It's showing State of Health 78.5%, and holding at 74.2% charge in
>> Coconut. Battery panel says it's put it into Desktop mode, and the
>> battery is used 'rarely'.
>>
>> It's also been completely stable, so as long as it continues like that,
>> I'm happy - I use my iPad Pro for all mobile work.
>>
>> Anyone heard to the batteries reversing status like this before? Is it
>> likely to be a bit of borrowed time?
>
> How many cycles are on the battery? Coconut should tell you, otherwise
> it's in System Report from the Apple menu.
>
> The number of cycles is a fact, whereas the SoH figures are software
> guestimates. Apple say the battery expects to have 80% usable capacity (not
> necessarily the same as SoH) after 1000 cycles - I'm guessing you are beyond
> that point? The usable capacity figure is based on metering energy in and
> out of the battery, which depends on how you use it - so it could change
> from cycle to cycle.

It's reporting 512 cycles. I bit less than expected, but, my daughter
does hammer her devices a fair bit (currently works from home), and
probably doesn't use them for the best possible lifespan.

She's also quite 'unlucky' when it comes to electrical items anyway.

Of course I've now got hold of this, and it's kind of fixed itself just
by being in my care :-).

> What can happen as the battery gets old is the voltage sags when a lot of
> current is drawn - think dimming headlights when starting a car. If the
> voltage sags too much the laptop can shut down. If you use it plugged in
> then the PSU can make up for the sag and the laptop keep going.

Yeah, understand all that (know about cars - I have an LCGI for car
mechanics).

> What can be awkward (speaking generally) is booting: the CPU is busy and
> often the power management isn't fully enabled in early boot, which could
> make heavier demands on the battery than just sitting in idle. This can
> cause boot loops. (I have no specific knowledge of how Apple do power
> managaement during boot though).

No, although I haven't seen that myself. However, as this is plugged in,
and now using a PSU sufficient to power the device, it probably doesn't
matter at the moment.

> FWIW I can recommend https://www.replacebase.co.uk/ for decent aftermarket
> batteries at a good price, although I couldn't speak for the replacement
> procedure in your Macbook.

It's bad enough I wouldn't tackle it myself (glued to the base panel).
It's around £150 to get it done.

Cheers.

--
Andy H