incorrect battery percentage

[claudiaverleg]

Hello,

Since upgrading to Sierra, I thought I noticed some severe battery drain. My macbook Pro went from fully charged to 5% in about two hours, while only using Pages.
Yesterday, I forgot to bring my charger, and started freaking out while I was still typing because I only had 5% battery left. Turns out, my macbook stayed on that 5% for two more hours.
So apparently, my macbook shows a different battery percentage than what it is really at.

I already did a SMC reset, but that didn't do anything to solve the problem.
Anyone know what this is and how to fix it?

 

[844957]

What year MBP do you have. If you have a removable battery you can "calibrate" it. If its non-user removable then it has a chip inside to determine current charge level.

Since you just updated there's a lot of background processes indexing for spotlight and the Photo's app does face recognition and Memories curation that needs to finish before you get back to running normally.

 

[claudiaverleg]

My MBP is from early 2011. I do not have a removable battery.
It has been a couple weeks since i've upgraded, so I don't think it's still running those background processes...

 

[elf69]

I downloaded battery health 2 or coconut battery as seem accurate.

My 2009 macbook meter is sometimes different than battery health 2.

but battery health 2 at least for me seems more accurate.
As I type this battery is 6.7 years old and 92% health, plugged in charged

 

[claudiaverleg]

I just downloaded Battery health 2, and it shows me the exact same thing as the 'normal' battery percentage from apple..
It says 20 minutes remaining, and 20 minutes later is says still 28 minutes remaining. This is so weird..

 

[elf69]

battery health and the osx monitor is dynamic.

use more battery, with lots of apps open then time goes down but use less apps it goes up.

I start my mac in morning at work and says 2.4 hours left but after 10-20 mins of setlling down it goes to 6.5 hours and slowly drops as I use it at work.

 

[claudiaverleg]

But I am doing the same stuff, nothing changes in what apps i have currently open. My MBP has been on 5% for about 3 hours already...

 

[elf69]

ok that very odd.

My battery life got better from el cap to sierra in my 2009 macbook.

But still reads level ok

 

[claudiaverleg]

Yes, it's very weird. I don't know what's wrong, and I have no idea when my battery is actually running low.
Battery health says good, so i don't think there's anything wrong with my battery.?

 

[elf69]

you did an upgrade, I know a pain but is it possible to do a clean install?

make time machine backup first so can go back or reload everything of course first.

 

[claudiaverleg]

what exactly is a clean install and how do i do that?
do you think a clean install is the only way to get it to work normally again?

 

[mitchsaunders]

what exactly is a clean install and how do i do that?
do you think a clean install is the only way to get it to work normally again?

clean install basically means wiping your MBP clean and starting over. It would help it work again, a clean install will clear up all the bugs and little errors inside the OS that could be causing it to show the battery problem.

 

[claudiaverleg]

Weirdly, my problem has been resolved. Thanks for all the input.

For all of you experiencing the same thing, here's what worked for me:
I charged my MBP to 100%, let it go down to the 5% it was stuck at, and keep working on my laptop while not being charged. Eventually, it ran out of battery and went out. I charged it overnight and repeat the whole thing, so letting the battery fully drain. I recharged it to 100% again and now it seems to be working fine. The battery percentage is correct.

 

[claudiaverleg]

Update: problem not resolved.
It's still the same as before. The "solution" I posted before has helped me for a week or so, now I'm back at the same thing.. So battery seems to be draining fast, until about 5% when it stays there for a long time.
It's very annoying because I don't know when my battery is actually going to run out. Can somebody help me with this?

 

[Jonesmak]

this is what is happening to a lot of new MBP's as well. This is promising for those owners as its looking like a Sierra problem. The SMC reset helped my battery display a bit more accurately

 

[bkloungelizard]

Update: problem not resolved.
It's still the same as before. The "solution" I posted before has helped me for a week or so, now I'm back at the same thing.. So battery seems to be draining fast, until about 5% when it stays there for a long time.
It's very annoying because I don't know when my battery is actually going to run out. Can somebody help me with this?

Hi -- Did you ever resolve this issue? I am having same problem and looking for help. Tried everything from SMC and PRAM reset to battery calibration.