Mid-2017 MacBook Pro shuts down though battery near 50%

[GrandCiel]

My Mid-2017 15.4” MacBook Pro has recently shut down for the second time though the battery level still shows a little under 50%. Cycle count is 228, condition is normal. I ordered a new M2 MacBook Pro but still want to use this one for casual browsing and older software support or make sure it is in reliable working order before gifting it to a daughter.

I had the main board/keyboard replaced under AppleCare+ for Accidental damage - Liquid Damage in late June 2020, 3 weeks before coverage expired. I assume that included a new battery but the details are not available when I log in to Apple service history anymore.

Apple 15.4" MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (Mid 2017, Space Gray), 3.1 GHz Intel Core i7 Quad-Core, 16GB of 2133 MHz RAM | 1TB SSD, 15.4" 2880 x 1800 Retina Display, AMD Radeon Pro 560 Graphics (4GB GGDR5).

My macOS may have been a version or 2 outdated and I just updated to Monterey version 12.6.2 . I am still debating if I want to upgrade to macOS Ventura 13.1

Thanks

 

[MyiBill]

My 13” 2017 has been doing the same thing and will not turn back until I plug it in, going to have to order an M2 myself as well

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Have you tried the free app named "Coconut Battery"?
It will report the charge capacity of the battery vis-a-vis what the factory-new capacity was.

 

[GrandCiel]

OP:

Have you tried the free app named "Coconut Battery"?
It will report the charge capacity of the battery vis-a-vis what the factory-new capacity was.

Have not heard of it before but installed it and here is the status. Thanks.

 

[white7561]

It's either a calibration issue, or the battery is bad.

 

[GrandCiel]

It's either a calibration issue, or the battery is bad.

The battery looks OK based on coconutBattery if I read it right. I'm looking for how to calibrate a mid2017 MacBook Pro. Thanks.

 

[white7561]

The battery looks OK based on coconutBattery if I read it right. I'm looking for how to calibrate a mid2017 MacBook Pro. Thanks.

it looks fine but idk it can be wrong though. Idk how to calibrate MacBooks battery . people usually recommend doing the draining until its 15. and then going to full and waiting for a few hours. and it should be fine. but idk if that actually works though.

i do know that Macs and devices nowadays use Impedance based fuel gauge which means you should be able to try calibrating it using the default way. which is draining it to 0 first, then charge it to 70%, when its there unplug and turn it off. let it be off for 6 hours ( i dont think it needs to be this long but i know it works for my powerbanks with impedance based fuel gauge ). then turn it on, it should now change a bit (the percentage) so its no longer 70%. now discharge it to 10% , make sure the battery is not hot though while discharging. after its 10% turn it off again and let it be powered off for another 6 hours. and turn it on. it should change the percentage again. now it's technically done. but you can repeat for another cycle if you want to make sure it's actually calibrated by going straight to 70% again (no need to drain to 0 again) . after its all done you should be able to charge it fully and it should be fine now.

Keep in mind though, the second way is not confirmed to work on the macbooks, i just gave you the default way to calibrate an impedance based fuel gauge which macbooks, etc uses. As i said before, it works on my high end powerbank which uses impedance based fuel gauge. idk if it does work on MacBooks etc though.

 

[iMacDragon]

Bad cells can 'look' ok, and will just die.

 

[white7561]

Bad cells can 'look' ok, and will just die.

True. It's like SSD and HDD. On SMART it might look fine but it can just die or corrupt your data . Most of the times those tools will let you know that something is wrong. But sometimes it won't

 

[GrandCiel]

The laptop unexpectedly shut down again last night and I paid more attention. I took a TV outside to watch football and smoke a cigar. It was around 40 degrees if that makes any difference. During the game I had the laptop open and the battery held up well and drained at a normal rate. The game was not competitive. The battery was above 50% when I closed the laptop with email and a browser open. After and hour or two I opened the laptop, I was able to log in and it almost instantly shut down fully drained. Bluetooth is on and I use a Bose headset with the TV that may also connect to the MacBook Pro even when the laptop is closed. It's almost as if the laptop drains faster when closed.

After closing the laptop, to re-connect to the internet I need to Renew DHCP Lease.

 

[JPack]

Things like Coconut can’t tell you battery health factors such as internal resistance.

Capacity is only one measure of health. If the aged battery cannot output current fast enough, the device will shut down regardless of capacity. It’s like a kettle with a plugged spout. Cold temperature increases resistance and lowers capacity.

Cycles alone doesn’t tell you the full battery health picture. You need a battery replacement.

 

[GrandCiel]

Things like Coconut can’t tell you battery health factors such as internal resistance.

Capacity is only one measure of health. If the aged battery cannot output current fast enough, the device will shut down regardless of capacity. It’s like a kettle with a plugged spout. Cold temperature increases resistance and lowers capacity.

Cycles alone doesn’t tell you the full battery health picture. You need a battery replacement.

It seems the battery drains fine when open and in use and discharges rapidly while closed but not shut down. Thanks.

 

[Grubster]

Seems premature for that new of a battery to fail, but I’ve seen this before on even new batteries I put in. I immediately swap out the battery and return the one that crashes the machine as defective. It’s 99% of the time the battery.

 

[white7561]

Yeah. You can calibrate all you want but if the internal resistance is too high. It's not gonna run correctly. Like my old MBA 2014 battery has an acceptable amount of capacity left. But because of it's high resistance, it can't handle high currents. It likes to trigger the low voltage protection circuit when you take high currents even though it's at 100%