My Problem

My MacBook Pro battery would only work if the charger was plugged in. I had spilled water on my keyboard and had to replace that, so I don't know if the water damage got to my battery too, or if it was because I didn't charge the battery for a while.

My Fix

All I had to do was replace the battery.

My Advice

Remember to charge your battery often!

My Problem

For a year, the MacBook Pro provided a means to video recording in my life. This means it was plugged in all the time and rarely saw any battery use. This battery also had a bulge in it from when the Apple Store provided a new one (I think their tech forgot to get a antistatic sticker off of it). Checking System Profiler showed the battery had worn out and my MBP was outside of my AppleCare.

My Fix

Went smoothly! Battery slipped in and is easily removable. Let it charge for 10 hours and then drained it all the way down. So far running well, however I think the battery drain is going faster than it should (not sure if it's the machine or I have been using too many high efficient laptops lately).

My Advice

Constantly cycle your battery! This means, at least once a week have it off the charger until it "dies" or "hibernates" and then plug it in and don't use it until it is fully charged.

My Problem

For years I've had a chronic problem with battery charging on a MacBook Pro. The laptop would indicate significant battery life remaining, yet discharge too rapidly and at some point abruptly crash as though all power was removed. Eventually, the battery would not charge at all and the laptop would only run under AC power.

I replaced the original battery only a few months after the warranty expired (with a genuine Apple battery). Less than a year later that battery failed as well and Apple replaced it with another under warranty. Sadly, the problem soon returned.

I began to wonder if the problem related to the magSafe coupler, the charging/AC power management circuitry or the AC power adapter itself.

My Fix

Enter iFixIt. I decided to make one last attempt to fix the laptop by replacing the left I/O card and installing a new battery (genuine Apple). (One thought I had was that a defect in the laptop charging circuitry was damaging the battery.)

The repair was a breeze, thanks almost completely to iFixIt's superb online manual. I have a lot of experience building PCs and know my way around a motherboard, but I've never cracked the case of a Mac before.

So far, the machine is working perfectly.

My Advice

I recommend buying the tools iFixIt suggests for the job. I have a cheapo set of jewelers screw drivers, but they are no match for the #00 phillips screwdriver I bought from iFixIt. Same for the tiny torx driver needed for this job. The price for the tools was reasonable, and as with any project, there's no substitute for having the right tool for the job.