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The March 2015 update of Apple's 13" MacBook Pro Retina Display, model A1502, features fifth-generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors and introduces the Force Touch trackpad.

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New Battery install not charging.

My Son has a refurbished macbook pro 2015 with 13" retina. He's had it for about two years with the only complaint being the battery life. At some point this year he used bootcamp (I assumed) to run windows 10 as his operating system - without saying anything to me, because he thought it would be easier on his battery. Here is what was happening with old battery:

Would only charge when computer was powered down.

On full charge would last about an hour before the battery was out of juice.

Important note - when plugged in the magsafe charger DID light up.

My thought was OK why don't we just change the battery? I have a little experience as does older an son. Bought new batter set to work. gave the inside a cleaning to remove dust, crumbs, your basic schmutz. Carefully of course.

After removing old battery, a major chore but got it done, installed the new one, put everything back the way it goes and followed the directions which said to charge for five minutes then turn on.

Here is what happened:

When plugged in the magsafe did not light up.

After the five minutes the computer did power on (great!) and showed a 47% charge. Question: DOES IT COME WITH THAT MUCH BATTERY LIFE?

The battery indicator did not show that the battery was charging although we could feel heat at the source - meaning - inside, where the magsafe plugs in it was quite warm.

Powered down rechecked that everything was IN PLACE as it is supposed to be. decided to plug it in again and give it ten minutes this time. Came back ten minutes later, powered up - still no light on magsafe before or after powering up computer. Still no charging indicator on battery icon. The battery at that point is at 42%. It is definitely NOT charging, it is discharging.

The instruction booklet, such as it is, had instructions for reseting the SMC - so we did that to see if that would make any difference and there was no change whatsoever.

Apparently Windows has a battery report (I don't know I'm a mac person) so we did that. It wasn't terribly helpful other than to show that there was a battery in existance (good) but it says CONNECTED STANDBY Not Supported - Is this the issue? If so, what does this mean? To me it sounds like the power to charge the battery.

The only other portion of the battery report with today's date on it shows where the computer has been turned off and on.

Another question is, would the Windows OS have any bearing on what is happening? What I mean is, if it were still running a Mac OS would I be experiencing anything different?

So I have an older Macbook pro was good condition except for the battery, that was running fine, except for the battery and I thought, Let's change the battery, now it's not charging at all! What are my options! Help please because I do not want to buy a new one!

I look forward to any and all advice that anyone has.

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Update (10/29/24)

Under normal circumstances I’d be more than happy to do that. The problem is that the battery isn’t charging. Even not using it, it still discharges two hours ago it was at 38%

I’m worried that once the battery is dead I’m screwed! I won’t be able to check or do or try anything!

Answer this question I have this problem too

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Install Coconut Battery as no doubt @danj will ask to see what is displayed in there https://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutb...

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@livfe You know me to well🥳

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@danj I forgot to say gem of an app..... dan and his quick fire copy n paste techniques :D

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@sis6598116 what board number is your logic board? Should be something like a 820-4924. You do have a multimeter?

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I do have a multimeter (not great with knowing how to use it 😬 wish I would have paid more attention when my late husband was using it) the closest number I could find to what you described is 653-0194

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@sis6598116 let's give this a try. Set your meter to the 20V DC scale

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Plug your Magsafe in and make sure everything is properly connected. Now, deep breath ;-) You ready?........ Connect the Black probe from your meter to anyone of the ground connections (marked in Red) and touch the bottom connector (1st yellow arrow) with the Red probe from your meter. You should get ~18.5V (little less is ok too :-) Then do the same with the second contact (from the bottom up, 2nd yellow arrow) and take the measurement. Let us know what you discovered.

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10.5 is what I’m getting

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I’ve had it plugged in for about 10 minutes and it read 11.23

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@sis6598116 if you are getting 11.23V you are not getting the power needed from the Magsafe. Remember the Voltage you are measuring is from the MagSafe not the battery. It's either your charger or your MagSafe board. Both are easy fixes. Cost for the MagSafe board anywhere from USD$6 to USD$30 depending on where you buy it.

You know you got this!!!!

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@oldturkey03 OK well, it has to be the MagSafe board because I checked the charger on my MacBook Air (same year) and the green light came on and it charged the battery. Any recommendations on where to order?

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Also the vote of confidence is much appreciated!

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As the system is running Windows the tools we use on the Mac systems need to run under macOS as they access the hardware differently than what Windows does.

Do you have an external drive which you can format and install macOS onto it for your Mac system. Just make sure you are running a supported version of macOS this system supports.

Follow this guide to download the OS installer How to download and install macOS then with your system format and install the OS onto the external drive. Once installed your system will reboot under the external. Shut down and disconnect the external and make sure your system boots up. If not leverage the Option (⌥) or Alt key to enter into the Startup Manager. Here’s a more details Mac startup key combinations

OK, with this external you should be to boot up under it, leveraging the same Option (⌥) or Alt key to gain access to the Startup Manager to select the external. But before you do that you’ll want to install CoconutBattery onto the external.

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I don’t have an external drive but I can get one. Ok thanks for this so far. So much for thinking this would be simple 🤦‍♀️

I’ll get the drive and follow the steps and get back in about a day or so with the results.

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I have my external drive and am getting ready to take the plunge. I've read through all the instructions via the links. Will post back here if I run into any problems and with any and all results.

I did want to also share that the power cord, the magsafe to the macbook in question is in good working order. I checked it out on my own macbook air - basically all the same specs except mine is and air & his is a pro - and the green light came on and charged my battery. At least that component is not in question. I also tried mine on his, but my power cord did not work on his. No light, no charge.

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Well, I did get the external drive all set up and ready to use. Unfortunately there wasn't enough juice left on the battery to do anything other than show me that the macOS was on the external drive I had plugged in and then it shut down. I tried again plugging in the power cord hoping by some miracle that it would charge a little bit but it was a foolish idea because of course it didn't. At this point I don't know what to do with it.

Thanks for taking the time to try to help me out and advance my knowledge of how to make and use an external bootable drive.

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@sis6598116 - don’t give up yet! I need to do an errand, let me get back to you.

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Looking forward to any ideas you have.

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Hi Sis65! It seems like you might have a defective part. You can go through my steps below. I included some steps that you said you already tried for people in the future that may have the same problem. Happy iFixing!

1. Battery Calibration and Charge State

  • Pre-Charged Batteries: Yes, it's possible for a new battery to come with a partial charge, often around 30-50%, to keep it stable during storage.
  • Battery Calibration: Sometimes, macOS and Windows need a cycle or two to correctly recognize a new battery's charge capacity and status. Try letting the battery drain completely until the computer shuts down, then charge it back up to 100% to help with calibration.

2. MagSafe Adapter and Connector

  • Check if the MagSafe adapter is working correctly with another compatible Mac, if you have one, to confirm it’s not the issue.
  • Inspect the MagSafe port on the MacBook for any dust or debris that could be preventing a proper connection. Cleaning this gently can sometimes help restore proper charging.

3. Battery Cable and Connections

  • Double-check the connection of the battery cable inside the MacBook. Ensure it's snug and fully seated in the connector.
  • Sometimes, connectors can loosen slightly if there’s any dust, so a secure fit is essential.

4. Battery Management Settings (Windows)

  • Running Windows might add complications, as it has different power management than macOS.
  • Since the report mentioned "Connected Standby Not Supported," it suggests that Windows doesn’t fully recognize the low-power sleep mode found in macOS. While this shouldn’t stop the Mac from charging, it can cause issues with sleep mode, battery reporting, or charging behavior.
  • Try booting into macOS by holding Option (⌥) or Alt and selecting the option that is not Windows 10, to see if the charging issue persists. If macOS recognizes and charges the battery, then the issue might be related to the way Windows interacts with the MacBook hardware.

5. Software vs. Hardware Issue

  • If macOS also fails to charge the battery, it could be a hardware issue. In that case, here are a few next steps:
    • Try Another Battery: Although unlikely, some replacement batteries are defective out of the box. Testing with another battery (if possible) might be worth considering.
    • Check the Power Controller Board: In some cases, the power controller circuitry might have failed, especially if the battery was previously causing power issues. This is typically a repair for a technician but can be an underlying cause.

Hope you get this issue resolved! I have quite a lot of knowledge related to Bootcamp, so hit me up if you still need help.

(Formatted by ChatGPT 4o-. Never written)

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After finally receiving the 85 W MagSafe charger this is the reading on my multimeter. I’ll be honest I don’t know what that is.

Also unsurprisingly at this point the light on the new charger did not light up when plugged into this laptop but it does when checked on my MacBook Air.

I’m about ready to call it with this laptop for a while. Unless anyone has an idea that doesn’t require replacing the logic board. I’ll be up for that but maybe next year!!

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Sis65 will be eternally grateful.
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