Chosen Solution
I’ve started using a 2012 MacBook Pro that hasn’t been used for a couple of years . The original battery has only 164 cycles but is showing as “Service Battery”. Yesterday, the maximum capacity of the batter was showing in system report as being about 2800 mAh. Today, oddly, it is showing as being a much better 4096 mAh. The message “Service Battery” is still being displayed though. The laptop is able to work with moderate use (documents, WiFi, bluetooth, occasional Geekbench benchmarks) on battery for about 5 hours which, to me, seems to be very good. I’m concluding that the battery warning is incorrect. The fact that the battery’s capacity has jumped from 2800 to 4096 overnight suggests that something is not being measured accurately. I’m assuming that the long period of non use (a couple of years) has caused measurement problems - or it could have degraded the battery (which doesn’t seem to be the case). Is there an easy way to force recalibration of the battery? Update: The battery stats seem to be fluctuating (up and down) in terms of the battery’s capacity. I’ve tried resetting SMC but that doesn’t seem to have changed anything.
Try recalibrating it: “Calibrate your battery before using it: allow it to drain overnight, then charge it to 100% and drain it again until your MacBook Pro shuts down automatically. Charge it again and use it normally. Let’s also take a look at it with a better tool. Please download Coconut Battery and post your results after you have recalibrate it. https://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutb… UPDATE Looks like that battery just set to long. Thanks for running the Coconut Battery. Time to replace it, fortunately it is very simple on your machine: The kit has everything you need to do the job: MacBook Pro 13” Unibody (Mid 2009-Mid 2012) Battery MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2012 Battery Replacement
