Filed under: Portables, Software Update
Battery Update 1.2 for Intel laptops
Ah, the Friday software update... how it brightens up the weekend. Just off the bench, Battery Update 1.2 is currently downloadable in Software Update. The firmware update is for all Intel laptops and promises better performance. Reuters is now reporting that Apple has acknowledged issues with some MacBook and MacBook Pro batteries, and Apple has posted an extended support page for battery replacements.After Battery Update has been installed, the battery firmware will be updated for each battery you place in your laptop (either at startup, wake from sleep, or when you put the battery in). Hopefully this will improve battery life and reduce swelling...
Thanks Justin Andrew & Chris
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mitch said 6:55PM on 4-27-2007
great! I does this have a calibration tool that you can use or works automagically??
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Mitch said 6:57PM on 4-27-2007
er, ignore the I in that last comment..
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Leonard Nimrod said 8:21PM on 4-27-2007
"er, ignore the I in that last comment"
....and the word 'automagically'.
No calibration tool, it's just a firmware update.
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Mark said 8:10PM on 4-27-2007
anyone know if this fixes the random shut down on battery power problem? or should i just haul my macbook pro to the apple store?
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Eric B. said 8:53PM on 4-27-2007
I just had my battery in my macbook pro start acting weird. Charging much faster than it should, losing power at ~85% on battery power. I called apple on Sunday and had a new battery on Tuesday. They didn't even remotely slow me down, just took my information and sent me a battery. I would say anyone having weird battery problems should call apple and get a new battery. I'm just annoyed because I bought applecare after calling (only 7 days left on the 1 year warranty).
Eric
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Mark said 8:54PM on 4-27-2007
okay, i'll answer my own question. doesn't fix it, still randomly shuts down.
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andrew harrison said 8:55PM on 4-27-2007
maybe this will fix my strange battery problems
in the last 2-3 weeks its capacity has dropped dramatically and i don't really know why. i was going to run a recalibration this weekend and then test it for a few days before taking it into the apple store, but i'll download this first. good timing.
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Leonard Nimrod said 9:35PM on 4-27-2007
@ andrew harrison,
Try resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) previously referred to as the Power Management Unit (PMU) in PPC Macs.
How To :: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303319
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jeff said 11:10PM on 4-27-2007
I've had 5 batteries (one was the recall, so it doesn't count) in two Macbook Pros over the last year (13 months to be exact). On tell tale sign that you are experiencing progressive battery failure is that the battery/charging icon in the menu bar will take a long time to calculate time till charged or battery power remaining.
The other symptom is fast charges and, of course, quick discharge.
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LittleJoe said 11:49PM on 4-27-2007
The update seems to have given me a good 30-60 mins of extra battery life per full charge!
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elliot H said 11:53PM on 4-27-2007
I have a 15 inch MBP and since the update Im only getting an hour of battery life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Steve Shickles said 12:09AM on 4-28-2007
Thanks! Going to update now.
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Joey S. said 1:18AM on 4-28-2007
@ andrew harrison
I had the same problem. I tried resetting the smc and calibrating the battery but neither worked. I called apple and they sent me a new battery (no applecare). I had the same problem after a month so I went into the store and they gave me a new battery and seemed pretty convinced that this would actually fix it though I wasn't so sure. Clearly there was an issue with the batteries that I think the apple genius knew about, but now it's been working great for about 4 months. You might want to give a call.
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Dub said 2:04AM on 4-28-2007
My battery started acting weird last fall. It would shutdown without warning while on battery power. Then I looked at the battery and saw that it was starting to swell. This also was the cause of weird things while using the click bar. An hour on the phone to Apple and I had my new battery in a few days.
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Jacques Lema said 5:09AM on 4-28-2007
On my MBPro Coconut Battery now shows a battery capacity at 4200 (out of 5500 mAh). Previously it was like 2000...
That said after about 5 minutes on battery it still shuts down violently without warnning :-( I guess I'll have to call Apple too.
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TJ said 2:53PM on 4-28-2007
anybody getting a new whine coming out of sleep mode after this update as well?
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Ralph said 3:16PM on 4-28-2007
For anyone getting a new battery form Apple after calling them about their issues, do they make you send back the old battery?
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jeff said 7:37PM on 4-28-2007
yeah, they charge you if you don't.
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Dan said 10:30PM on 4-28-2007
What is the profiler stats supposed to look like? I think my battery is leaking capacity.
Can someone look at this picture and tell me if something's wrong?
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=4haqcxt
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Dan said 10:32PM on 4-28-2007
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
It's a C2D 15" MBP, bought it the day it was released approx. 6 months ago.
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