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I am using a MacBookPro8,1 with a non-replaceable battery. Recently that battery charging status was saying,Replace soon. But it was working fine and kept enough charge for my daily works. So I didn't need to take the charger at work. But when I shut down the laptop for few minutes, then I cannot turn it on without the charger plugged in.
The battery status is now Replace Now. when I press Battery indicator button at side of the laptop case, all LEDs start blinking at same time (5 times).
The MagSafe LED is also green.
Also Mac OSX shows that 98% of the battery is charged.
But when the laptop is off, pressing the Battery indicator button doesn't turn on any LEDs (Normally it should turn on all LEDs as it is charged 98%)
Also, more importantly when I plug out the charger the computer turns off instantly. Not even with a second delay.
On the other side, when I turn on the laptop the time goes back to 2001.
I tried to rest SMC by holding Shift+crtl+option+power and then releasing them at same time while the computer was off. Then I pressed the turn off/on button.

I had another problem with my MacBook's charging issue few months ago. But I solved it with replacing the charger's capacitors. But I think in this case the problem is with the battery

I know my battery should be replaced, but is that all of the problem? Or Does it have other issues?

Did I correctly reset SMC with that approach?

Is there anything I can do to use this battery a bit longer and postpone buying a new one?

Thanks for your reply.

Here are the status images:
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    6 years is pretty good going for a battery. Workaround is keep it plugged in - not much else you can do if it's dying
    – Tetsujin
    Commented May 16, 2015 at 17:22
  • Here it's not 2017,05,09 yet. Otherwise it would be 6 years. Also, it was a good battery for me. But I need 2 weeks more to get a new one. I feel its like a flag in somewhere of OS or ... that I can change it to make it work a bit more. I guess the hardware cannot die instantly. It has a decay rate. maybe 5% is still alive. @Tetsujin
    – SAH
    Commented May 16, 2015 at 17:32
  • sorry, maths is not my strong point ;-) to me 9th May 2009 is about 6 years… didn't spot the separate battery date
    – Tetsujin
    Commented May 16, 2015 at 17:40

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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You can leave your battery unchanged as long as you want, even it is not recommended by the operating system (i.e. Apple).

From my own experience (2011 MacBook Air with 1178 load cycles), the battery performance will just degrade more.

It may be be months away, but at one point the battery will be so weak that an unplugged Mac will not go to sleep when the battery is empty, but just shut down. Trust me, you will notice.

An Apple Store employee told me that battery replacements can often be done while you wait, or within a few hours if you make a Genius Bar appointment rather early in the morning.

Good luck!

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  • well, that's true, If I unplug mage-safe the laptop will be shutdown. Few hours ago it was working without battery very fine. I feel there might be a flag or cache somewhere that I can modify to use last drop of battery Because a hardware cannot fail instantly. It has a decay rate. Any idea? @myhd
    – SAH
    Commented May 16, 2015 at 18:24
  • From my understanding, the System Management Controller (info) is a separate hardware unit, and takes precedence over any "flags" (?) you may set from the operating system. If you need to go on battery power, you can follow these tips to save power as you go. Otherwise, you are out of luck.
    – myhd
    Commented May 16, 2015 at 18:35

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