Mac book air 2020 quad core: TERRIBLE performances, battery 1% no charge, fan very fast and loud, no warm

Question

In our storage we have 6 MacBook Air 2020 with intel quad core CPU with Catalina.

ALL of them have the same issue:

• No typical sound as the MacBook power up
• Battery remain at 1% no charging (unplugging the cable makes the Mac power off instantly)
• Fans are very loud but the Mac IS NOT warm! and active monitor doesn't show an hight CPU usage.
• Performances are TERRIBLE. 5 minutes to open Safari or activity monitor.

I tried with no success SMC, PRAM, NVRAM reset (anyway I don't know if I really did a reset because there is no way to know if it worked).

Reboot in recovery mode (CMD+R and similar) do NOT works.

4 MacBook were NEW, never used. 2 were used for short time. All of them the same issues.

What is it? What can I try to fix it?

Thanks

Battery Information:
 
  Model Information:
  Serial Number:    D860401A0BHN4F1AY
  Manufacturer: SMP
  Device Name:  bq20z451
  Pack Lot Code:    0
  PCB Lot Code: 0
  Firmware Version: 1002
  Hardware Revision:    1
  Cell Revision:    1842
  Charge Information:
  Charge Remaining (mAh):   0
  Fully Charged:    No
  Charging: No
  Full Charge Capacity (mAh):   4481
  Health Information:
  Cycle Count:  1
  Condition:    Service Recommended
  Battery Installed:    Yes
  Amperage (mA):    0
  Voltage (mV): 4344
 
System Power Settings:
 
  AC Power:
  System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 1
  Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes):   10
  Display Sleep Timer (Minutes):    10
  Wake on AC Change:    No
  Wake on Clamshell Open:   Yes
  Wake on LAN:  Yes
  Current Power Source: Yes
  DarkWakeBackgroundTasks:  1
  Display Sleep Uses Dim:   Yes
  GPUSwitch:    2
  Hibernate Mode:   3
  High Standby Delay:   86400
  PrioritizeNetworkReachabilityOverSleep:   0
  ProximityDarkWake:    1
  Standby Battery Threshold:    50
  Standby Delay:    10800
  Standby Enabled:  1
  TCPKeepAlivePref: 1
  Battery Power:
  System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 1
  Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes):   10
  Display Sleep Timer (Minutes):    2
  Wake on AC Change:    No
  Wake on Clamshell Open:   Yes
  DarkWakeBackgroundTasks:  0
  Display Sleep Uses Dim:   Yes
  GPUSwitch:    2
  Hibernate Mode:   3
  High Standby Delay:   86400
  ProximityDarkWake:    0
  Reduce Brightness:    Yes
  Standby Battery Threshold:    50
  Standby Delay:    10800
  Standby Enabled:  1
  TCPKeepAlivePref: 1
 
Hardware Configuration:
 
  UPS Installed:    No
 
AC Charger Information:
 
  Connected:    Yes
  ID:   0x1674
  Wattage (W):  30
  Serial Number:    *********************
  Name: 30W USB-C Power Adapter
  Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
  Firmware Version: 1030070
  Charging: No
 
Power Events:
 
Next Scheduled Events:
 
  appPID:   400
  Type: Wake
  Scheduled By: com.apple.alarm.user-visible-Weekly Usage Report
  Time: 03/10/2022, 02:15
  UserVisible:  0
 
  appPID:   353
  Type: Wake
  Scheduled By: com.apple.alarm.user-visible-Weekly Usage Report
  Time: 03/10/2022, 02:49
  UserVisible:  0

Answer 1

With the battery health data - it needs a repair.

Cycle Count: 1 Condition: Service Recommended

Much of the following is still relevant, but you have a clear case for getting remote diagnostics to understand what the service reason is.

---

If these machines can not boot to recovery mode, then the os and settings or image used to set them up is more likely the issue than anything hardware. Expecting one boot to recovery or a SMC to fix a flat battery isn’t realistic, but one run of these can help if the SMC isn’t charging or recognizing a battery.

I would back up any data (boot them in target disk mode if you can’t trust time machine or do a manual backup) and then erase the storage completely. They all should work over internet recovery to ensure you get a total erase of the internal storage (or do the erase via target disk mode from another connected Mac that’s healthy).

• https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/erase-and-reinstall-macos-mh27903/mac

---

Note, this is far easier on Monterey with the erase assistant, so if you can upgrade them to Monterey first, the erase will be easier for you.

Once you have a cleanly erased system, the battery health should be evident once they sleep for a day on power charge after the reinstall. Apple online support and service is excellent for verifying you just don’t need a battery swap due to them falling too low voltage in long term storage.

• https://www.apple.com/batteries/maximizing-performance/

• If you plan to store your device for longer than six months, charge it to 50% every six months.

Answer 2

Possibly is the battery controller from MacOS bugged and not able to deal with a deeply discharged battery. Some battery controllers are not working correctly when the battery behaviour is outside the expected charge range. I have seen this many times, with computers and other devices as well.

In your case, from an USB flash drive, I would first attempt to boot the Mac to another operating system, typically a Linux live distro, with a graphical user interface. "Live" means you can run it without having to install it.

Once your flash drive is ready, plug it hold down the "Alt" key when starting the MacBook, and select the USB flash drive in order to boot the Linux system. Let see if the battery charges, and if so, let it charge fully. Also make a few whole charge/discharge cycles if you can in order to revive your battery.

In the past, I experienced that the software battery controller in MacOS does not always work right.

Also, sometime, patience and persistence are your best allies. I have saved a deeply discharge battery pack by applying many "charge / discharge" cycles, which at the beginning were extremely short, but progressively with increasing duration. I had to apply around 15 cycles before the battery came out of its lethargy. So, keep hope.

Answer 3

SMC symptoms

The battery doesn’t charge properly

Fans run at high speed any time the device is in use

Machine’s (key board) backlight, status indicator light, or other lights do not turn on consistently

Battery have onboard circuit that prevents it from been completely discharged

In order to perform an smc reset on a macbook you should first unplug your laptop and shut it down. Then hold down the Shift, Control, Option, and power keys for at least 10 seconds (or longer). Let go of the keys, plug the power cable back into your computer, and restart your computer as you usually would.

Answer 4

SMC is separate from OS, it is a chip on the logic board.

Your battery report shows a very old battery ? why I do not know.

Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 4481 ??

That number for your Mac's should be > 7000

My MB Air is 5 years old and has battery CAPACITY of 5500

While your Mac works on Power (no need to change the OS), first one should do a successful SMC reset. About that in my next post:

One is not clear to me: did you leave the Macs plugged in while in storage?

The reason I am asking is you have few actions that would consume battery over time.

DarkWakeBackgroundTasks: 1

Power Events:

Next Scheduled Events: WAKE...

Wake on LAN: Yes