Recently, my MacBook Pro has had the following issues:
If the battery dies, I need to do an SMC reset for it to even start up. When it does, the fan is running at high speed and there is either no battery symbol, or one with an x on it.
If the power cord is unplugged, the laptop dies within a few seconds.
If the MacBook Pro is shut down properly before the battery dies, the SMC reset is not necessary to start it back up.
I have tried the following:
- Swapping the battery
- PRAM rest (in addition the the SMC reset)
- I ran the Apple Hardware Test (AHT) and it came out with no issues.
Does anyone have options on what I should try to look into? Thanks.
Best Answer
You tried swapping the battery, which means your system is a few years old... I have a 2007 MBP and had some similar issues here and there when my battery aged. Part of the problem was actually my power cord. It was flaky. If your cord is underpowered (e.g. using a 45 W rather than an 85 W for a MacBook Pro) you won't have enough juice to charge a dead battery, so it restarts as if one was not installed or won't restart at all. If your cord is flaking out, it may not be charging consistently (I have a spare cord that sometimes works, and other times needs to have the extension cord removed and re-seated before the MBP recognizes it and kicks on the charge indicator light in the MagSafe connector). Possible that your battery drain is faster than your power cord can replenish at this point. The fact that a different battery gave the same results again makes me suspect the power cord. I'd try a new cord (if possible) and see if that helps at all.