My several-year-old MacBook Pro goes black whenever I unplug it, even though the battery shows 99%. I have to restart the computer. When I check the Battery Information in System Profiler, Cycle Count shows 144 and Condition indicates Check Battery. Are those messages, together with my unplugged computer dying, what I suspect, a hint that my old machine needs a new battery?
Thanks.
— John Russell
It just sounds like to me that you need a new battery -- the "check battery" indicator is the most solid evidence of that. My old MacBook Pro has gotten a new battery every year, since I use it so much. It is on its 4th battery now.
There is a long (78 pages) thread on the discussions.apple.com support forum site on MBP battery issues. I recently had mine replaced at the Apple Store:
I've had this "service battery" message for several months now. No real noticeable change in performance. I was near an Apple Store recently and made an appointment and took it in. The Genius Bar guy tested it quickly and AppleCare paid for a new battery.
There is a graph displayed on the diagnostic screen during the battery test that tells the Apple employee if AppleCare or the customer pays for the new battery. I'm not sure what criteria determine this (I was just on the "AppleCare pays" side of the line).
The other weird thing is that "as part of this, I have to keep the battery". You can't keep the original battery as a backup. He even said that he didn't know of any reason why the old battery would cause injury to the system.
Anyway - no answers here; just one guy who was glad he bought AppleCare.