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How To Fix The Service Battery Message On MacBooks

A MacBook’s battery is good for at least 1000 charge cycles. This 1000 count is a count of the battery draining fully, and being charged full. This rarely happens; most people don’t fully drain their batteries before charging them up again. It’s going to be a few years before you hit that 1000 count. That said, you might still see the Service Battery message on macOS. It may, or may not mean your battery has reached its grave. Here’s what you can do about it.

We should tell you that in some cases, the battery may have to be replaced. It may not have reached its full 1000 cycle life but it can die before that. If your battery isn’t charging, or it isn’t holding the charge for very long, or it’s only lasting an hour at best, your battery needs to be replaced and no fix can change that.

Service Battery Message

First things first, click the battery icon in the Menu Bar and check its status. It can show you a few different messages but if it says you need to replace it, that is your only course of action.

If you’re seeing the more generic Service Battery message, here are a few things you can try.

Reset Charge Cycle

Charge your battery to full. Once it’s charged to 100%, use your system plugged in for a few hours. Next, allow your MacBook to run until the battery drains completely. Once the battery drains, charge it again to 100% and then turn it on. Check if the battery status message is Normal again.

Reset System Management Controller

System Management Controller manages, among other things, battery power. If there’s something wrong with it, it may be causing the Service Battery message. In that case, you can reset it.

Make sure you don’t have anything open because you will lose unsaved work. If you can remove the battery on your MacBook, do so. Make sure you know how to correctly remove the battery. If you don’t, it’s best to take it to a proper service center.

Once the battery is out, press and hold the power button for five seconds. After that, insert the battery and you’re all done.

If you cannot remove the battery, shut down your Mac. Next, press Control+Shift+Option and hold down the power button for 10 seconds. After 10 seconds, turn your Mac on.

If you still see the Service Battery message, it’s a good idea to take your MacBook in for a check up. Additionally, check if there are any battery related issues reported for your particular MacBook model.

1 Comment

  1. Thanks for this tutorial! You made it so easy! A very informative post I found it is very useful for me, Keep posting

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