Faulty MacBook Pro Battery: How to Address Low Capacity and Shutdown at 20%

abayomi87 wrote:

how do i get a standalone battery? i cant afford the topcase cost

You can get a standalone battery from iFixit.

But I don't recommend that. If you or some unauthorized (non-Apple) technician tries to do it themselves, there is a high probability that something will get damaged. It's not a simple job. In which case you will need to buy an entirely new computer. But it is your decision.

The only other options might be

• mail in battery service from Apple, Apple Service and Repair for Mac Laptops - Apple Support . Note that on this web site provided, Apple does still list $249 as the price for a battery replacement in an M4 Macbook Pro.
• use your Macbook Pro like a desktop, always on power. But if you do that, you will need to watch for any signs of battery leakage or swelling.

abayomi87 wrote:

they dont replace standable battery where im from (nigeria), i have to get all the topcase and i cant afford that right now

Even if the Top Case Assembly is replaced, Apple still has a Battery only price for that. I just looked up Apple's prices and I got $230 for a 2025 Pro/Max or $250 for a 2024 model.

I believe those prices are really only applicable if the laptop is mailed to an Apple repair depot (by the Apple Store, AASP, or the user). If the repair shop acquires the Top Case/Battery Assembly and installs it themselves, then the price could be a different as the part cost & repair shop labor combined may be more expensive (or maybe it could be a bit less).

I would always go with an official OEM battery whenever possible since the quality of third party batteries is extremely poor even from respected vendors such as OWC and iFixIt (I actually have a better vendor I now use, but they don't sell to the public). You are still likely to pay $150 to $200 US even for a third party battery when you factor in labor for installation. In the end, the third party battery will likely fail before the Apple OEM battery will.

"Faulty MacBook Pro Battery: How to Address Low Capacity and Shutdown at 20%: i got my macbook m4 pro last year, the warrantly ended this year May and i just noticed the battery is faulty gets low fast and shut down/sleep at 20% the capacity is currently at 43% and continues to drop dont have the funds for a full top case repair right now and i have no warrantly what can i do about this?"

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Getting a New Battery:

Contact a Service Location (Apple Authorized Service Provider), and see if they can perform it for you --it would be the most trustworthy way to go about performing this, IMO. Go here: Locate an Apple Authorized Service Provider - Apple Support

abayomi87 wrote:

i got my macbook m4 pro last year, the warrantly ended this year May and i just noticed the battery is faulty

gets low fast and shut down/sleep at 20%

the capacity is currently at 43% and continues to drop

dont have the funds for a full top case repair right now and i have no warrantly

what can i do about this?

You have a faulty battery, unfortunately outside the warranty.

It costs $250 to replace the battery if Apple does it. That's probably less than 10% of the price of the laptop. That is the only fix.

If you can't or won't do that, all you can do is connect to power all the time (which makes your laptop basically a desktop) and hope/pray that the battery does not start to swell or leak, because if that happens, the computer will stop working but even worse, the hazardous material in the battery could injure people or property or even start a fire. You should find the resources to replace the battery. There is no other good option.

You can get just the battery replaced by starting here. It will cost about the equivalent of $250

Apple Service and Repair for Mac Laptops - Apple Support

Only Apple or an Apple-approved store should be trusted to replace the battery. If you use any other store or service to replace it then you'll get a cheap knock off which won't work properly and you could end up with a broken Mac..

That computer is a battery-CAPABLE device, It is not optimized as a battery-operated device (it is not an iPhone.)

Your computer performs best when connected to AC power, such as the power adapter. It can use the full output of the Power Adapter AND when doing especially challenging work could also freely "borrow" power from the battery. In some cases, even with the power adapter connected, the charged state may decline during very stressful work.

When used only on battery, your computer has no extra cushion of power, and may perform more slowly. However, for ordinary non-stressful tasks this may not be objectionable (possibly not even noticeable.)

In general, you should ALWAYS connect a power source when it is possible to do so, and only run on batteries (which could be somewhat slower) when no power sources are at hand. Modern Macs maintain optimum battery charge levels under program control, and will NEVER over-charge. Connected to Power is NOT necessarily charging.

When you set it down in one place, or set it down for the night, Plug it in. Then you won’t CARE whether it would drain the battery.

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if you need a way to make plugging in easier, Apple sells a power adapter AC "extension cord"

abayomi87 wrote:

they dont replace standable battery where im from (nigeria), i have to get all the topcase and i cant afford that right now

The days of a standalone battery replacement are gone.

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how do i get a standalone battery? i cant afford the topcase cost

how do i get a standalone battery? i cant afford the topcase cost

they dont replace standable battery where im from (nigeria), i have to get all the topcase and i cant afford that right now