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I have a MacBook pro 2016. Over the past few months, the battery performance started deteriorating rapidly. It wouldn't change all the way up to 100% anymore, and over time the maximum charge level that it would display got lower and lower. It wouldn't last as long when not plugged in, and sometimes it would shut down abruptly even while the battery still showed 40% or more. (Trying to start it up after one of these occurrences gave a "low battery" error, so my guess is that the battery charge display wasn't getting an accurate reading.)

This is a new battery that I got replaced about a year ago (the old battery was having similar problems), so either the new battery is faulty or there's some deeper problem with the machine that's causing the battery to deteriorate much faster than it should.

Anyway, it got to the point where the battery wouldn't go above 6% no matter how long I left it plugged in, and then yesterday the computer shut down and won't start up at all. If I plug it in and press the power button, it will begin the startup sequence, but a few seconds in it will shut down and then restart, and keep doing this forever until I unplug it for turn it off.

The internet suggests that this usually happens due to a software issue, but given the previous battery problems I'm guessing that's not the case here. Also, I have a windows partition on this machine and I tried booting into that instead, and the same thing happens, so it's not specific to OSX.

Any suggestions? I'm planning on buying a new laptop, but it's not going to arrive for a while, so I'd like to get this one limping along for at least another few days. I'm thinking my best bet would be to remove the battery entirely and run it without one? I don't know if that's possible though; the articles I could find seemed to be saying that's only possible on older models from 2012 or before. Also open to other ideas.

Two other notes: I already tried using a different power adapter in case this one was faulty, and I tried running it in clamshell mode in case having its own screen off would save on power, but neither helped.

Isaac King
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    Did you calibrate the new battery when you first got it? https://www.ifixit.com/Wiki/Battery_Calibration idk whether you can re-try this later, but it might be worth a shot. – Tetsujin May 26 '23 at 18:34

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The short answer here is your battery has failed. It’s not unheard of that a seemingly new battery will lose the ability to hold a charge. Unfortunately, you’ll have to replace the battery (again) to get it to boot.

The battery has died (again)

This is a new battery that I got replaced about a year ago (the old battery was having similar problems), so either the new battery is faulty or there's some deeper problem with the machine

It’s entirely possible that there’s an issue with the charging circuitry on the logic board. However, without putting hands on to evaluate what’s actually happening with your particular logic board, it’s only speculation at this point.

Bypassing the battery

Anyway, it got to the point where the battery wouldn't go above 6% no matter how long I left it plugged in, and then yesterday the computer shut down and won't start up at all.

This is symptomatic of a failed battery that won’t hold a charge. Modern MacBooks (circa 2015/16) now will not boot without a battery attached. You could detach the battery and get “fan spin,” (an indicator that things are working) but it won’t boot without full power. Here, it appears the battery is acting like a “drain” and not allowing sufficient power to the rest of the logic board.

You’ve done some good diagnostics

The internet suggests that this usually happens due to a software issue, but given the previous battery problems … I have a windows partition on this machine and I tried booting into that instead, and the same thing happens…

This is an excellent observation on your part and it definitively points to a hardware issue rather than software. The way you would identify whether you’re just unlucky with batteries or you have a logic board issue would be to charge that battery outside the Mac and see if it will hold a charge. If it can hold a charge, you likely have a logic board issue. Note: if you don’t have the facilities to do this, I don’t recommend trying it.

Further Reading

Allan
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