Random Mac death?

TheRubberBandit

So a few months ago I got a Macbook Pro and I love it. Until now, it hasn't given me any problems. However over the past couple weeks a problem has developed... If I run on battery power for any longer than about an hour, it will randomly shut down. Just completely off, in the middle of what I'm doing. No indication of low battery, no weird noises, never seems particularly hot, never gets banged or anything.... just sudden death. I can turn it right back on afterwards, and its as if I were to just shut it down improperly, but its still very frustrating.

I'm not that computer savvy, so does anybody know what this could be? Has anybody else had a similar problem?

I don't have a ton of stuff on the computer so its not like its overloaded and running slowly or badly, if that would have any bearing on the situation... I really dont know.

embrik

Not a clue myself, but it's still under warranty, so I'd call Apple to see if they can help. When my Powerbook gets low on battery power, it goes to sleep. No shutdown.

Fristle

If you're still under warranty (and it sounds like you are), the quickest solution is probably to just take the machine to an Apple retailer and explain your problem. It may be something as simple as a bad battery (they'll put one of their batteries in it and see if it exhibits the issue, if it doesn't, they'll swap your bad battery for a replacement, and you can be on your way).

In fact, there was a recall on some 15" MacBook Pro batteries. I am not talking about the ones that were a safety risk, but another different recall of a batch that just sucked, apparently. Maybe this is your issue too?

UPDATE: You could run HardwareMonitor and track the vitals on the battery while you go about your daily use. If it is doing anything crazy, this will give you a chance to capture it and prove it.