Is my battery dead for good?

So I decided to take my MBP off the power cord to watch a Youtube video in my bed. About 5 minutes into the video (battery moniter says it's at 70%) I get a reserve battery power warning. The computer informs me that it will be going to sleep to preserve power or something; then it just shuts off. I don't know how this happened. I checked my iStat Pro and it says battery health is 12%. This computer is a little over a year old and I've periodically let the battery run down on power and then charge it back up. Is this normal for a battery? Did I not care for it properly? Is there a way to get the life of the battery back? What can I do?

 

The only things you can really do are (1) calibrate the battery to see if it is a mistake and (2) buy a new battery or get a warranty replacement.

 

How have you been using the laptop? Is it normally plugged in all the time?
If its plugged in all the time, and the laptop is on, it will kill the health of the battery over time.

But some info how how you used the laptop might help to figure out the problem.

 

try coconut battery for mac. Gives you some detail about your battery status

 

For the most part it has been plugged in. I do take the plug out from time to time though and let the battery run down and then charge it back up, I'd say I do this about once every two weeks.

 

batteries come in batches, some "last" longer than others. You can try running the battery completely down again, and use the "refridgerator" charlatan trick (leave the battery in the fridge for 1 hr or so) and try again. But it is likely that you need a new battery

there is no scientific agreement as what is best for a battery, but many manufacturers (Sony, HP) have started offering/implementing the "smart battery care" gismo - and that is tha the battey will stop taking in the charge at a certain preset level (50%, 80%) when being plugged.

cheers ...