Laptop Problems

I bought a new laptop a little over three years ago, a MacBook Pro. My trusty HP was ten years old, slow, the battery was failing, and it was loud, so very loud. It was time. I’d heard plenty of good things about Macs, the speed, the silence and the software, and had always wanted to try one, so when I saw a 2020 M1 MacBook Pro with 16GB RAM, and 1TB storage for $1100, I couldn’t pass it up. I mean, that’s a deal.

When it arrived everything was properly working, I used it for a few days, gave it a full charge, and stored it in the closet. My desk was already occupied by my desktop, the laptop was for when I moved.

At the time, I was starting a new job and would have to move across the country after passing training. I didn’t want to lug around the desktop, keyboard, and monitor, so a new laptop was the perfect solution. After orientation and the first training day, I knew the job wasn’t for me. There was something about the atmosphere, the way the instructors and people in charge talked that struck me the wrong way. Everyone kept talking about how much they loved the job, how it was the best job in the world, how much money we’d make, how great the benefits were, how stressful it was, how long the hours were, how understaffed it was, how the higher ups would replace us with computers if they could, and they were all so loud about it. That wasn’t what I was looking for. So, after passing training, I resigned. What? I wanted to show that I could, also, I wanted to put it one my resume.

To this day, I’m incredibly happy with my choice. It was the correct one for me, the only downside is that my new laptop has sat in the closet for some time now, just waiting to be used.

I did some reorganizing of my desk today, and slimmed down my workspace. Put the desktop away, dusted off the desk, filled my many water bottles, and for the first time in years, brought the MacBook out to play. Once everything was ready I plugged in the power and … nothing. Odd. It was working perfectly three years ago. I waited - still nothing. Using my phone, I looked up what might be happening and was met with a series of articles about how laptop batteries, specifically lithium-ion batteries, should regularly be plugged in and charged. Oops. Apparently it’s bad to let them sit in a closet without power for three years. Who knew?

Eventually it turned on but I can’t unplug the power without the screen immediately going dark. The battery status says ‘plugged in not charging’ and is sitting at 1%. The maximum capacity setting reads —, which is probably not infinity. Also, for some reason, my Apple ID was locked when I tried to log in so I had to request access to it. Still waiting for an email regarding that. I’ve thought about taking it in to get a new battery, but that seems a bit ridiculous since it works perfectly when plugged in. I’m trying to cut back on screen time anyway; this might help.

From now on, I’ll try to remember to regularly charge my devices, maybe I’ll even make a charging calendar reminder, I just wish they’d mentioned it on the box with big bright letters.