About this replacement
Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch M2 2022 — 11.45V Li-Polymer Replacement Battery (661-26150)
This 11.45V, 4550mAh (52.1Wh) lithium-polymer cell replaces the original battery in the Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch M2 2022, model A2681 (EMC 4074). It fits MLXW3LL/A, MLXX3LL/A, and related configurations sharing the same OEM part number 661-26150 / A2669. Dimensions are 289.50 × 125.20 × 5.10mm — check your existing cell before ordering.
- A2681 platform compatibility: These M2 MacBook Pro 16-inch units share a single battery connector pinout and BMS handshake protocol. The A2669 cell communicates capacity and cycle data through Apple's SMBus interface — the physical connector and communication lines must match exactly for macOS to recognise the cell at all.
- Bench tested on actual hardware: We ran this cell on an A2681 board and confirmed the BMS accepted the SMBus handshake, charge current stepped correctly through CC/CV phases, and no protection trip occurred during a full charge-discharge cycle under CPU and display load.
- Post-install calibration on the A2681: After fitting, discharge the MacBook until it hibernates on its own, then charge uninterrupted to 100% without waking it mid-cycle. This forces the fuel gauge IC to re-learn the new cell's actual capacity curve and clears the inaccurate health warning macOS posts after every cell swap.
Why macOS reports "Service Recommended" immediately after fitting a new A2681 cell
The A2681 stores battery health data — cycle count, designed capacity, and condition flags — in EEPROM on the old cell's controller board. When a new cell goes in, that EEPROM data is either absent or mismatched, so macOS reads the condition flag as degraded before a single charge cycle runs. This is a firmware state, not a hardware fault. Running one full discharge-to-hibernate followed by a complete uninterrupted charge resets the learn cycle and clears the flag in most cases. If the warning persists after two full calibration cycles, check System Information → Power and confirm "Cycle Count" is reading a low number consistent with a new cell.
MacBook Pro A2681 shutting down at 20–30% state of charge shown on screen
This happens when the fuel gauge IC has not yet calibrated to the new cell's actual voltage curve. The IC predicts cutoff based on old cell data, and the new cell hits a voltage cliff under full CPU plus display load before the percentage reaches zero. The laptop cuts power to protect the cell, even though the displayed percentage looks safe. Run two complete discharge-to-hibernate and full-charge cycles without interruption — after that, the gauge IC tracks the new cell accurately and the premature shutdowns stop. Confirm recovery by watching the battery voltage in coconutBattery or System Information; it should hold above 10.5V at the 20% mark under load.