15" Mid-2012 macbook pro battery with 130 charge cycles on it now won't charge

Not all batteries are the same. MacSales sells battery replacements

About Mac notebook batteries - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204054

Determine battery cycle count for Mac notebooks - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201585

Batteries - Maximizing Performance - Apple

https://www.apple.com/batteries/maximizing-performance/


In or out of warranty you can get a free over the counter 'Apple Service Diagnostics' test /assessment

Make an appointment for a "hardware issue"—

https://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/

Jeff Linkous wrote:

Sounds like the discharge to 0% killed the battery. It was flatlined for probably 6 months or longer. I'll just get it replaced.

That sounds just about right. A discharge to 0% doesn't really kill the battery because the 0% floor is set deliberately such that it doesn't kill it immediately. But once it's there, self discharge will eventually take it to the point of deep discharge where capacity is lost or it completely dies. And a good charging system won't attempt to charge it because it could catch on fire.

It's still on the "Vintage" list which theoretically means that there's still repair parts available for it if you get it serviced by an AASP in California.

Vintage and obsolete products - Apple Support

Is this the original battery or a replacement? If a replacement, who replaced it?

I think you answered your own question in this sentence:

the computer in question sat unplugged (but still on) for a long time...

How long is "a long time?"

Letting the battery go to zero and leaving it there can damage the battery. Apple recommends setting a charge of about 50 percent before storing the computer with power off for extended periods. I'm fairly sure you have a usage-induced hardware problem.

I have a 2012 MBP that gets used every day and its original battery, that just had its sixth anniversary, is still going strong. I use it on battery for a little while about twice a week.

...battery is rated for 1,000 charge cycles...

And about "cycles." Apple's published position says the battery should maintain 80 percent health at up to 1000 cycles. Note the wiggle-words "should" and "up to." I've seen reports here of still useable batteries with over 2000 cycles and I've seen failed batteries with less that 400. The batteries that lasted a long time had one thing in common: they got used a lot.