Battery Update 1.2 [Archive] - MacRumors Forums

MacRumors

Apr 27, 2007, 05:27 PM

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com)

Apple has posted Battery Update 1.2 (http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/batteryupdate12.html), which updates battery firmware and improves battery functionality according to Apple.

The update affects most Intel-based laptops, including:
* MacBook
* MacBook (Late 2006)
* MacBook Pro (15-inch)
* MacBook Pro (15-inch Glossy)
* MacBook Pro (15-inch Core 2 Duo)
* MacBook Pro (17-inch)
* MacBook Pro (17-inch Core 2 Duo)

More information about the update can be found in this knowledge-base article (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305256).

Update: Macworld has posted a statement (http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/04/27/battery/index.php) from Apple regarding the update. Apple has apparently recently identified an issue that was causing poor performance.

"We have issued a software update that is designed to improve battery performance, and consumers can receive a new battery free of charge if their battery continues to have performance issues after installing the software update, even if their computer is out of warranty," said Apple in a statement provided to Macworld.

According to Macworld, no safety issue has been identified; the update is limited purely to performance concerns.

Update 2: Apple has added another support (http://www.macrumors.com/c.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2Fsupport%2Fmacbook_macbookpro%2Fbatteryupdate%2F&t=1177710781) page for the battery update. Highlights are:

* If, after installing the update, your computer continues to exhibit below symptoms, you may be eligible to receive free out-of-warranty replacement of your battery.
* The warranty on the batteries of MacBook and MacBook Pro systems with Core 2 Duo processors has been extended to 2 years from the date of purchase.

Symptoms of an affected battery:
* Battery is not recognized causing an “X” to appear in the battery icon in the Finder menu bar.
* Battery will not charge when computer is plugged into AC power.
* Battery exhibits low charge capacity/runtime when using a fully charged battery with a battery cycle count (as shown in System Profiler) of less than 300.
* Battery pack is visibly deformed.

FF_productions

Apr 27, 2007, 05:28 PM

Downloading...

My battery really sucks on my MacBook Pro so I hope this somewhat improves it.

scottlinux

Apr 27, 2007, 05:29 PM

Update battery firmware? Sounds scary.

zap2

Apr 27, 2007, 05:30 PM

How long 'til we see more threads like this?

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=300089

Mac-Addict

Apr 27, 2007, 05:30 PM

Installing now... I wonder what it will do to my battery xD

smueboy

Apr 27, 2007, 05:31 PM

I wonder what "improved battery functionality" is.

.

p0intblank

Apr 27, 2007, 05:32 PM

I wonder what "improved battery functionality" is.

.

It's probably better use of the battery, longer run times, runs cooler, etc.

Or something like that. :p

theheyes

Apr 27, 2007, 05:33 PM

Is this anything to do with the problem where batteries would not wake from their "discharged" state?

kainjow

Apr 27, 2007, 05:35 PM

Yeah, I'm definitely backing up before I update :)

CHROMEDOME

Apr 27, 2007, 05:35 PM

* MacBook Pro (15-inch)
* MacBook Pro (15-inch Glossy)

Yea I forgot these were to different models...:rolleyes:

synth3tik

Apr 27, 2007, 05:35 PM

I;m all for a battery usage update. My MBP is a lot better then my powerbook at power usage, but if I can get more I'm all for it.

theheadguy

Apr 27, 2007, 05:38 PM

Took long enough.

runninmac

Apr 27, 2007, 05:38 PM

Good! My MacBook has been shutting off at 35% battery life and won't charge past 95%, hopefully this fixes it!

studiomusic

Apr 27, 2007, 05:40 PM

I just sent back my bad MBP 17" battery to Apple. It would charge fully, and say it has over 2 hours of charge left, but if I unplugged it for about 5 minutes, it would shut off. The battery would then blink one light like it was discharged.
Apple sent a new one overnight, no problems since.

Could this update have helped in this situation? New firmware...?
Probably not...

johnee

Apr 27, 2007, 05:43 PM

I think this updates sets the following:

"Do not blow up" register to 1

and

"Do not start fire" register to 1

to avoid this (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=300089)

but still leaves

"Slowly lower battery capacity" register to 1

to make people buy more batteries.

lilmoonee

Apr 27, 2007, 05:43 PM

http://www.apple.com/support/macbook_macbookpro/batteryupdate/

This update supposedly fixes the battery problem that ive been having (ive replaced the battery 3 times...).

jellomizer

Apr 27, 2007, 05:44 PM

I never had battery problems of any consequence. I can get over 3 hours off of normal use, with screen fully bright and airport on.

Mac-Addict

Apr 27, 2007, 05:54 PM

My usual settings have about an hour left of battery life when at 100% and now it has 3 hours! Wow!

Maccus Aurelius

Apr 27, 2007, 05:56 PM

Oh I guess I'll be fed more mothering from Apple....although I myself don't see any issue with my computer as is. On full brightness and just web browsing I get roughly 3 1/2 hours. I just have this penchant for keeping up to date. :D ....anyway this lappy's been rock solid through every update, so I don't foresee any issues with this one.

abadr

Apr 27, 2007, 06:00 PM

Think the article needs a correction:

From the apple support site:

"For MacBook and MacBook Pro systems with Intel Core Duo processors, this program extends repair coverage on the battery for up to two years from the date of purchase of the computer."

In the macrumors article, it's core 2 duo

cmccarten

Apr 27, 2007, 06:01 PM

I installed it without a hitch.
Fairly long initial boot, and then once booted, I immediately checked the battery. It now says "battery is charged" instead of always hanging at 99%.
Also, when I first started it, it said that I had 1092 hours and 15 minutes remaining....however, that quickly changed to the standard ~3 hours w/low light (on MBP core duo).
As far as i can tell, it hasn't made any difference to my battery life.

Whistleway

Apr 27, 2007, 06:03 PM

Performance replacement, yeah right !!

dornoforpyros

Apr 27, 2007, 06:06 PM

Ahh about time Apple acknowledged the problems with the MBP batteries.

mainstreetmark

Apr 27, 2007, 06:09 PM

Nice! I'm on my second, but had the foresight not to destroy the first, trying to "fix" it. I may send 'er in and get a much needed backup.

amoda

Apr 27, 2007, 06:13 PM

orangemacapple

Apr 27, 2007, 06:18 PM

macbook c2d 2.0Ghz

i can't seem to install the battery updater. get error msg.

alexprice

Apr 27, 2007, 06:20 PM

IMO its about time Apple did something about this HUGE issue. I really hope it helps.

robPOD

Apr 27, 2007, 06:26 PM

Just Dowloaded my battry says 94% and 3:45 remaining, Airport is on and thescreen is at full brightneess:D :D

Alex3231

Apr 27, 2007, 06:27 PM

So this means that I need a second replacement battery??? :-(

shawnce

Apr 27, 2007, 06:28 PM

macbook c2d 2.0Ghz

i can't seem to install the battery updater. get error msg.

Try installing again but select "Installer Log" from the Window menu in the installer. Then list at least errors. That may help you (or us) better understand why it is failing.

So this means that I need a second replacement battery??? :-(

What makes you think that?

Alex3231

Apr 27, 2007, 06:31 PM

What makes you think that? look at the picture i attached. my cycle count is 109, and apple said that anything below 300 is part of their replacement thing

macidiot

Apr 27, 2007, 06:31 PM

My mbp 17" woke up one day with the x where the charge percentage should have been. Also, the battery was somewhat charged, but would not re-charge. Oh, and when I removed the battery to inspect it, I noticed that it was bulging slightly.

I called Apple, where they stated it was motherboard issue and said that they would ship me a box to send the mbp to them and that I would be without my computer for a week.

This was after VERY SLOWLY walking me through every step I had already gone through when I attempted to resolve the problem myself.

After I got off the phone, I decided to go to the Apple store. The genius there noticed the bulging battery immediately and decided to try a new one. Worked like a champ. No problems since. No cost for me, and took about 15 minutes of my time.

btw, I suggested repeatedly to the phone tech that I really didn't want to be without my computer and could you just send a battery to me to see if that fixes the problem? He stated that it was a motherboard problem...

Nice to see that this wasn't a freak problem for me. And that Apple has recognized it and is offering a fix.

EricNau

Apr 27, 2007, 06:33 PM

* Battery is not recognized causing an “X” to appear in the battery icon in the Finder menu bar.
I got my battery replaced last week for that exact reason. ...And now I have a new battery! :D

NATO

Apr 27, 2007, 06:34 PM

look at the picture i attached. my cycle count is 109, and apple said that anything below 300 is part of their replacement thing

Read it carefully:

"Battery exhibits low charge capacity/runtime when using a fully charged battery with a battery cycle count (as shown in System Profiler) of less than 300."

Your Battery has to be acting strange in that its not holding what you would expect to be a normal charge for such a new battery. Its definitely not a blanket recall of all batteries with a cycle count less than 300.

DreamNshadow

Apr 27, 2007, 06:36 PM

I noticed my computer rebooted twice, and not on purpose. First started booting up, then before it went to the log in screen, it restarted again. I was installing the latest security update, and the battery update. Is this normal?

Alex3231

Apr 27, 2007, 06:37 PM

Read it carefully:

"Battery exhibits low charge capacity/runtime when using a fully charged battery with a battery cycle count (as shown in System Profiler) of less than 300."

Your Battery has to be acting strange in that its not holding what you would expect to be a normal charge for such a new battery. Its definitely not a blanket recall of all batteries with a cycle count less than 300.

does the battery only holding a charge for like one hour on mid brightness and no airport/bluetooth somewhat go along with what you are telling me? Because that is my problem as well. I originally thought that My MBP CD was supposed to hold 5 hours.

orangemacapple

Apr 27, 2007, 06:38 PM

Try installing again but select "Installer Log" from the Window menu in the installer. Then list at least errors. That may help you (or us) better understand why it is failing.

so, does this mean i need to delete all batteryupdate files and start over? or which ones should i leave?

Mpulsive81

Apr 27, 2007, 06:39 PM

What the heck?! Can't wait for mine to charge up!

shawnce

Apr 27, 2007, 06:41 PM

look at the picture i attached. my cycle count is 109, and apple said that anything below 300 is part of their replacement thing

That isn't what they said. They said if you battery has a cycle count under 300 and had issues with not fully charging or full battery life then you may have a battery issue.

The value "cycle count" is just a count of how many times you have nearly discharged and then recharged the battery... so a low count just means you haven't heavily used the battery.

shawnce

Apr 27, 2007, 06:42 PM

shawnce

Apr 27, 2007, 06:46 PM

so, does this mean i need to delete all batteryupdate files and start over? or which ones should i leave?

I suggest you download the updater manually (http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/firmware_hardware/batteryupdate12.html) and try installing it that way... but first I would reboot your system.

DreamNshadow

Apr 27, 2007, 06:47 PM

Yes for the security update it is.

Thanks, appreciate it.

shawnce

Apr 27, 2007, 06:50 PM

does the battery only holding a charge for like one hour on mid brightness and no airport/bluetooth somewhat go along with what you are telling me? Because that is my problem as well. I originally thought that My MBP CD was supposed to hold 5 hours.

After installing this update try battery calibration. Review the lower section of this page (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86284).

1. Plug in the power adapter and fully charge your PowerBook's battery until the light ring or LED on the power adapter plug changes to green and the onscreen meter in the menu bar indicates that the battery is fully charged.
2. Allow the battery to rest in the fully charged state for at least two hours. You may use your computer during this time as long as the adapter is plugged in.
3. Disconnect the power adapter with the computer still on and start running the computer off battery power. You may use your computer during this time. When your battery gets low, you will see the low battery warning dialog on the screen.
4. Continue to keep your computer on until it goes to sleep. Save all your work and close all applications when the battery gets very low, before the computer goes to sleep.
5. Turn off the computer or allow it to sleep for five hours or more.
6. Connect the power adapter and leave it connected until the battery is fully charged again.

..however I personally would first drain your battery until system sleep and then fully charge it and then start step 1.

Alex3231

Apr 27, 2007, 06:52 PM

its funny that you recommended that. that is what i am trying right now. thanks for the suggestion though. :D

Westside guy

Apr 27, 2007, 06:55 PM

Wow - not sure if it'll affect my battery life, but Safari seems snappier.

:D

ortuno2k

Apr 27, 2007, 06:55 PM

I'll try it when I get home, but doubt i'll notice much of a difference.
I rarely ever use my MBP on batteries; I've had it for almost 4 months and only have 15 cycles - a lot of those on purpose to work the battery a little.
I did a full charge/discharge/charge once too.
Most of the times I use it plugged in. Am I harming my MBP's battery?

mat05

Apr 27, 2007, 07:02 PM

Is my full capacity charge normal? 3235 mAh looks weak.

thanks guys, i appreciate it.

lu0s3r322

Apr 27, 2007, 07:06 PM

um what does negative amperage mean?

and also mine doesn't charge fully as you can see here

could i get the battery replaced free of charge?

orangemacapple

Apr 27, 2007, 07:09 PM

ok, rebooted and did another manual download and install. no errors reported this time.

still didn't get the file "batteryupdater.bundle" though with the icon showing on the apple site.
got a folder with that name.

povman

Apr 27, 2007, 07:15 PM

Wow - not sure if it'll affect my battery life, but Safari seems snappier.

:D

.. Maybe there's less electricity from the battery getting clogged in the intertubes.

Westside guy

Apr 27, 2007, 07:22 PM

um what does negative amperage mean?

I suspect it means your battery is being used - you're not plugged in.

NATO

Apr 27, 2007, 07:25 PM

does the battery only holding a charge for like one hour on mid brightness and no airport/bluetooth somewhat go along with what you are telling me? Because that is my problem as well. I originally thought that My MBP CD was supposed to hold 5 hours.

Yeah, that sounds like a very poor charge if you're only getting about an hour from fully charged with your screen brightness down and airport/bluetooth off. Follow the advice given by shawnce and if it's still like that, give Apple a call as your battery may actually fall under the replacement scheme.

onebloodonelife

Apr 27, 2007, 07:28 PM

No problem here, but I haven't had any battery problems to begin with...

timmillwood

Apr 27, 2007, 07:33 PM

I have never had a problem with the battery in my 17" Core 2 Duo Macbook Pro

BUT

When i open the lid it never wakes from sleep first time.

Shades of Blue

Apr 27, 2007, 07:40 PM

Westside guy

Apr 27, 2007, 07:48 PM

Do you guys think it's okay to work on a MBP with the battery unplugged?

My friend told me once it's not okay because the laptop is not supposed to work that way.

You mean, with the battery removed? Or do you mean disconnected from AC power (the wall)?

If the latter, your friend is blazingly wrong. That's pretty much the whole point of owning a laptop. :D

aristobrat

Apr 27, 2007, 08:03 PM

Even if this update does add life to the battery, the extra time isn't going to show up when you click the battery icon until after you've recalibrated, right?

Doesn't the system basically just guess at how long your battery is going to last based on how long it's lasted recently?

dr_lha

Apr 27, 2007, 08:04 PM

Hmm... since installing this update, my 15" C2D MacBook Pro is reporting 3:45mins on a full charge. Before this it rarely went over 3hrs. If real this is a nice update!

TBi

Apr 27, 2007, 08:10 PM

Do you guys think it's okay to work on a MBP with the battery unplugged?

My friend told me once it's not okay because the laptop is not supposed to work that way.

Just wondering...

P.S.: Sorry for writing off-topic.

In the original MBP when you took out the battery it forced the CPU to operate at 1GHz. CoreDuoTemp should tell you what frequency you are working at.

Shades of Blue

Apr 27, 2007, 08:11 PM

You mean, with the battery removed? Or do you mean disconnected from AC power (the wall)?

If the latter, your friend is blazingly wrong. That's pretty much the whole point of owning a laptop. :D

lOl, no, i meant with the battery removed depending only on the AC Power plug.

:p

Shades of Blue

Apr 27, 2007, 08:35 PM

TBi, i use a CD 2.16 Ghz Processor. so basically what you said means that i shouldn't use a laptop with the battery removed depending only on the AC Power Adapter, right?

quadgirl

Apr 27, 2007, 08:35 PM

Whether this update improves the battery efficiency or not, the most important thing is for the batteries NOT to fail. Just this week, I had the dreaded 'black x' on the battery icon on my Macbook and got it replaced instantly at my local Apple Store. The guys at the genius bar seemed all too familiar with the fault which is rather alarming.

What is it with laptop batteries these days? Fires, buldging, etc. My old Powerbook never had a problem in the years I had it.

shawnce

Apr 27, 2007, 08:41 PM

What is it with laptop batteries these days? Fires, buldging, etc. My old Powerbook never had a problem in the years I had it. The batteries today have complex management systems built into them with various sensors. Why? Well to get the most out of the battery, allow for fast charging and it allows them to use compounds that can be a little unstable under the wrong conditions (those compounds allow for higher power densities, better charge/discharge characteristics then we could before, and even unique form factors).

They are trying to push the limits of what can be done...

Fleetwood Mac

Apr 27, 2007, 09:22 PM

My MB's battery lasted about 30mins longer with same usage / open apps.

SiliconAddict

Apr 27, 2007, 09:23 PM

*grumbles something about quality control of a 2 bit company.* :rolleyes:

This is starting to get retarded. :( I mean its a battery for god sake. Yes I know there are a lot of "smarts" integrated into batteries now a days but they ave been doing this for how long now?

daneoni

Apr 27, 2007, 09:31 PM

Mine is at 93 cycles and shows 93% health and i get just over 2hrs with it on quater brightness, safari, mail and itunes running, low volume. Should i be worried or is this normal?

SC68Cal

Apr 27, 2007, 09:38 PM

Hopefully this will fix my problem with fluctuating capacity

bertagert

Apr 27, 2007, 09:48 PM

I have full charge, pull the plug and get 1:36 left on my battery. I installed the updater but nothing changed. I would like to have more than an 1 1/2 hours of battery on my new MBP. Should I take her in?

Side note: How would I turn off Apache? I see some other items in my startup that I'd like to turn off as well.

Westside guy

Apr 27, 2007, 10:15 PM

Side note: How would I turn off Apache? I see some other items in my startup that I'd like to turn off as well.

It sounds like at some point you turned on "personal web sharing" - turn it off (Preferences -> Sharing).

gonnabuyamac

Apr 27, 2007, 10:24 PM

ok, so i've had my 15.4" 2.16 MBP for about 6 months, and i've never got more than 2 1/2 hours or so out of it on battery life, and it's at 91% capacity. could i possibly have a bad battery?

i just figured my MBP had horrible battery life and somewhat miss the 7 hours i used to be able to get off of my Vaio (though it had a smaller screen, and even 4 1/2 hours batter life difference is still worth the switch to a Mac)

comictimes

Apr 27, 2007, 10:30 PM

ok what the hell... the other day I was getting 2.5 hours or so on a full charge (not too great considering the 3.5+ hours I got when the comp was new...).
I download this update and I suddenly have 1:45 on a full charge. That's just slightly crappy...

Marlon_JBT

Apr 27, 2007, 10:41 PM

I miss the 5 hours I used to get with my 12" PowerBook. :(

Willis

Apr 28, 2007, 12:17 AM

Hmm, Ive been getting that X a few times and it does use up a fair bit of power.

Atm, Airport, Safari, Mail, iTunes open, screen 2 settings below full brightness... 3:38 remaining on 100% charge...

Gonna let it go down to 80%, get the update, charge up and do the same again, see if theres a difference

3:18 at the end of typing this post :eek:

jiwa

Apr 28, 2007, 12:17 AM

Symptoms of an affected battery:
* Battery exhibits low charge capacity/runtime when using a fully charged battery with a battery cycle count (as shown in System Profiler) of less than 300.

So what exactly qualifies as a low run time? I just updated my 94% full battery which has 151 cycles and i have 2hs & 38mins left. Full brightness, nothing but safari. Is that low? Med? Way to be specific. I'm running on a 15" mbp, CD.

Use Coconut Battery: http://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/
to establish how much the capacity of your battery has degraded over time.

After 158 cycles, Coconut Battery reports that my battery is at 2797 mAh - the original capacity of the battery when new, was 5500. So after just over twelve months it has degraded to half its original capacity - that constitutes a defective battery in my eyes. What does CB report for everyone else?

Rob

Willis

Apr 28, 2007, 12:23 AM

Use Coconut Battery: http://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/
to establish how much the capacity of your battery has degraded over time.

After 158 cycles, Coconut Battery reports that my battery is at 2797 mAh - the original capacity of the battery when new, was 5500. So after just over twelve months it has degraded to half its original capacity - that constitutes a defective battery in my eyes. What does CB report for everyone else?

Rob

Thanks for that! I will log my batter performances over the coming months. 5 months since I got this MB and battery has lost 100mAh

juanster

Apr 28, 2007, 12:28 AM

guys my computer is running fine and all, but it does not find updates I don't know what it is, last security update i couldn't get because it simply did not find it, try to force it through the apple website and it won t let me d/l it it says that my volume does not meet the requirements???wtf? what does that mean? and now i run the software update and it says there are no available updates for my system an dthat everything is up to date,, any idea what may be going on? b ythe way i have a macbook c2d have had it just for over a month never had anyproblem with it at all....i am the only user...

LastZion

Apr 28, 2007, 12:29 AM

My battery would most of the time just die if I was under 20%. Just bam, done. Then I would plug it back in and the screen would go from 19% or whatever it was down to 0%. Hope this fixes it

BiikeMike

Apr 28, 2007, 12:46 AM

Use Coconut Battery: http://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/
to establish how much the capacity of your battery has degraded over time.

After 158 cycles, Coconut Battery reports that my battery is at 2797 mAh - the original capacity of the battery when new, was 5500. So after just over twelve months it has degraded to half its original capacity - that constitutes a defective battery in my eyes. What does CB report for everyone else?

Rob

I'm at 248 cycles, 3663 mAh capacity, 14 mos

This darn thing just came back from the Apple doctor about randomly shutting down when the battery still showed juice too.....

susannahyork

Apr 28, 2007, 12:51 AM

Coconut says I am at 5113 mAh on my macbook pro, with 120 loadcycles. New was 5500. 94% of original capacity in 5 months.

I thought that was kind of bad?

iJawn108

Apr 28, 2007, 12:53 AM

That's so wicked, I might not even buy applecare now.

Willis

Apr 28, 2007, 12:54 AM

80% 2:24 remaining. time to charge and update!

quigleybc

Apr 28, 2007, 02:01 AM

wow i just got a whole extra hour and a half more battery life

best update ever!!!!!

:) :)

pknz

Apr 28, 2007, 02:03 AM

OK... My MacBook told me 759.34 remaining. Has now switched to 5.03 hours.

andrewfee

Apr 28, 2007, 02:06 AM

Coconut says I am at 5113 mAh on my macbook pro, with 120 loadcycles. New was 5500. 94% of original capacity in 5 months.

I thought that was kind of bad?
That's about what I would expect for a 5 month old battery.

On my Core2Duo MacBook Pro, it's reporting 4432mAh, which is only 80% capacity after 5 months of usage, and 63 load cycles.

I guess I'll have to contact Apple about it, as I've always had terrible performance with this thing.

While it's not swelling terribly, the battery is no longer completely flush with the bottom of the machine anymore if I run my fingers over it.

iBookG4user

Apr 28, 2007, 02:06 AM

I just updated and it hasn't fixed the battery capacity issue on one of my MacBook Pro batteries. It's still at 65% of the original capacity after only 42 charge cycles.

anti-microsoft

Apr 28, 2007, 02:06 AM

Great!! Yay!! Wooo!! I've got 690h 30min Of battery life:eek:

flir67

Apr 28, 2007, 02:13 AM

ok installed the update ,it went fine ,restarted, only for my macbook c2d to do a soft restart and got stuck at a solid blue screen with a swirling circle let it sit for 2 minutes nothing so I forced powered down and restarted. it took a little longer than normal and for a full charge had 3:45 now it went up to 4:05 in the minutes after running it and surfing here.waiting now 4:16 wth??? hay I'm not complaining

did a force option-command p-r also maybe that helped. wait 4:23 now... LOL

shish...

how do you tell the power meter version.

smartalic34

Apr 28, 2007, 02:20 AM

I installed the battery update no problem, but according to http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305256

you can Get Info on the BatteryUpdater.bundle and check the version... however, mine doesn't have that white "lego block" logo... my batteryupdater.bundle is a folder. I can't check the version #... why is this?

LastZion

Apr 28, 2007, 03:32 AM

My batter went from showing 3:14 at 100% before install to 2:37 at 100% after the update.... hope this sorts it self out. Anyone else see a drop?

iJawn108

Apr 28, 2007, 03:38 AM

Nope mines still dying and not going to sleep. I guess I'll be going to the Toronto Apple Store sooner than I was expecting.

Shotgun Pete

Apr 28, 2007, 04:45 AM

My battery life has always been around four hours, but my cycle count is down around 120, guess im getting a free new battery.

Pressure

Apr 28, 2007, 05:37 AM

My battery went from 94% health to 79% health and now only shows 2:25 remaining battery life, where I could normally get 4 hours.

I guess a battery calibration is in order.

MrCrowbar

Apr 28, 2007, 06:34 AM

Good! My MacBook has been shutting off at 35% battery life and won't charge past 95%, hopefully this fixes it!

I had the exact same problem, got the battery exchanged under warranty.

EDIT: Well, actually, when it was over 95% charched, the light on the magsafe connector went green-amber-green-amber... in a 2 second cycle. I was told it actually charged and drained the battery in 2 second cycles which would have caused the battery to overheat after a certain period of time.

Remove your battery for now and take it to an Apple Store ASAP to get a replacement battery. Say you did ll mthe PRAM resets and stuff.

katy

Apr 28, 2007, 07:06 AM

My batter went from showing 3:14 at 100% before install to 2:37 at 100% after the update.... hope this sorts it self out. Anyone else see a drop?

same for me...:(

Willis

Apr 28, 2007, 07:39 AM

Well, updated, after pulling the plug at 100% it said 3:42

its at 88% now 2:52... think i need to recalibrate

hagjohn

Apr 28, 2007, 07:49 AM

I get 3hr 15 min out of a full battery... When set to "better performance".

zac4mac

Apr 28, 2007, 08:50 AM

Ran the update last night on my new 15" - Had problems with a revA CD2.0Ghz-15"MBP last year, Apple sent 2 replacement batteries, last one was good. Sold the CD MBP, bought a refurb C2D last week(4-19). Coconut says 5 cycles on an 8 week old MBP and I've dropped from 5500 mAh to 5274 - 5% loss already.

Just watched "V for Vendetta" on battery a couple of days ago and it had enough juice to make it halfway thru a second time. Battery area was very hot prior and I decided to use the movie to completely discharge the battery and reset the PMU. Ran notieably cooler afterwards, don't see much effect yet from the update, C2D 2.33/256MB-X1600/2GB/120GB/10.4.9/matte

Z

eluk

Apr 28, 2007, 09:13 AM

...My friend told me once it's not okay because the laptop is not supposed to work that way.

His right the battery is there to give the machine a nice balance.

koobcamuk

Apr 28, 2007, 10:03 AM

His right the battery is there to give the machine a nice balance.

Is 'his' a new word for 'He is'?

I might finally install 10.4.9 now...

e12a

Apr 28, 2007, 10:42 AM

good to hear it.

I've had the non charging battery once when my battery was almost empty. I plugged in the charger and it wouldnt charge. Then i unplugged it and the computer went into sleep immediately. I had to shut the computer down for the charger to start charging the battery.

TheChemist

Apr 28, 2007, 10:43 AM

I just installed Coconut Battery, I wonder if the following results have anything to do with the logic board being replaced two weeks ago.

My MBP is ony 7 months old, I swear.... I think i'll go recalibrate the battery.

MacJoe

Apr 28, 2007, 10:54 AM

I tried to install the update via Software Update but it wouldn't install, citing some sort of error (don't recall the specifics). I downloaded the updater and installed manually with no errors. I saw absolutely nothing to indicate that the update had done anything. I'm in the process of calibrating the battery again. This battery is only about two weeks old. The previous one swelled up and the Apple Store replaced it. My MBP is only a year old and I've had no problems till now. Aside from the swollen battery, the only issue I've seen is the battery not charging beyond 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% depending on which electrical outlet I use. Weird.

paz117

Apr 28, 2007, 10:54 AM

just last week

Collin973

Apr 28, 2007, 11:05 AM

My battery was at 81% capacity before I installed the update. CB and iStat Nano said the same thing and the battery last about 2.5 hours on low brightness. Now, CB reports 96% capacity (5355 mah).

I'm so happy!!!!! I can't wait to see how long it last now!!

mat05

Apr 28, 2007, 12:00 PM

is this normal: 85% after 14 months? my battery is already an exchange battery from recall apple did.

shawnce

Apr 28, 2007, 01:13 PM

is this normal: 85% after 14 months? my battery is already an exchange battery from recall apple did.

You have a decent number of load cycles on that battery. It seems to be holding up fairly well IMHO.

agraek

Apr 28, 2007, 03:55 PM

Since we seem to be getting into some battery discussion now...

Is this normal for my MBP? 5 months old, 72 cycles and before the update my health was at 94% and now it's at 87%.

eluk

Apr 28, 2007, 05:15 PM

Mine is the same age but with very few cycles.

Marky_Mark

Apr 28, 2007, 05:42 PM

Whistleway

Apr 28, 2007, 05:51 PM

Here's my mine :(

TheChemist

Apr 28, 2007, 06:45 PM

You can enter a manual value in Coconut's preferences to bring it back in line :)

O'Rly? Thanks :)

I can say goodbye to my 2036 yr old MBP (according to Coconut of course). :D

sthpark7791

Apr 28, 2007, 07:04 PM

Wow, my load cycles seem to be way higher than most of yours :/ I only got it in December.

http://sixpop.com/images/file/85497654.jpg

agraek

Apr 28, 2007, 07:11 PM

Mine is the same age but with very few cycles.

That's not exactly encouraging for my battery. Hmm. Is it possible mine is defective? I'm going to try calibrating my battery later tonight. Leaving it off for 5 hours straight is really only able to happen when I'm at work or sleeping..

purelithium

Apr 28, 2007, 07:11 PM

miataforme

Apr 28, 2007, 07:37 PM

M battery showed 99 to 100% cThe pwer symbol had had the x over it the week before and would happen occasionaly after. I called apple and was told to send my computer in and that it would be back in a week or ten days. I took it to the apple store instead and as soon as they tried a new battery, th problem was fixed. This is my fourth battery and te enius at the store told me the batteries used to be made by sony but now are made by LG.

noaccess

Apr 28, 2007, 08:09 PM

Mine is the same age but with very few cycles.
That is dreadful. Have you installed the update?
Either way, Apple better replace your battery. Judging by the stats, that's hands down defective.

DaveNcupertino

Apr 28, 2007, 08:12 PM

Mine is the same age but with very few cycles.

I updated last night and did a recalibration (which I do occasionally). After recharging, it showed I lost 3% capacity in the last week. Not great. However, when I ran on battery for a short time today, I was stunned to see I had lost another 10% capacity! So, I've lost over 13% in less than a week! Not good. It's strange because I had lost very little in the first 4 months. Note that I have very low cycles too.

Willis

Apr 28, 2007, 08:17 PM

I find this unusual...

noaccess

Apr 28, 2007, 08:25 PM

I find this unusual...
I'd kill to have that kinda battery performance. :D
JK, don't worry, you're safe ;)

keenkreations

Apr 28, 2007, 08:37 PM

Guys, if your battery is less than 300 cycles, it doesn't automatically mean you get a new battery, you must be seeing low battery capacities and run time. I WISH I had 4 hours run time even when this thing was new! I was lucky to get 3 hours ever.

I'm now stuck with less than an hour and a half of run time with Airport off and screen dimmed.

I guess I'll be hanging out in the Yorkdale store tomorrow ;)

Well, if they have been saying that the batteries last up to about 330 - 350 cycles, does that mean your battery would be classified as normal "wear and tear"?

I think Apple will replace defective batteries if the "health" of the battery does not match the Battery-LoadCycles. Like mine, perhaps...

According to cocnutBattery, I'm looking at 95 cycles, 7 month laptop with current batt. capacity at 3407 mAh, 61% of 5500 mAh (original capacity)

Willis

Apr 28, 2007, 09:01 PM

I'd kill to have that kinda battery performance. :D
JK, don't worry, you're safe ;)

lol, kk.. just gonna do a performance test like i did last night, except i have extra aps open... meh

Willis

Apr 28, 2007, 09:05 PM

wow! 3:58 with more apps open! thats good in my book!

ClimbingTheLog

Apr 28, 2007, 11:49 PM

Nice timing - I was going to call :apple:Care about this on Monday. Here are a couple screenshots from my battery acting up. We'll see if this update whips it into shape - no bulging or anything like that.

Remember folks - rechargeable batteries are consumable parts - in your car and in your laptop. We lack the technology to keep the chemistry from getting bound up over time. There's nothing you can do but buy a new battery every 300-500 cycles. Figure it costs a quarter to run your laptop down to nothing, or about 10 cents an hour. For me, that's easily worth it.

Cult Follower

Apr 28, 2007, 11:51 PM

I hope this helps my battery with performance, the more the better. But i leave it plugged in most fo the time so i haven'rt noticed an improvement.

spydr

Apr 28, 2007, 11:55 PM

My core duo MBP has been shutting down inconsistently and unpredictably between 95% - 40% battery charge state. Tried SMC resetting, NVRAM resetting and this Battery 1.2 update - nothing fixed the issue. But alas, apple also threw in another year of free battery replacement warranty - woo hoo, I got a new battery for my warranty-expired MBP at my local applestore — and it is golden now! Back to 3.5+ hours of long rechargeable pleasure!:D

Though it took you this long, thank you apple! The gesture was more than what I expected.

Buschmaster

Apr 29, 2007, 12:24 AM

So, my computer has behaved strangely since this. I ran the update, restarted the computer and it simply hasn't worked since then.

My girlfriend went to start up and it won't load anything. It does the initial chime, and then the whole screen just stays grey. Forever.

Also, my harddrive now makes a clicky noise.

Anyone having this problem? Taking it the the genius bar tomorrow, I suppose...

SiliconAddict

Apr 29, 2007, 01:54 AM

Well I just finished calibrating my battery. The update crapped all over my battery life on my MBP. It went from about 3'20" to 2'45" with display set to 30% and WIFI on. Thanks Apple. Bang up job there on this update. :mad: What are you outsourcing your work to Microsoft because you are so busy with your iPhone?

Nice timing - I was going to call :apple:Care about this on Monday. Here are a couple screenshots from my battery acting up. We'll see if this update whips it into shape - no bulging or anything like that.

Remember folks - rechargeable batteries are consumable parts - in your car and in your laptop. We lack the technology to keep the chemistry from getting bound up over time. There's nothing you can do but buy a new battery every 300-500 cycles. Figure it costs a quarter to run your laptop down to nothing, or about 10 cents an hour. For me, that's easily worth it.

What I'm going to end up doing is getting one of those newer high capacity MBP batteries and simply leave the one that came with the system in the laptop when its at home or plugged in. I figure that way I'll have a "good" battery that gets discharged and charged routinly, and then one that I use for on the go.

soLoredd

Apr 29, 2007, 03:14 AM

md11

Apr 29, 2007, 05:53 AM

I guess I won't be installing this update, seeing all the negative effects it is having. I get about 4 1/2 hours on a full charge on my MacBook, which is pretty much what I expected. I don't really think it can get better than that.

I have not been going through all of the 5 or 6 pages the thread already uses, but I suppose you're not getting a representative picture in this thread, it's more attractive to people with problems to state their issues to get some help than everybody else where everything worked well.
I did not experience any problems nor did I remark any changes.

diamond.g

Apr 29, 2007, 08:25 AM

I too had a lower battery reading with my wife's Macbook. But I figured I'd do a PRAM reset and voilá! back to the normal (3.5-4 hours) battery life for her system. I think anyone that is having an issue with their battery life should give resetting the PRAM a try.

tuapekkong

Apr 29, 2007, 09:09 AM

I guess I won't be installing this update, seeing all the negative effects it is having. I get about 4 1/2 hours on a full charge on my MacBook, which is pretty much what I expected. I don't really think it can get better than that.

Wow!

CoconutBattery on my Macbook CoreDuo 1.83 only gives a current battery capacity of 3616mAh from an original of 5200mAh (69%).

This seems a bit disappointing after only 43 cycles. With the latest battery firmware update and updated battery warranty, is this considered a "defective" battery valid for an exchange?

Stavanger

Apr 29, 2007, 10:58 AM

How long does your battery take to charge?

I have a three week old Black MacBook with core 2 duo, from the attached istat you can see I'm only at 2 cycles. Yesterday I installed the update and this morning I noticed the battery stuck at 95%. I had half a mind on removing the update. I searched awhile to no avail (anyone know how to remove updates?) then I noticed battery climbing to 96%.

It took around 20 minute to go from 96%~99%, and another twenty from 95%~96% and 99%~100%. Before the update, I remember charging to be much faster but it only went to 100% two or three times. What is a normal charge period?

Diddiyo

Apr 29, 2007, 11:37 AM

keenkreations

Apr 29, 2007, 12:28 PM

ok i don't get it... check the time/percentage on the three screens below right after i charged the battery with no other tools running except coconut and grab. brightness turned down a little bit. the time changes pretty fast lol...

and btw. are these good stats or might there be something wrong with my battery?

It looks like you might have to recalibrate your battery so you can get accurate times. And 88%, with your cycles at 113, looks decent to me.

Reverend Wally

Apr 29, 2007, 01:26 PM

I guess this should be considered good stats then

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y134/WallyDow/BattStats04-29-2007.jpg

I am happy with the average increase in amp hours.

:)

I rate it 5 apples

:apple: :apple: :apple: :apple: :apple:

:D

astral

Apr 29, 2007, 02:00 PM

I Assume 50% at 408 Cycles is normal?

Update puts me up to an hour and a half. Never got over 2, even when it was new.

Shadow

Apr 29, 2007, 02:06 PM

So far so good. It seems to have drastically increased the battery life, but I think I'll ring Apple and get a new battery ;).

MacDann

Apr 29, 2007, 05:10 PM

So far so good. It seems to have drastically increased the battery life, but I think I'll ring Apple and get a new battery ;).

I ran the update on Friday, calibrated my battery last night, and immediately lost about 20% of its capacity. With 53 cycles on it I was running around 5300 mAh capacity. Since I recalibrated and did a complete recharge, my capacity dropped to just above 4000 mAh.

I called Apple, and they told me to give it 4-5 days of use and call them back.

I plan on it. The darned update killed 20% of my battery. :mad:

On a related note, I've had an intermittent LED on the MagSafe connector. I told them about that too, and the guy told me to reset the PMU. I did that as well as zapping the PRAM, and it hasn't happened again (yet.) He did file a ticket for the call, so I'll be calling back on that one as well, I'll bet.

MD

purelithium

Apr 29, 2007, 05:35 PM

Just got back from the Yorkdale Apple Store, talked to the Genius, I told him my battery would only last for about an hour and a half, and he immediately swapped the battery... Well worth the 2 and a half hour drive haha!

twoodcc

Apr 29, 2007, 09:30 PM

this is very good news. my battery was giving me trouble....hopefully this will solve it

richard4339

Apr 29, 2007, 09:34 PM

Damnit. Since installing this, my battery will not charge! It does meet the requirements on there to be replaced, though. I'll call Apple in a bit.

Edit: Resetting the PMU fixed it. It was showing a false positive for not charging?

Edit2: What does Apple consider low capacity?

BiikeMike

Apr 29, 2007, 09:49 PM

Hrmm.... Doesn't look like it did too much good, actually maybe some bad.

pic one, before update, pic two, 5 minutes later, after update. If the damn thing is plugged in, why would it go down?!

richard4339

Apr 29, 2007, 10:48 PM

After letting it run for five minutes, it jumped to 5 hours and 36 minutes. I opened Firefox and it dropped to 2 hours 30 minutes. I left the google splash page and it dropped to 1 hour thirty minutes.

bassism

Apr 30, 2007, 12:34 AM

Does anybody know what the definition of a swelling battery is?
My battery health on my mbp seems reasonable, 78% after 149 cycles, but I checked and the outer face of my battery seems to be lifting a little bit on two sides. It's only a crack at the moment, but I would like to get it taken care of before it becomes a problem if this indeed is a symptom of the swelling.

typecase

Apr 30, 2007, 01:24 AM

e12a

Apr 30, 2007, 02:58 AM

calibrated the battery after update and it went from 82 to 71, then after a few hours to 88%. :confused:

ClimbingTheLog

Apr 30, 2007, 04:32 AM

I Assume 50% at 408 Cycles is normal?

That's better than average.

Well I just finished calibrating my battery. The update crapped all over my battery life on my MBP. It went from about 3'20" to 2'45" with display set to 30% and WIFI on. Thanks Apple. Bang up job there on this update. :mad: What are you outsourcing your work to Microsoft because you are so busy with your iPhone?

Are these actual measured times or just the estimates? I've found the estimates to be wildly inaccurate, typically on the optimistic side. If they've found a way to make the estimates better, that's great. But if you've actually measured, forget what I said.

MacDann

Apr 30, 2007, 05:13 PM

I ran the update on Friday, calibrated my battery last night, and immediately lost about 20% of its capacity. With 53 cycles on it I was running around 5300 mAh capacity. Since I recalibrated and did a complete recharge, my capacity dropped to just above 4000 mAh.

I called Apple, and they told me to give it 4-5 days of use and call them back.

I plan on it. The darned update killed 20% of my battery. :mad:

MD

Update:

Ran the MBP through a full cycle of discharge and recharge. Now my battery is showing a capacity of around 5200 mAh. I wonder if this is going to continue until it gets back to where it was.

I'll report back if it does.

MD

aussie_geek

Apr 30, 2007, 07:42 PM

i have istat pro installed on my macbook pro. battery health before the update was 92% now it is 82%... wtf is going on????

aussie_geek

MacDann

Apr 30, 2007, 07:57 PM

i have istat pro installed on my macbook pro. battery health before the update was 92% now it is 82%... wtf is going on????

aussie_geek

I have iStat Pro, Coconut Battery and some other battery monitoring utility. As mentioned in a previous post, when I initially applied the update, my battery health (53 cycles) dropped from around 5300 mAh to 4300 mAh.

I ran a calibration on the battery, letting it completely discharge and recharging it per Apple's procedure. No joy.

To say I was unhappy is putting it mildly. :mad: I immediately called Apple and asked what they would do, as I considered the substantial drop in battery capacity as qualification for their issues listed in the update docs.

The Apple person told me to wait at least a week and to cycle the battery several times, and if the capacity was still dropping, to call them back.

I ran it through the first discharge/charge cycle today at work. The battery capacity is now at 5200 mAh. I'm willing to sit back and see if there is additional improvement.

MD

smartalic34

Apr 30, 2007, 07:59 PM

before the update, my capacity was 100%... now I'm at 95% and it's holding... for now

DaveNcupertino

Apr 30, 2007, 09:08 PM

I have iStat Pro, Coconut Battery and some other battery monitoring utility. As mentioned in a previous post, when I initially applied the update, my battery health (53 cycles) dropped from around 5300 mAh to 4300 mAh.

I ran a calibration on the battery, letting it completely discharge and recharging it per Apple's procedure. No joy.

To say I was unhappy is putting it mildly. :mad: I immediately called Apple and asked what they would do, as I considered the substantial drop in battery capacity as qualification for their issues listed in the update docs.

The Apple person told me to wait at least a week and to cycle the battery several times, and if the capacity was still dropping, to call them back.

I ran it through the first discharge/charge cycle today at work. The battery capacity is now at 5200 mAh. I'm willing to sit back and see if there is additional improvement.

MD

As I mentioned in a prior message, I went from about 5300 to 4600 after updating and calibrating. It has finally come up to 5000, but now is down to 4950. It just keeps bouncing around. Not sure what to think.

A side question: how far does the battery have to discharge before it is consided a new battery loadcycle? Is it 90% capacity, 80% 70% ????

Thanks,
Dave

Max Payne

Apr 30, 2007, 09:20 PM

Updated 2 days ago. No changes here.

keenkreations

Apr 30, 2007, 11:08 PM

Ever since the update, my Core 2 Duo MBP which used to run pretty well refuses to run on battery power. The battery is fully charged. The minute I unplug the magsafe, the battery idicator switches to battery for a second and then ... the entire machine goes dead :mad: Can anyone offer any suggestions on a fix. I plan to call Apple for a replacement but I'm out of town now.

Have you tried resetting your SMC and PRAM? To reset the SMC, turn off your laptop, unplug it, and take out your battery. Push and hold the power button for 5 seconds and let go. Putting everything back together and start it up. If that does not work, reset the PRAM by pushing command+option+P+R keys when you are starting up the computer (before the sound). Hold it until it makes the sound again, then go ahead and let go.

orangemacapple

Apr 30, 2007, 11:18 PM

A side question: how far does the battery have to discharge before it is consided a new battery loadcycle? Is it 90% capacity, 80% 70% ????

if you use 25% of your battery on 4 different occasions that equals one load cycle.
if you use 5% of your battery on 20 different occasions that equals one load cycle.

or run it all the way down ONCE, that equals one load cycle.

bankshot

May 1, 2007, 12:23 AM

Also, my harddrive now makes a clicky noise.

You probably already got this worked out at the genius bar, but this sounds like a classic symptom of the hard drive failing, purely a coincidence in timing with the battery update. I had two different drives fail in this exact manner.

As for the update itself, I'm not seeing better performance on my Macbook. Max capacity fluctuates wildly between about 34% and 74% of original, and it still goes to sleep well before it "should" according to the displayed percentage (when you connect power and wake it up, the percentage then always goes to 0% as it starts to charge). This morning this happened with 33% displayed. :eek: I still get barely an hour of working time with only Airport on and dimmed display.

I suppose I'll take it to the Apple Store later this week or this weekend.

typecase

May 1, 2007, 12:36 AM

Have you tried resetting your SMC and PRAM? To reset the SMC, turn off your laptop, unplug it, and take out your battery. Push and hold the power button for 5 seconds and let go. Putting everything back together and start it up. If that does not work, reset the PRAM by pushing command+option+P+R keys when you are starting up the computer (before the sound). Hold it until it makes the sound again, then go ahead and let go.

Thanks for the suggestion. This is one of the first things I tried. These procedures did not solve my problem. I called Apple and a new battery is on it's way in a few days. Unfortunately it does nothing to help me while I'm on business (when I need my computer the most). On the Apple support message board there are a lot of other people with exactly the same problem all of whom started having problems in the last week (just before or after the update). Very strange! :confused:

siurpeeman

May 2, 2007, 09:49 AM

i just calibrated. gained a whopping 7 mah. :rolleyes:

Diddiyo

May 2, 2007, 08:41 PM

It looks like you might have to recalibrate your battery so you can get accurate times. And 88%, with your cycles at 113, looks decent to me.
ok, so i did calibrate it but i didn't change a whole lot ;p

icecavern

May 3, 2007, 04:50 AM

orangemacapple

May 3, 2007, 09:23 AM

SMacDuff

May 3, 2007, 10:43 AM

I have iStat Pro, Coconut Battery and some other battery monitoring utility. As mentioned in a previous post, when I initially applied the update, my battery health (53 cycles) dropped from around 5300 mAh to 4300 mAh.

I ran a calibration on the battery, letting it completely discharge and recharging it per Apple's procedure. No joy.

To say I was unhappy is putting it mildly. :mad: I immediately called Apple and asked what they would do, as I considered the substantial drop in battery capacity as qualification for their issues listed in the update docs.

The Apple person told me to wait at least a week and to cycle the battery several times, and if the capacity was still dropping, to call them back.

I ran it through the first discharge/charge cycle today at work. The battery capacity is now at 5200 mAh. I'm willing to sit back and see if there is additional improvement.

MD

The battery in my Core Duo Macbook is doing the same thing. I dropped from 4800 to 4400 after applying the update and calibrating the battery. This is highly abnormal but I will follow the advice Apple gave yoy and try cycling the battery a few times during the coming week to see if that makes any difference. I only have gone through 46 loadcycles and am down to 4417 mAh.

Reverend Wally

May 3, 2007, 12:50 PM

icecavern

May 11, 2007, 05:49 PM

i have been wrestling with the battery update and get the same as icecavern and smartalic34.

i've reinstalled, deleted, redownloaded, reinstalled, checked permissions, recalibrated, etc etc several times and still i only get a folder. no file, no lego blocks, no change in battery.

Anyone have any ideas on this? I still don't have an updated battery as I don't get the version like it says here http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305256

smartalic34

May 11, 2007, 07:37 PM

my BatteryUpdater.bundle shows as a folder, not like a lego block... why?

icecavern

May 12, 2007, 03:33 AM

my BatteryUpdater.bundle shows as a folder, not like a lego block... why?

I have the same problem. I tried fixing permissions but tht hasn't helped.

MAcNIAC

May 12, 2007, 05:49 AM

what is the cut off - I know <300 cycles, but what constitutes poor enough battery performance to get a replacement?

I'm at 4320mAh (78%) after 84 charges at 6 months - is this bad enough?
I've noticed that taking notes in lectures I get about 1 hr 40min using word and acrobat concurrently - pretty poor when they claim 5hrs.

simplinux

May 12, 2007, 11:08 AM

MacDann

May 13, 2007, 05:25 PM

Update -

I continue to lose capacity. I went up to almost 5400 (I have around 50 cycles on the battery) and have been dropping about 10-20 mA every cycle. since then.

I'm recalibrating right now, so it will be interesting to see what happens after this...

MD

purelithium

May 13, 2007, 05:43 PM

MacDann

May 13, 2007, 05:47 PM

The update isn't supposed to stop you from losing capacity, it's meant to help improve the rate of capacity loss.

Lithium batteries degrade over time, despite whether you use them or not. it's a chemical reaction that is the bane of the increased capacities of the new batteries.

I understand that, but the rate of capacity loss is considerably higher post upgrade than it was before the upgrade. I just find that sort of weird.

MD

BlackDan

May 13, 2007, 06:29 PM

I believe my mbp 15" runs cooler whilst charging, anyone else have this experience?

Battery life hasn't improved (this has never been as good as it was on any of my powerpc based machines).
I'm currently at 91% health and 94 cycles with my battery. I always run it till the battery is at 0% and then fuly recharge.
When watching a DVD I don't even make it half-way through the movie before the battery dies :mad:

withbatedbreath

May 15, 2007, 06:49 PM

Hi
Weard think happens after the update.
Normally macbooks enter sleep, next safe sleep before the battery is drained.
Somehow my macbook now enters sleep correctly, but will not enter safe sleep.
When i start my mac, it boots from scratch and does not recover from safe sleep.
I have resetted already the usual stuff and callibrated the battery. No change.
Does an1 have the same problem?

That sounds similar to mine. Only sometimes does it give a "low battery" warning, most of the time it just shuts down completely out of nowhere, even though the battery status is claiming I have more than 50% left and it's only been unplugged for an hour or two. I have to plug it in and reboot completely every time.

chillywilly

May 16, 2007, 12:05 PM

I've been through 2 batteries on my MBP 15" CoreDuo (currently on my 3rd battery).

Even with the battery replacements, I've always had issues where it will show 3023mAh after a full charge. I do a full discharge and then charge it up again and it maybe got to 4305mAh.

Since installing the Battery Update 1.2, it now seems to have stabilized and is back to 93% (5151mAh) for each charge.

I'm still watching this thing, but it looks like it may have done some good with the battery.

BiikeMike

May 18, 2007, 02:21 PM

Just recieved a new battery from Apple. Still only charges to 99%. Not much difference as far as time goes.

I took these screen shots for a comparison:

Right after I took the last one, and as I am typing this, the time dropped down to 1:57.

Project

May 18, 2007, 02:30 PM

Julay

May 28, 2007, 11:31 AM

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com)

Update 2: Apple has added another support (http://www.macrumors.com/c.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2Fsupport%2Fmacbook_macbookpro%2Fbatteryupdate%2F&t=1177710781) page for the battery update. Highlights are:

* If, after installing the update, your computer continues to exhibit below symptoms, you may be eligible to receive free out-of-warranty replacement of your battery.
* The warranty on the batteries of MacBook and MacBook Pro systems with Core 2 Duo processors has been extended to 2 years from the date of purchase.

Symptoms of an affected battery:
* Battery is not recognized causing an “X” to appear in the battery icon in the Finder menu bar.
* Battery will not charge when computer is plugged into AC power.
* Battery exhibits low charge capacity/runtime when using a fully charged battery with a battery cycle count (as shown in System Profiler) of less than 300.
* Battery pack is visibly deformed.

This was a royal pain to find (they're Support search algorithm has to be one of the worst I've ever seen). It's th Apple Support page for the battery-not-recognize ("no available batteries"/"X" battery icon) problem:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305364

Julay

May 28, 2007, 11:31 AM

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com)

Update 2: Apple has added another support (http://www.macrumors.com/c.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2Fsupport%2Fmacbook_macbookpro%2Fbatteryupdate%2F&t=1177710781) page for the battery update. Highlights are:

* If, after installing the update, your computer continues to exhibit below symptoms, you may be eligible to receive free out-of-warranty replacement of your battery.
* The warranty on the batteries of MacBook and MacBook Pro systems with Core 2 Duo processors has been extended to 2 years from the date of purchase.

Symptoms of an affected battery:
* Battery is not recognized causing an “X” to appear in the battery icon in the Finder menu bar.
* Battery will not charge when computer is plugged into AC power.
* Battery exhibits low charge capacity/runtime when using a fully charged battery with a battery cycle count (as shown in System Profiler) of less than 300.
* Battery pack is visibly deformed.

This was a royal pain to find (they're Support search algorithm has to be one of the worst I've ever seen). It's the http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305364] Apple Support Page for the follwing problems:

The battery of a MacBook or MacBook Pro computer may:

* Appear to have no charge (zero percent)
* Be unable to power the computer by itself; the computer might work only when it is connected to the MagSafe power adaptor, which only shows a green LED
* Appear with a black "X" icon on the menu bar

Rocksolidmedia

Sep 20, 2007, 12:19 AM

I get the same thing.... Anyone know why this is?

BatteryUPDATE 1.2 IS A FOLDER NOT A LEGO BUNDLE

I have not tried this yet but 6 months ago Final cut pro had a problem with boris titles bundle that came across as a folder. The fix was to find an exsisting bundle (lego icon) empty it's contents and cut and paste boris contents from folder into it. Then ofcourse change the name of bundle. After rebooting the titles where back as if they were never gone. It took quite awhile for this fix to come across and it was not from apple - they simply did not know how to fix it. If anybody gives this a go please let us know how it went.