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Early MBP '08 Battery Health 60%

D

digiphantom

macrumors regular
Original poster
Hi everyone,

I have a Penryn MBP from early '08. Last week, when I glanced on iStat in the dashboard, my battery health was about 85% after 35 cycles. Yesterday I decided to calibrate my battery after not having done it for 3 months. I basically followed the instructions that are posted on Apple's support page and a guide here on macrumors.

After recharging the battery after letting it die off, to my surprise the health is now reporting to be 60% health after 36 cycles on both istat and coconut battery.

Could this be a fluke and I should power cycle it again? Or should I really take this to the Apple store for a replacement? I'm still under warranty and have Apple Care.
 

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you could try it again and hope for better results. How often did you do a full drain of the battery before today?
 
call apple or take it to the store if you're still under AppleCare. They will check some things or make you check and tell them the information over the phone if you call. Most likely they will send over a new battery. It happened to me in september, after about 30 cycles, my battery was around 60%. I called on a friday and they decided my battery was faulty. The new battery arrived monday morning and I sent the old one in the same box that the new one came in. Couldn't be happier with the service.
 
same thing happened to me w/ my first battery. A full calibration brought its health from ~90% to 40%, shortly after the computer would blank after being on battery power for like 2 min. apple replaced it w/ no probs tho. Strangely this batter still does the same thing but to a much less dramatic effect (fluctuates by 1-2% after calibrations)
 
you should get it checked by the apple ppl, but don't say u used extra software. Apple specifically says do not use 3rd party software to measure battery health then complain. say it isn't lasting as long as it used to.
 
I really don't understand how people can have so few cycles. I got my MacBook late '08 and I already have 67 cycles (I did use it off of the charger a little too much when I first got it). If it's a laptop, isn't it supposed to be... portable? AKA off of the charger?
 
I haven't called Apple yet. I did another power cycle.

Now I'm at 39 cycles and the battery health is 83%, so better than the 60%.

Is this normal health for the amount of cycles i have?
 
digiphantom said:
I haven't called Apple yet. I did another power cycle.

Now I'm at 39 cycles and the battery health is 83%, so better than the 60%.

Is this normal health for the amount of cycles i have?
Click to expand...

No. I'm at around 60 and I'm still at 100% with my Macbook.
 
swb1192 said:
I really don't understand how people can have so few cycles. I got my MacBook late '08 and I already have 67 cycles (I did use it off of the charger a little too much when I first got it). If it's a laptop, isn't it supposed to be... portable? AKA off of the charger?
Click to expand...

indeed i agree...
It is a little confusing... my mac is 4 months old and i have almost 65 cycles... how can you have 37 in 11 months.. then again everyone to their own.🙄
 
DYER said:
indeed i agree...
It is a little confusing... my mac is 4 months old and i have almost 65 cycles... how can you have 37 in 11 months.. then again everyone to their own.🙄
Click to expand...


Yes, I know my laptop has a low cycle count, mainly because I keep it plugged in. The only time it's on battery is when I decide to use it while watching TV at night for about an hour and a half. Ever since I graduated from college, I don't carry around my personal laptop around as much.

Anyway, I called AppleCare and customer service was extremely nice, but said the battery looked normal:

(istat showing Health: 80%)

System Profiler:
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 4484
Fully charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 4484
Health Information:
Cycle count: 39
Condition: Good
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 147
Voltage (mV): 12630


Since my AppleCare will still cover the battery for another two years, I guess I'm ok and will wait if any more problems comes up. At least my MBP last longer than the company thinkpad I carry around for work 😉
 
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