Macbook battery health is bad

skorada123 · Jul 28, 2009

Hey guys, so basically, my 11 mo old mid 2008 white macbook's battery has only had 190 cycles, but it's already down to 70% battery life. It won't really hold much more than 2:30 of battery life. Apple has said that a healthy battery should hold at least 80% of battery health at 300 cycles. I follow their tips about making sure the battery isn't just sitting there, and to not just leave it there charged. Is this a problem? If I go to apple (I still have my warranty), could they check it out and replace it? I'm a student, so I really don't want to go and pay another $130+ to get a battery from them, and my warranty is almost over. Thnx :apple:

spinnerlys · Jul 28, 2009

They most probably will replace it for free, as as you said, they guarantee 300 cycles with 80% battery health.

velocityg4 · Jul 28, 2009

If they don't replace it, you can save a lot of money buying a replacement battery through eBay. There are online battery stores too, but generally the cheapest solution for batteries I have found is eBay.

skorada123 · Jul 28, 2009

spinnerlys said:
They most probably will replace it for free, as as you said, they guarantee 300 cycles with 80% battery health.

Good! That's what I thought, and I guess I'll drop by the Apple Store sometime this weekend. Thanks!

velocityg4 said:
If they don't replace it, you can save a lot of money buying a replacement battery through eBay. There are online battery stores too, but generally the cheapest solution for batteries I have found is eBay.

Alright, if they won't replace it, when time comes I might turn to it. I saw they had some for around 70 bucks, but the bidding gets annoying sometimes

Thank you.

skorada123 · Jul 30, 2009

Does any one know if I have Windows 7 boot camped, will it void my warranty? Should I remove the partition before going to apple? Thanks.

uberamd · Jul 30, 2009

skorada123 said:
Does any one know if I have Windows 7 boot camped, will it void my warranty? Should I remove the partition before going to apple? Thanks.

No thats fine leave it as is.

spinnerlys · Jul 30, 2009

What you do software wise is not voiding the warranty.

And Boot Camp is a feature offered by Apple, so why should it void warranty.

But make a backup of your HDD in case they wanna keep the MB, which is highly unlikely in the first place.

skorada123 · Jul 30, 2009

spinnerlys said:
What you do software wise is not voiding the warranty.

And Boot Camp is a feature offered by Apple, so why should it void warranty.

But make a backup of your HDD in case they wanna keep the MB, which is highly unlikely in the first place.

Ok, was just wondering because Windows 7 isn't officially supported yet for Boot Camp.

velocityg4 · Jul 30, 2009

skorada123 said:
Alright, if they won't replace it, when time comes I might turn to it. I saw they had some for around 70 bucks, but the bidding gets annoying sometimes Thank you.

There are plenty of new batteries for your Macbook on eBay starting at $45 if shipped from Hong Kong/China or $55 from the US. These prices are after shipping, using Buy It Now, new from a reputable seller.. So you don't need to bother bidding.

A lot of times people spaz out when bidding and send products beyond Buy It Now prices.

skorada123 · Jul 30, 2009

velocityg4 said:
There are plenty of new batteries for your Macbook on eBay starting at $45 if shipped from Hong Kong/China or $55 from the US. These prices are after shipping, using Buy It Now, new from a reputable seller.. So you don't need to bother bidding.

A lot of times people spaz out when bidding and send products beyond Buy It Now prices.

I'll remember to take a look at that too. I'm kind of paranoid now because I once bought a 4GB mp4 player from Hong Kong, and things seemed great, until it started going freaky and turns out it's only has a 1GB capacity. Seller's review = great, but couldn't get in contact with him.

razor-sex · Jul 31, 2009

Hey check my macbook white early 2008 battery seems to me it can be the luck of the draw weather you get a good battery or not sometimes.

clyde2801 · Jul 31, 2009

Not wanting to add fuel to the fire, but I'm wondering if the OP left his mb plugged in all the time, or if he used it regularly.

skorada123 · Jul 31, 2009

razor-sex said:
Hey check my macbook white early 2008 battery seems to me it can be the luck of the draw weather you get a good battery or not sometimes.

That to me seems pretty good! How is yours like that? Mine has 165 fewer cycles on it than yours, and is 17% less healthy than yours.

clyde2801 said:
Not wanting to add fuel to the fire, but I'm wondering if the OP left his mb plugged in all the time, or if he used it regularly.

I use it regularly for school (so about 180 days), and i basically use a cycle per day. until recently, i've realized that i shouldn't just leave it in because a friend of mine told me, so i've been doing what they had on the apple website, to just charge it, and leave it in a cool dry place. i've done monthly calibrations and stuff, but i don't understand why it's this bad right now.

skorada123 · Aug 1, 2009

So I went into the Apple Store today. It was extremely busy, but the Genius took a look at macbook, and loaded the diagnostics software off the iPod nano he had with him there. The battery life was hanging around 80%, and he said it was pretty typical of a MacBook that's 1 year old. But he replaced it anyways. Thanks apple.

-- :apple:

Rocks! --

velocityg4 · Aug 2, 2009

That's good to hear.

MarkCooz · Aug 2, 2009

Hey guys/gals, I don't want to make a new thread but, what's the avg. battery cycle/load for a 28mo. old whitebook?

CocoBattery says:
Current Battery Charge

Current Battery Charge: 5186 mAh
Maximum Battery Charge: 5186 mAh

Current Battery Capacity
Current Battery Capacity: 5186 mAh
Original Battery Capacity: 5020 mAh

Additional Info
Battery-Loadcycles: 272
Age of Your Mac: 28Mo.

Is that bad?? should i get a new battery soon?

maclover7777 · Aug 2, 2009

No. thats great.@!! You have a great battery!!

For example.
My bad one was at 1100 max charge when original was 4400 or so.
YIKES>> Huh.

DoFoT9 · Aug 3, 2009

skorada123 said:
So I went into the Apple Store today. It was extremely busy, but the Genius took a look at macbook, and loaded the diagnostics software off the iPod nano he had with him there. The battery life was hanging around 80%, and he said it was pretty typical of a MacBook that's 1 year old. But he replaced it anyways. Thanks apple.

-- Rocks! --

thats awsome to hear

i hope the same thing happens for me haha

hi sorry to hi-jack, seemed a waste to start a new thread over it..

my MBPs battery is at 74% after 232 cycles. its the third battery ive had and there is no warranty left on the laptop. will they still replace it?

i also have my "backup" battery that reads 254 cycles and 79%, any chance of that being replaced?

it seems that i am pretty hard on my batteries

DoFoT9 · Aug 5, 2009

well i rang apple, and apparently my batteries are out of warranty.. (true, one is two years and one is 1.5years), but i was under the impression that this battery "scheme" ignored that, does anybody have any information on this?

MarkCooz · Aug 5, 2009

from my last post about my battery... I just checked coconut battery, and it seems to me that the numbers are a little higher.

does this mean I re-calibrated it or something??

KielderWolf · Aug 5, 2009

MarkCooz said:
from my last post about my battery... I just checked coconut battery, and it seems to me that the numbers are a little higher.

does this mean I re-calibrated it or something??

No, all it means is that for at least this cycle, your battery is holding more than the optimum charge. For example, my CoconutBattery results compared to my friend Maxine's;

Mine (Black MacBook 2008 4,1) - battery kept active, drained and charged regularly
Current charge 4809 mAh
Maximum charge 5065 mAh
98% charge remaining
Current capacity 5065 mAh
Original capacity 5020 mAh
100% battery health
Load-cycles 219
Age of Mac 14 months

Maxine's (White MacBook 2008 4,1) - battery is usually connected to AC power
Current charge 4680 mAh
Maximum charge 4680 mAh
100% charge remaining
Current capacity 4680 mAh
Original capacity 5020 mAh
94% battery health
Load-cycles 178
Age of Mac 11 months

This kind of difference between capacities is mainly due to how you use your battery. Max keeps hers plugged in and that is causing the capacity to diminish though stagnation (imagine a pond silting up), and mine is used everywhere and I try to take good care of the battery, so mine is riding just above the original capacity.

andyhargreaves · Aug 6, 2009

Not wishing to boast, but a couple of Genius bar staff have commented on this. Bought my MB in October 2006.

I use it almost daily (except when it's in having the cracked palm rest replaced for the nth time

), and try to always fully charge and discharge the battery. Currently the battery lasts me about 3h of averagish use (i.e. web/email, office apps).

Andy

J&JPolangin · Aug 6, 2009

...I hope mine looks that good after that many cycles...

Addictedtomacs · Mar 8, 2011

my macbook

hi there im just wanting to know if my macbook is in good condition for its age, its 31 months old and its health is 71% and it has done 522 cycles is that good ? thanks

ryannel2003 · Mar 8, 2011

My MacBook is 46 months old and the battery health is pretty poor at only 69% health with 378 cycles. This MacBook is used so my guess is the previous owner kept it plugged it in alot which has caused the diminished capacity. Getting about 2 hours with basic internet browsing and iTunes use; going to purchase a new one soon.

Macbook battery health is bad

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