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Battery replacement question

S

socbyset

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 13, 2003
47
0
I've got a Mid-2010 15" MBP, and I'm wondering if it's time to get the battery replaced. I recently timed a full battery discharge, and it lasted 2 hr 55 min. This was with Photoshop running, so presumably the discrete graphics card was powered up the whole time.

Does that seem like bad battery life, or is it normal? I think the advertised battery life for this model is 7-8 hours, of course that's just with light use (browsing, word processing). But still, it would be nice to be able to depend on, say, a solid 5 or 6 hours of work away from a power outlet.

FWIW, in System Information, it says that the battery Cycle Count is 526.

I just don't want to spend the dough on a replacement battery and find that I only get an extra half hour out of it. Thanks for any replies.
 
Krazy Bill

Krazy Bill

macrumors 68030
Dec 21, 2011
2,985
3
Sounds about right to me with that many load cycles. Actually, it looks pretty good.
 
GGJstudios

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,545
943
Lord Flashheart said:
Sorry, to jump in, but I have a mid 2010 15" MBP and my battery is completely dead. Where is a good place to get a replacement?
Click to expand...
Apple. I wouldn't trust or recommend any non-Apple battery, due to the number of problems reported with "knockoff" batteries. Also, there is no assurance that knockoff batteries have the same charging technology that Apple uses, involving the battery, the MagSafe adapter and the Mac's logic board.
​
The link below should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions. If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend you take the time to read it.
 
S

socbyset

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 13, 2003
47
0
Krazy Bill said:
Well, no. Do you expect it to be at that age? The battery "health" degrades over time.

Again, I think your battery is well within expectations given the use it's had.
Click to expand...

No, I don't expect that. To clarify my question, I'm not asking whether my battery is degrading normally, I'm wondering roughly how much extra life I could get from a new battery—whether it's worth replacing.

I didn't keep track of battery life when my MPB was new, so I'm not sure if I can expect a great deal of extra battery life if I replace it.
 
Krazy Bill

Krazy Bill

macrumors 68030
Dec 21, 2011
2,985
3
socbyset said:
I didn't keep track of battery life when my MPB was new, so I'm not sure if I can expect a great deal of extra battery life if I replace it.
Click to expand...
I believe at the time of introduction, your MBP model was advertised with 8-9 hours of battery life. Since then, I think Apple changed its methodology when making such claims and dropped that down to 7 hours.

After replacing your battery you can expect your MBP to last like it was new in 2010. I don't know your usage habits though but if you're getting 3 hours now I would "guess" you could get another 2 hours easily if not 3 bringing you up to 6 hours total. That should be a safe estimate.
 
Yahooligan

Yahooligan

macrumors 6502a
Aug 7, 2011
965
114
Illinois
socbyset said:
No, I don't expect that. To clarify my question, I'm not asking whether my battery is degrading normally, I'm wondering roughly how much extra life I could get from a new battery—whether it's worth replacing.

I didn't keep track of battery life when my MPB was new, so I'm not sure if I can expect a great deal of extra battery life if I replace it.
Click to expand...

Download and run CoconutBattery, this will tell you the current capacity vs new and will give you an idea of how much the battery has degraded since new, then you can determine if you think it would be worthwhile to replace it.
 
S

socbyset

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 13, 2003
47
0
Yahooligan said:
Download and run CoconutBattery, this will tell you the current capacity vs new and will give you an idea of how much the battery has degraded since new, then you can determine if you think it would be worthwhile to replace it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip, downloaded it. It says the current capacity is 84% of the designed capacity, so I guess I wouldn't gain much from replacing.
 
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