Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Bought second hand macbook pro - battery life

P

phospholipid1

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 30, 2014
49
0
I just bought a second hand Mid 2012 Macbook pro 13".

In the description he described the battery as: "Battery Status - (96% Health) Normal with just 23 cycles." but as I've never had a macbook before, can someone tell me how many hours this would be? This seller has sold many macbook pros before so I don't think it should be too bad, but making sure.

Here is the picture of the battery: http://gyazo.com/dab4b66100f18777288ddf73e219fcd5
 
Last edited:
M

Marty62

macrumors 6502
Mar 11, 2010
394
0
Berlin formerly London
Hi,
That's a fairly new computer, with only 23 cycles ( full recharges ) of the
battery, you should see about 6 hrs of use, perhaps a little more.
When brand new, I got almost 7 hrs out of my MBP, now after 220 cycles
I get approx 4.5 hrs on battery.
( it does depend on what you're doing and how much strain your putting on the battery, if watching
DVD's then that will drop quite drastically )

I think you will be fine, once every month or so, let the MBP completely
run down on battery - don't plug in the charger, let it turn itself off and
sleep so there is a total discharge of the battery.
Then do a full recharge.

That's very good for the battery, hundreds of little "top ups" is not !!

MM.
 
M

monkeybagel

macrumors 65816
Jul 24, 2011
1,141
61
United States
phospholipid1 said:
I just bought a second hand Mid 2012 Macbook pro 13".

In the description he described the battery as: "Battery Status - (96% Health) Normal with just 23 cycles." but as I've never had a macbook before, can someone tell me how many hours this would be? This seller has sold many macbook pros before so I don't think it should be too bad, but making sure.

Here is the picture of the battery: http://gyazo.com/dab4b66100f18777288ddf73e219fcd5
Click to expand...

Specifications for a new 2012 was around 7 hours of "wireless web" usage. You should get that or fairly close.

In regards to the battery health, you will probably find that the figure fluctuates a lot. Several of my notebooks have shown a smaller percentage of full charge capacity compared to design capacity. If you "relearn" the charging circuitry, you may see the full charge capacity increase and sometimes exceed the design capacity.

From the looks of that screen shot, you have nothing to be concerned about. Apple notebook batteries typically work very well from what I have found, and they are designed to still be at 80% performance at 1000 cycles.

In regards of draining and recharging it, about the only thing that will do to benefit you is to perhaps more accurately calibrate the battery circuitry and make the run time figure and percentage figure more accurate. It is not recommended to completely drain these batteries and they do not suffer from memory issues like previous battery types did. You should be able to charge it when you need to and not be concerned about how low it is when you begin charging it or how long you charge it for. Just use a few basic guidelines-

When you are near AC power, run it off of AC power so it will have a full charge when you need to take it with you.

If you mainly use the product on a desk and almost always on AC power, it is recommend that you do run the machine on battery periodically to "exercise" the battery. Once per month, just use the machine on battery. When it gets low, connect it back to power. If will not kill your battery if you do not do this, but it could shorten its lifespan.
 
P

phospholipid1

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 30, 2014
49
0
Marty62 said:
Hi,
That's a fairly new computer, with only 23 cycles ( full recharges ) of the
battery, you should see about 6 hrs of use, perhaps a little more.
When brand new, I got almost 7 hrs out of my MBP, now after 220 cycles
I get approx 4.5 hrs on battery.
( it does depend on what you're doing and how much strain your putting on the battery, if watching
DVD's then that will drop quite drastically )

I think you will be fine, once every month or so, let the MBP completely
run down on battery - don't plug in the charger, let it turn itself off and
sleep so there is a total discharge of the battery.
Then do a full recharge.

That's very good for the battery, hundreds of little "top ups" is not !!

MM.
Click to expand...

Hmm I see, thanks for the reply - I was just worried that perhaps the battery was not an original one? I.e. Not an apple battery. Would this matter? The seller did not state on whether the battery was the original or not, but I kind of assumed it would be.

monkeybagel said:
Specifications for a new 2012 was around 7 hours of "wireless web" usage. You should get that or fairly close.

In regards to the battery health, you will probably find that the figure fluctuates a lot. Several of my notebooks have shown a smaller percentage of full charge capacity compared to design capacity. If you "relearn" the charging circuitry, you may see the full charge capacity increase and sometimes exceed the design capacity.

From the looks of that screen shot, you have nothing to be concerned about. Apple notebook batteries typically work very well from what I have found, and they are designed to still be at 80% performance at 1000 cycles.

In regards of draining and recharging it, about the only thing that will do to benefit you is to perhaps more accurately calibrate the battery circuitry and make the run time figure and percentage figure more accurate. It is not recommended to completely drain these batteries and they do not suffer from memory issues like previous battery types did. You should be able to charge it when you need to and not be concerned about how low it is when you begin charging it or how long you charge it for. Just use a few basic guidelines-

When you are near AC power, run it off of AC power so it will have a full charge when you need to take it with you.

If you mainly use the product on a desk and almost always on AC power, it is recommend that you do run the machine on battery periodically to "exercise" the battery. Once per month, just use the machine on battery. When it gets low, connect it back to power. If will not kill your battery if you do not do this, but it could shorten its lifespan.
Click to expand...
 
M

Marty62

macrumors 6502
Mar 11, 2010
394
0
Berlin formerly London
I would be very surprized if it were not an original battery !!

Some disagreement over battery usage here but that's how I roll.

I have treated batteries badly before, lots of little top ups etc and that has
never worked well for me, they still have "battery memory" and issues if
not treated correctly, no matter what the MFTR states in their "blurb".

MM.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom