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MBA 13" mid 2012, 33% Battery life/614 cycles, how is this even possible?

G

Glorounet

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 15, 2007
2
0
So, i've had battery life problems for quite a long time now, and thought it was just something normal that happens overtime, but apparently battery life is supposed to be well above 80% even at that point so...

I plan to get it replaced in an Apple Store sometime next week, but i would like to understand what i did do wrong first, so i dont have to change my battery anytime soon again...

A few clues : i did used it a lot to play videogames that would make it overheat, but it was like for a 4-5 months period of time over the course of the last 26 months, when i didn't have my PC with me.

I spent 5 month in Argentina, where i needed an adapter for my battery charger (French MBA, i believe the electricity norms are the same as in the US in Argentina). It did kill my battery charger after like a month, and i had to buy a new one there. I now use a 80w charger for my MBA (you wouldn't believe how hard it was to even find that one, and how expensive it is related to purchasing power of argentinians, but i digress), it was sold to me as an official one, but i can't really be sure i guess... So can i keep this charger, or should i also buy a new one as it may be the cause that is killing my battery?
 
B

Biscotti

macrumors regular
Jun 25, 2008
175
37
Other people can chime in but it sounds like there are a lot of variables to your usage. Heat is the number 1 killer of batteries, so it's no surprise that you have some reduced capacity if you play a game that heats the cpu/gpu which runs the fans to 6,000 which heats the battery compartment. On my old 2007 15" MBP with windows boot camp (removable battery) I used to be an avid gamer and replace batteries once a year.

Also, I'm sure that non-legit chargers and changes in current can have an effect on the battery and the charge current manager. SMC controller.

Get it fixed. Watch how you use it. It should be fine.
 
I

Isamilis

macrumors 68020
Apr 3, 2012
2,072
967
Be careful with the heat. It's not only affecting the battery, but also the PCB inside. Solders on the board may become loose because of heat. Service guy told me when I had problem with my iMac. This especially on thin computer like Air or new iMac.
 
C

coldjeanzzz

macrumors 6502a
Nov 4, 2012
655
17
Heat will kill your battery health, I'm convinced of it. I used to game on my MBA when I first got it for about about a year and the fans would always be running like crazy and it would get super hot when I did so. My battery health was at 78-80% after only 150 cycles. One time I was doing a time machine backup on battery and it was getting really hot, after it was finished the battery health plummeted to 76% from 81% and it told me to replace the battery. Apple ended up replacing my battery for free (out of warranty) so it's possible I had a defective battery, but I'm not taking that chance again. I have a new battery that I've been using for about 3 months now and it has 31 cycles on it and it's currently sitting at 97.2% health.
 
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