AppleCare "Cycle" Policy for MacBook Battery...

macmeoff said:

So my MacBook won't run for more than a couple of seconds before dying unless it's plugged into the wall. No big deal, fried battery, should be able to just get a new one... right?

Wrong! Went to the Genius Bar and he analyzed my battery's "cycle count" and told me it was 540!?!!

Now mind you, I've only had my MacBook for a year (and it's a refurb)... so I don't doubt that this is possible. Here's what concerns me...

Nowhere in the AppleCare agreement does it say anything about "cycles".

I called up tech support as the "Genius" told me to because, he's "seen Apple replace worse batteries, but doesn't have the authority to replace it".

I'm sitting on the phone with tech support who responds with silence after I plead my case. "How do you know my battery isn't defective?". "... ... ... [60 seconds] ... I'm very sorry but it's not covered under warranty because it's over 300 cycles".

I go to the higher up and she gives me the same story. "Your battery is not defective, it's just lived its life. I could make an exception and send you another battery if it was 300 cycles and under but not 550."

Meanwhile, I've read over the AppleCare agreement and there's no talk of cycles... What do y'all make of this? Can I get Apple to eat the cost of a new battery...?

Why is my titanium Powerbook G4 battery that I bought in 2003 still going strong? While my one year old MacBook is dead after a year?

Thanks in Advance to anyone with advice or consolations.

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afireintonto said:

Charge Cycle. Using and recharging 100% of battery capacity equals one full charge cycle.

A charge cycle means using all of the battery’s power, but that doesn’t necessarily mean a single charge. For instance, you could listen to your iPod for a few hours one day, using half its power, and then recharge it fully. If you did the same thing the next day, it would count as one charge cycle, not two, so you may take several days to complete a cycle. Each time you complete a charge cycle, it diminishes battery capacity slightly, but you can put notebook, iPod, and iPhone batteries through many charge cycles before they will only hold 80% of original battery capacity. As with other rechargeable batteries, you may eventually need to replace your battery.

Right from apple.com

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ntrigue said:

You bought a refurb. They have cycles. You got a discount. Pay the Piper. eBay can get you a new one for $70.

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f1 said:

Batteries are not covered under your macbook's warranty, as they are considered a consumable item. There are cases where you can get replacement at no cost to you if your battery fails early on. A cycle is when your battery is fully discharged and recharged to 100%. 550 cycles is a LOT for a battery that is less than a year old, mine is only at 110 cycles and I'm approaching the one year point in a week. So 550 cycles, your battery has lived long enough and its time for you to cough up the money and buy a new one.

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smootling said:

I hope you get something for free! I don't get people siding with Apple, are people really that obsessive about sending Apple money? Regardless, I'm considering buying a macbook if the update comes in the next few weeks. How much do replacement batteries cost?

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smootling said:

Sorry for the dumb question, but I'm gonna buy a macbook in August and it'll my first laptop ever. If the computer is plugged in and fully charged and I use it, does that affect the battery at all? Most of my time is probably gonna be spent at the desk, hopefully this won't eat at battery life needlessly? Thanks for the help.

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applehockey said:

Very good question. Laptop batteries are most useful when they have a good, powerful, and long battery life. But if you do what you are talking about, it will eat away its battery life and gradually make the time of your battery shrink to sometimes 80-50% of your original battery. To prevent this from happening, you can do this- Charge your battery to %100, then let it go to about %30 then charge it again back up to %100 and so on.

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smootling said:

Thanks for the advice. How often should I do that charge-discharge trick? Once every few weeks, or does it need to be a very frequent operation?

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applehockey said:

Wow.... your racking up your cycles pretty quickly. How often do you charge yours?

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afireintonto said:

i charge when ever i dies - like almost everyday, im a mobile blogger and i just got the iphone 3g so i had to bring the macbook.

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applehockey said:

One thing you maybe could do is take out the battery when you are at your desk and just always have the power cord plugged in. But, the only problem is that if you accidentally unhook the power cord, you lose all your work.

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