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

"Battery time remaining" going crazy

K

kinkster

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
I have a Rev A 1.6/80.

Just running on battery, the estimated time remaining is normal. About 4:00 with a 97% charge.

But when I have it plugged in, it goes really low. About 20-14 minutes. I know I have an almost full charge and the battery isn't shot or anything because I just used it for about 3 hours yesterday without plugging in. Even with the innacurate estimate it still reports the % correctly.

The iStat widget reports similar numbers, but not exactly the same. 16 on it, as opposed to 13 in the menu bar.
 
I was thinking that before but it's always showed the time remaining before. Or maybe when it's plugged in it would just show "charged" I don't remember really.

It slowly went down to 5% then went back up to 9%, with iStat saying "remaining: unknown"
 
It's not to be unexpected...

This is an acknowledged problem (or feature, I'm not sure) of the MacBook batteries. The MacBook batteries don't charge unless they're around 95% charge, and the machines tend to get funny readings when they're at this high mark - the machine rarely takes an accurate reading.

If you're still worried, you can try:
  • Calibrating the battery
  • Resetting the SMC (System Management Controller).

Instructions for either can be found with a quick Google search.
 
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
Back