2011 MBP 75% Battery Health

[RockCrayfish]

Hey guys!

New Macbook Pro user here with a few questions on battery life!

My 13" MBP is only about 6 weeks old (well, I bought it 6 weeks ago from a campus Apple reseller) and the battery health is already down to 75%.

I attempted calibrating the battery yesterday using Apple's battery calibrating FAQ and the battery health did increase to 88%. With that said, it has been slowly decreasing and is now resting at 80%. The battery has been through 16 cycles, as of this moment.

This seems like a faulty battery but I'm not sure Apple will do anything considering it's still operational. Would it be wise to call Apple or just wait for it to die and have them replace it? On that note, should I fork over the $220 for the Apple Care plan?


Note: I'm monitoring battery health with iStat Pro, which seems to be fairly accurate tool, according to others on the internet. I have upgraded the HDD to a SSD (OWC Mercury Electra 6G) and swapped the 4GB of RAM with 8GB. Other than that, it's a normal 2011 13" MBP running Snow Leopard.

 

[GGJstudios]

Try resetting the SMC (instructions linked in the Battery FAQ). If that doesn't help, your next step is to contact Apple to have them test to see if the battery is defective.

 

[randomrazr]

what it shows u isprob wrong

 

[DWBurke811]

Download CoconutBattery to ensure the numbers match; although, for me, iStat Menus 3 and Coconut have always been exactly the same readings.

If it is below 80%, Apple should replace it.

 

[Mal]

I'll just add the note that there is certainly no disadvantage to calling Apple and asking if they would troubleshoot/replace it. The only thing you have to lose is a little bit of time. They're not going to mark your account as a troublemaker or anything like that.

jW

 

[RockCrayfish]

I left it plugged in overnight last night and the battery health is now 94%. I guess I'll keep monitoring it over the next few weeks and see what happens.

Try resetting the SMC (instructions linked in the Battery FAQ). If that doesn't help, your next step is to contact Apple to have them test to see if the battery is defective.

If it drops again I'll be sure to try that out. Thanks!

Download CoconutBattery to ensure the numbers match; although, for me, iStat Menus 3 and Coconut have always been exactly the same readings.

If it is below 80%, Apple should replace it.

CoconutBattery gives the same readings. Thanks for the tip.

I'll just add the note that there is certainly no disadvantage to calling Apple and asking if they would troubleshoot/replace it. The only thing you have to lose is a little bit of time. They're not going to mark your account as a troublemaker or anything like that.

jW

Yeah, I think I'll be calling Apple if it drops below 80% again, as DWBurke stated above.

Also....Firefly, great show.