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2013 MacBook Air - Battery Issues..

C

Chicane-UK

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 26, 2008
444
1,085
Hi folks..

Well, after 3 years of solid service, my MacBook Air has suddenly decided to become quite temperamental with it's battery. The problem started suddenly quite recently - when the battery got to about 18% the system would shut off. I figured, OK, I can live with this as I don't *need* the system as my daily machine and just tend to us it in bed, or when on the road. I assumed it'd become progressively worse.

However I've just took it back out of sleep this evening with the battery at 49% and it's done the same! It turned off. Pressing the power button bought up the logo of the flat battery and demanding it be plugged into a power source, which is what I've had to do to bring it back on :(

I wouldn't mind so much except this battery hasn't done anything near 1000 cycles. In fact it hasn't even done anything near 500 cycles! I'm in fact only on around 260 cycles :( The frustrating thing is I got this system with an extended Apple Care policy taking me up to 3 years cover but.. guess what.. it lapsed in August.

Is it likely Apple would do something as a good will gesture? I've bought my fair share of Apple stuff over the years! Or am I going to need to realistically fork out the £109 for the battery replacement programme? :( Any other causes for this or is the battery basically toast?

Not sure if the spec matters much but it's a fully maxed out 2013 11" - i7, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD.

Thanks.
 
Sorry, don't have an answer, but will be curious as to how it turns out. I also have an 11" i7/8gb/512gb MBA, purchased in July 2013 and the battery has about 270 cycles. Basically identical to yours. But my battery life is still excellent, very little change from when it was new. Sure sounds like you may have a defective battery. Never hurts to ask if Apple will replace it. In my case, I wouldn't think twice about spending $130 (or whatever) to get a new battery installed by Apple. I love this machine and plan to keep it for several more years.

Hope it works out well for you.
 
My mid 2012 13" Air has had the "Service Battery" for almost a year now. It has still only done 487 cycles. The 'Health is about 68%.

I'd also be interested in how you get on.

If its going to be a few days before you get to Apple, you could use it 'till the battery runs out, leave it flat for a couple of hours then fully charge it overnight. That should go some way in resetting the battery monitor and your estimated time should be a bit closer to your new reality plus you should get the 10% warning to plug in.
I think I've read of others setting their machines to play movies until they are flat & then recharging. That level of drain presumably gives a more conservative estimate for time remaining. Please do be really careful to make sure that the ventilation is good if you try that. Excessive heat ruins batteries.
 
I checked the other day to try and make a Genius Bar appointment at my nearest Apple store (which isn't exactly near) and there literally wasn't a single appointment available for the next 7 days at least... so literally no idea when I'm going to be able to get to an Apple Store to discuss it! But I will update this thread accordingly if / when I do manage to see someone.
 
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I have the same issue on my 2012 Macbook Air. It would just shut down even when the battery indicator still said ~40% left. And when I charge it back, it suddenly said the battery capacity to be only less than 50% left. Overtime this will change back to ~70+%, but the cycle will repeat.
And this is after installing Sierra. It never happens before on el Capitan. I tried resetting SMC, even clean install sierra, same problem.
 
I have the 2013 MBA as you, but 13". No issues with my battery. My MBA is @ 82% of original, with 515 charges.

I've ben buying Macs, desktops, and laptops since 1988. Apple doesn't owe you anything, sorry to say. Hopefully your get a sympathetic manager when you have your genius appointment.
 
i say get a battery replacement and pay the $129. Get another few years usage out of it. Better than paying $1000+ again for a new one. I'm actually digging my 2015 MBA with just El Capitan. I love how long the battery last but also how fast it charges. This is the weakness of the iPhone 7 Plus with its 3 hr charging time or cut by 30 minutes with an iPad charger. I may no longer buy iOS devices but I may end up getting more Macs like an iMac.

Funny how iPod was my first Apple product when reality Apple started with computers first and it is the last one I tried. I don't think Macs are perfect by any means and perhaps I am going through a honeymoon phase but I wouldn't mind buying more of them. I think it is worth it to keep replacing the battery because most Macs do remain stable and fast if you take care of it unlike iPhones which become disposable after a few years with software updates and faster degraded batteries. Macs are worth keeping for a lifetime.
 
Savor said:
i say get a battery replacement and pay the $129. Get another few years usage out of it. Better than paying $1000+ again for a new one. I'm actually digging my 2015 MBA with just El Capitan. I love how long the battery last but also how fast it charges. This is the weakness of the iPhone 7 Plus with its 3 hr charging time or cut by 30 minutes with an iPad charger. I may no longer buy iOS devices but I may end up getting more Macs like an iMac.

Funny how iPod was my first Apple product when reality Apple started with computers first and it is the last one I tried. I don't think Macs are perfect by any means and perhaps I am going through a honeymoon phase but I wouldn't mind buying more of them. I think it is worth it to keep replacing the battery because most Macs do remain stable and fast if you take care of it unlike iPhones which become disposable after a few years with software updates and faster degraded batteries. Macs are worth keeping for a lifetime.
Click to expand...

I have had this issue twice, bought a new battery in sept 2015, lasted a year and had the issue again. Just got another battery in early sept 2016 and now it has the same issue, says 100% charged, and dies if i unplug it. Going to genius bar this week
 
its not a battery capacity issue, I can leave it plugged in for hours on a 1 month old batter and it will die in about 1 minute. I think something is wrong with the charging system. Either the battery isnt being charged at all or the controller is off
 
Ok so I may have stumbled onto a solution. Try booting into safe mode, and once sucessfully booted into safe mode, reboot back to normal and see if you can run on battery alone for a while
 
Last edited:
Chicane-UK said:
I've held onto El Cap for now. Was contemplating a complete wipe and reinstall to Sierra soon though.. hmm..
Click to expand...
I have clean installed Sierra on my 2012 MacBook Air, and the problem persists. Never had this issue on El Capitan. Just installed 10.12.1, and will see if the problem remains.
 
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