26-month old 15" MBP 3,1 Battery 160 cycles @ 31%?

[rc.square24]

Hi there, my 2 year old 15" MBP 3,1 has been giving me noticeably short runtimes on battery power, coconut battery shows 31% full charge capacity @ 160 cycles than originally new.

Yesterday I was burning a dvd with disk utility on 70% battery power and while I was away it just shut itself down and wont power on after even with AC alone or AC+DC, but after SMC resetting it it booted up.

I have Snow Leopard and power icon shows "Service Battery" if that matters.

Theres no AppleCare on this mac and im obviously out of the 1-year warranty, would apple still replace it for me at no cost? I've been reading that they have a 300-cycle 80% charge "policy (or not?)"

Thanks a lot!

 

[euanmackie]

Hi there, my 2 year old 15" MBP 3,1 has been giving me noticeably short runtimes on battery power, coconut battery shows 31% full charge capacity @ 160 cycles than originally new.

Yesterday I was burning a dvd with disk utility on 70% battery power and while I was away it just shut itself down and wont power on after even with AC alone or AC+DC, but after SMC resetting it it booted up.

I have Snow Leopard and power icon shows "Service Battery" if that matters.

Theres no AppleCare on this mac and im obviously out of the 1-year warranty, would apple still replace it for me at no cost? I've been reading that they have a 300-cycle 80% charge "policy (or not?)"

Thanks a lot!

I have a sad feeling that it may just be in the list of one of them things. however its best to beg, cry, beg some more to a genius bar and see what they say, but im pretty sure its a which ever comes first. years warrantee or 300 cycles. The snow leopard thing is common for all non integrated battery's.

 

[rc.square24]

Well I booked the genius bar just now and will take it down there in an hour or so.

By whichever comes first you mean if its over 300 cycles and out of years warranty then they wont replace? But to get that kind of usage one would have to drain the battery empty and full charge it almost every day in a year...

 

[zildjansg]

I am not sure if we have on the same MBPro(non uni alum) which has battery issue,my case is that even if it indicated 100% battery charge.it will just prompt "battery low" right after i unplugged the power,and at 75% battery life it will just run 10mins it will suddenly drain off.
Should I replace a new battery?

please advice.

Thanks

 

[paintballswimgu]

i've managed to get 3 replacement mbp batteries from apple. (i do have 3 year applecare though). Here's what i've learned, You have to know their battery replacement warrenty better then they do 300 cycles with xx% of health can't remember off the top of my head, because otherwise they will tell you that the battery is considered a disposible item and only comes with a 6 month warrenty despite if you have applecare or not. Also the thing that normally gets me a replacement is that i'm a student, and if it doesn't last it can't make it through a 90 min. class.

 

[Jayomat]

I must be pretty lucky.. oO

 

[Pax]

Batteries are weird, sometimes they just go wrong. You've got to look at them as a consumable like printer ink or car tyres. People will post on here that they've got 1000 cycles and still at 90%, others have only 40 cycles and the battery is dead.

Worth talking to a genius, it's pretty poor behaviour. But otherwise I'm afraid it's $100 or whatever for a new one.

 

[rc.square24]

So i went to the bar and they tested it with their battery tester and said it was dead/disposable and I'm out of warranty... so i bring up the 300 cycle thing and the guy said yeah but thats within 2 years (mines 26 months) and like mentioned above, he said whichever comes first, the 2 years or 300 cycles below 80%.

I'm gonna try calling by phone for my last shot then if not i'll just grab a new one. I'm kind of hesitant though as reviews on the apple store shopping site aren't very good for the 15" MBP battery. It does seem like a draw of luck where some are just fine while others just die really soon. I don't wanna be in the same situation after the 90-day warranty if i get a new one.

 

[Pax]

I'm kind of hesitant though as reviews on the apple store shopping site aren't very good for the 15" MBP battery. It does seem like a draw of luck where some are just fine while others just die really soon.

Remember the reviews will be heavily biased towards people who have had problems. I expect there are zillions of satisfied users out there. My Macbook battery is 3 years old with 400+ cycles and still in excellent condition. But I would never dream of posting an Apple store review about it.

 

[Azrael169]

I had a similar problem to you when m y MBP hit 18 months old. Rang up Apple and complained, person on the phone said out of warranty "too bad, so sad"... So i straight away asked for Customer Relations. Once i got them on the phone gave them my story, apple user of 4 years, think its unacceptable, most importantly... you battery dosnt DO WHAT YOU ADVERTISE. I found a web link on Apples website explaining the batter life they advertise and said it was clearly false. 3 minutes later i have a authorised replacement for my laptop

26 months is a little longer but still worth a call

 

[steeex]

I have a macbook 1,1 - been through 2 batteries by now (currently on the 3rd), and what I have understood from my experience is that you really need to keep your juice flowing to maximize the lifespan. Basically I have killed the first one by leaving it all the time connected to the charger and the second one, well that one just got old...

 

[OttawaGuy]

Not happy with this..... 16 month old 15" MBP MacBookPro 4.1 35% full charge capacity @ 119 cycles