Aging MacBook battery question

[flyersgl]

I bought my first Mac last spring--an early intel white Macbook, with upgraded RAM, Leopard and some other goodies. I recently bought my first (sort of) new Mac--a refurb 24" iMac, so that original Macbook did the trick of turning me into a switcher.

But I have lately noticed poor battery life. Downloaded coconut tonight. It confirms my Macbook is 33 mos old. Battery has only cycled 108 times, but maximum charge is 46% of original. I assume that even though the charge # is low, the age is what's killing the battery.

But, before I invest in a new battery, I guess I would like to be sure the problem really is the battery--is there anything else that could explain the quick (in terms of cycles) drain on the battery or anything else I should consider before investing in a new battery? I would love get another year out of this as a usable laptop--get me another 6 mos as my primary laptop until I upgrade and then my husband a few months to get used to using a Mac before he is ready to switch. After that I will plug it in and use it for my 6 year-old.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Insulin Junkie]

I assume that even though the charge # is low, the age is what's killing the battery.

Good assumption, since the battery is almost 3 years old. It's not surprising that its capacity would sink by around 50% in that time span, regardless of charge cycles.

 

[pellets007]

I concur with your conclusion. Batteries have limited lifespans regardless of load-cycles. Considering that it has lasted this long is pretty good. I have an HP laptop that now gets 15 minutes of battery life with under 100 load-cycles. Needless to say, it is no longer a laptop at this point.

 

[indigotheory]

ive had my mac 2weeks and coconutbattery thinks ive had it 2months...

 

[pyth]

I'm going to say this and, sure enough, my battery will start losing capacity, but my white baseline MacBook is 18 months old and still at 100% capacity. I've had 275 loadcycles and iStat Pro and coconutBattery both corroborate this. Is this normal or am I lucky?

 

[Nocturnal22]

Yup your battery is getting gray hairs time to get a new one

 

[pellets007]

I'm going to say this and, sure enough, my battery will start losing capacity, but my white baseline MacBook is 18 months old and still at 100% capacity. I've had 275 loadcycles and iStat Pro and coconutBattery both corroborate this. Is this normal or am I lucky?

At 300 load-cycles, your battery should exceed 80% of your original capacity. You got lucky that it is still at 100% though.

 

[flyersgl]

Is there anywhere other than Apple to get a battery at a good price? I don't know if $130 is worth it at this point or if I should just plug it in and give it to my kid.

 

[MacUser32]

I'm going to say this and, sure enough, my battery will start losing capacity, but my white baseline MacBook is 18 months old and still at 100% capacity. I've had 275 loadcycles and iStat Pro and coconutBattery both corroborate this. Is this normal or am I lucky?

What is your usual usage behavior with your MacBook? Do you charge it to 100% and then use it until it is nearly dead? I've heard that this will help to extend the batteries lifetime, but I'm not sure. I don't generally do this because when I'm traveling if my battery is at 50%, I want to top it off before I travel with it.

 

[Insulin Junkie]

Is there anywhere other than Apple to get a battery at a good price? I don't know if $130 is worth it at this point or if I should just plug it in and give it to my kid.

Google is your friend. Typing in 'cheap macbook battery' will yield plenty of results, and you're bound to find one that's cheaper than those that apple will sell you.

Having said that, be careful about where and what you buy. Cheap can also mean inferior. I'd play it safe and buy off apple. Or what you said, give it to your little one.

 

[pyth]

What is your usual usage behavior with your MacBook? Do you charge it to 100% and then use it until it is nearly dead? I've heard that this will help to extend the batteries lifetime, but I'm not sure. I don't generally do this because when I'm traveling if my battery is at 50%, I want to top it off before I travel with it.

Actually, it gets plugged in a lot because I'm doing something which requires lots of battery. If it gets unplugged, I usually let it run down as much as I use it for; usually to about 30, but most of the time it's plugged in.

 

[marina330]

A pretty good site that provides practical battery knowledge - www.batteryuniversity.com

 

[Skeletal-dæmon]

ive had my mac 2weeks and coconutbattery thinks ive had it 2months...

The battery unit itself will be two months old regardless of the age of your system. My MacBook was purchased in July of last year but Coconut registers it as already being 12 months old.

 

[eXan]

My MacBook is almost 2.5 years old, its battery is at 200-ish cycles and iStat reports 97% health.

I get above 3 hours of wireless surfing with brightness at maximum-minus-3.

Could be perfect, but the battery pack has become physically deformed (swelled) so to fit it inside the MacBook you have to use a lot of strength.

So I put it out fearing it might explode or catch fire and ordered a new one from Japan's Yahoo. Price was listed at 88$, but after all delivery costs it would be 125$. Still better than what they cost locally (218$)