Aluminum Macbook (Spring 2009) Battery Question

[cjm3113]

I purchased a 13'' Unibody Aluminum Macbook in April of 2009. I have had the computer for a little over a year now and absolutely love it. For a while, the battery lasted 3:30-4 hours on a full charge on average (mostly web browing, not heavy usage). Recently it is only lasting for 1:50-2 hours when asked to perform the same workload. It never predicts more than 2, maybe 2:30 hours of life even after a full charge.

Is there something wrong with my battery, or is this just the result of an aging battery showing some use?

 

[GGJstudios]

This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions: Apple Notebook Battery FAQ

 

[celticpride678]

Here's some more information on batteries in notebooks:

http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

If you want better battery life, try calibrating it or resettings the SMC.

 

[unixperience]

My first suggestion would be calibrating your battery.
You can also go to your system profiler and then look at hardware > power, if it says your charge capacity is around 2000 mAH or less which should come to about 2 hours ( I think its 4500 when they are new) it might be time to just get a new battery.
you can also check your charge cycle, apple claims around 1000 charges before it reaches half capacity so if your number is up there, that means you still again may need a new battery
below cycle count there is a condition section, it should say normal, if it says service, or poor, or anything besides normal, once again get a new battery

 

[cjm3113]

My first suggestion would be calibrating your battery.
You can also go to your system profiler and then look at hardware > power, if it says your charge capacity is around 2000 mAH or less which should come to about 2 hours ( I think its 4500 when they are new) it might be time to just get a new battery.
you can also check your charge cycle, apple claims around 1000 charges before it reaches half capacity so if your number is up there, that means you still again may need a new battery
below cycle count there is a condition section, it should say normal, if it says service, or poor, or anything besides normal, once again get a new battery

Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 4055
Fully charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 4085
Health Information:
Cycle count: 440
Condition: Good

Judging by this information, it would appear that the calibration may very well do quite some good for me.

 

[unixperience]

Sounds about right. Hopefully that works. let us know the results