So I have been getting around 4-5.5 hours each time from my mac air 11/i7/8 for a week for just listening to music or using safari with keyboard brightness 0, screen brightness 5-6 clicks away from max, and wifi on. My activity monitor mainly stays around 3% CPU use. No lightroom or any sort of intensive task. I was wondering if I brought it to the applestore, will they be able to check right away if the battery works as it should? I already have a screen protector and a decal on, so I do not want it to get replaced. I just want reassurance that the battery is working well or if it does have some problem. I have already done the battery calibration with running it to sleep, waiting 5 hours, then charging to max + 2 hrs.
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Are employees at the Apple Store able to check if the battery is okay?
- Thread starter nariza7
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Do you have Flash installed (and related, do you have a flash block plugin installed)? Flash will churn the CPU and result in lower battery life. Also note that you have the i7 -- the battery tests and claims are based on the i5, which will inherently have a (debatable) impact on overall battery.
I don't have flash block installed. should I do that? Yeah, I've heard about the i7 vs i5 difference. I just didnt think the i7 will make a 7-9 hour laptop become like a 5hr laptop from light surfing on safari. But then again, it is somewhat hard to measure.
I was just hoping that the apple geniuses should somehow plug something into my mac air or run some program and check right away if the battery is functioning normally. I keep doing all these tests, but I have no numbers to compare by since everyone's usage is different. When I hear people with 11" say that they get 8 hours (sounds like they achieve it easily), it makes me wonder if my battery is bad. My mac air also charges from 21% to 99% in exactly 1 hour so I'm not sure if that is too fast or what not.
I was just hoping that the apple geniuses should somehow plug something into my mac air or run some program and check right away if the battery is functioning normally. I keep doing all these tests, but I have no numbers to compare by since everyone's usage is different. When I hear people with 11" say that they get 8 hours (sounds like they achieve it easily), it makes me wonder if my battery is bad. My mac air also charges from 21% to 99% in exactly 1 hour so I'm not sure if that is too fast or what not.
Just had it done at Apple Store. Battery was getting hot, so I thought I was having an issue with it. As soon as it heated up, battery drainage increased significantly. Apple Store employee was able to do a battery test to show me. I had perfectly good battery, was at 91%. Was a conflict with some apps that was creating the battery to heat up.
Have since resolved the app conflicts and all is well. Just make a Genius Bar Appointment and within minutes you will have your answer whether it is battery or other issues. I was quite surprised as to what my problem was. Caught me off guard.
Have since resolved the app conflicts and all is well. Just make a Genius Bar Appointment and within minutes you will have your answer whether it is battery or other issues. I was quite surprised as to what my problem was. Caught me off guard.
Why not just call the Apple Store and find out all the information you need. Then you'll know what your local Apple store can do for you.
Not sure. They wouldn't take me to the back.
But they did test my battery and found it defective. They replaced it on the spot.
It sounds like your battery is functioning as it should. Chances are slim that you have a problem with the battery. There are many factors that impact your battery life. See the BATTERY LIFE FROM A CHARGE section of the following link for details, including tips on how to maximize your battery life.
The link below should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions. If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend you take the time to read it.
hmmm interesting, did you use coconutbattery.app on your last battery and on the new one? Would love to see if there are some differences
Old battery = 40% battery health with iStat Menus. 20 cycles. An Apple system report indicated that the battery should be serviced.
New battery = 100% battery health with iStat Menus. 3 cycles. Apple system report indicates battery is normal.
I really didn't need to prove they replaced the battery. It was obvious.
Year and a half, approximately. Mostly use the laptop in a "docked" desktop mode, so any issues I have with battery life are usually due to not enough usage. This was different. When the Apple system report indicated the battery should be serviced, I knew something was a bit different, so I took it in.
While it shouldn't have depleted that far in a year and a half, I would recommend putting more cycles on your battery than you did on that one. Run on battery whenever you need to and plug it in whenever you can. You can plug or unplug any time you need to, regardless of the charged percentage, and you never need to completely drain your battery. Just make sure you don't run on AC power exclusively, as your battery needs to be used regularly to stay healthy.
They actually do the test through software. Pretty neat. But one thing to remember is they then put that info on your account for them to refer back to. Employee told me, people will leave and put everything back to where it was when they brought it in originally, then come back complaining about it still not working and looking to get it replaced for free.
Apple is smart saving the results. They have to cover their butt.
Excellent advice. Not saying it wasn't my fault, just that Apple tested the battery and decided to replace it as defective.
The battery life was a few hours less than it was when the machine was new, but I wasn't feeling real pain. I assumed it was lasting less due to the 40% health condition.
If you do a System Report (Apple menu -> About This Mac, and then click on the More Info button) there's a power section. Under Battery Information, there's a Health Information section. In my case the Condition wasn't "Normal". It was "Service Battery". That's what prompted me to take it in. I was concerned the battery might swell or leak, or overcharge depending on the specific problem the battery was experiencing.
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Mine says Normal for the battery condition. So far I've done this test by rmastbro where his applescript opens a new website every 30 seconds. His post was in the "Verge Battery Test" thread that I started earlier. So far in two hours with 50% battery brightness and 0 keyboard brightness, my mac air has gone from 100% to 62%. For the sleep options, I set it on "never" and took off screen saver. This way it is more like I am using the computer nonstop. All I have open is the applescript editor, notepad to write my start time, and the system preferences to check power and stuff. From what it looks like, my mac air can last around or under 5 hours based off these numbers. And this is just from opening a web page every few seconds. Although the webpage does stay open, so there are a crazy number of tabs.
I have also just noticed that it opens chrome, and I've heard chrome takes a bit more juice than safari. I will go to the applestore tomorrow to have my battery checked out.
Here is rmastbro's script description (but look at the thread for the actual file).
I have also just noticed that it opens chrome, and I've heard chrome takes a bit more juice than safari. I will go to the applestore tomorrow to have my battery checked out.
Here is rmastbro's script description (but look at the thread for the actual file).
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