Battery at 82% life

[wjlafrance]

Hey MacRumors,

I've got a late 2009 MacBook, and after 231 cycles my battery is at 82% health. Aren't the batteries supposed to be at 80% after 500 cycles? If I take it to the Apple store, will they replace my battery? I use the hell out of my computer, but a warranty is a warranty.

Also, if they do, will the bitch that I have 4GB of non-Apple RAM and a non-Apple hard drive installed?

Thanks!

 

[lyons238]

probably not. unless you can somehow get the health below 80% and then bring it in the store and show them. you could probably do this by fully de charging the battery a few times. how long does your battery last with 82% btw?

 

[wjlafrance]

probably not. unless you can somehow get the health below 80% and then bring it in the store and show them. you could probably do this by fully de charging the battery a few times. how long does your battery last with 82% btw?

It varies wildly. With Firefox alpha, Mail, Adium, Skype, and Tweetie open and the screen at full, it's estimating 3:00 to 3:30 (keeps fluctuating). I consider that unacceptable when it's supposed to get 7 hours at full, so I'd expect at least 4. When I open World of WarCraft, it drops to 1:30 max, at full, but that's understandable. I used to be able to go a full school day with a virtual machine open.

 

[max¥¥]

you NEVER get the battery life they say, my netbook's battery is meant to last 3 hours but i'm lucky if i get 45mins out of a full charge

 

[wjlafrance]

Netbooks and MacBooks aren't the same. I was getting the full 7 hours when it was brand new.

 

[iLog.Genius]

When the integrated battery was introduced, didn't Apple say it should last about 1000 charges? So I'm taking that as 1000 charges to 80% capacity? Anandtech review on the refreshed MacBook Pro understood that as well.

If the OP is at 200+ charges and near 80 percent, there is reason to believe that there might be something wrong. BUT like OP stated himself, he uses his computer hard so their behaviour with the portable might also have an affected on it's life.

 

[breathesrain]

Well, all heavy use could do would be to drain the battery faster and more often, which is why there's the 1000 cycle warning. It's probably worth a try to set up an appointment.

 

[wjlafrance]

When I get to school in the morning, I'll run my computer on battery until it's nearly dead (due to laziness with getting the power cable out, not ancient battery superstitions), then charge it back up. I assume that the rate at which these 500-1000 cycles arise shouldn't be a reason for the 80% to be reached before the 500 cycle mark.

EDIT -
And it's probably worth noting that it was at 82% last night, 81% this morning, and 83% tonight. What the..

 

[iLog.Genius]

When I get to school in the morning, I'll run my computer on battery until it's nearly dead (due to laziness with getting the power cable out, not ancient battery superstitions), then charge it back up. I assume that the rate at which these 500-1000 cycles arise shouldn't be a reason for the 80% to be reached before the 500 cycle mark.

EDIT -
And it's probably worth noting that it was at 82% last night, 81% this morning, and 83% tonight. What the..

If it's giving you different readings, it's time to calibrate the battery. My guess is that you will see the capacity jump up a bit.

 

[macgeek18]

Hey MacRumors,

I've got a late 2009 MacBook, and after 231 cycles my battery is at 82% health. Aren't the batteries supposed to be at 80% after 500 cycles? If I take it to the Apple store, will they replace my battery? I use the hell out of my computer, but a warranty is a warranty.

Also, if they do, will the bitch that I have 4GB of non-Apple RAM and a non-Apple hard drive installed?

Thanks!

Sounds about right,mine is 94-95% at 61 cycles.

 

[andalusia]

It gives different readings because it can never quite judge the exact capacity of the battery. Just check out my attached readings... It fluctuates quite a bit but it sticks around 98%. (this is on an early 2009 macbook btw with about 250 loadcycles)

 

[wjlafrance]

After calibrating, 94%.