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Eggtastic

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 9, 2009
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NJ
Is this normal?

It has 146 cycles on it. I try not to keep it on the charger all the time either figuring I am giving my battery some exercise (that also could be stupid).

Thanks.
 
According to Apple's page on Battery servicing:

Your battery is designed to retain up to 80 per cent of its original capacity at 1,000 complete charge cycles. The one-year warranty includes replacement coverage for a defective battery. Apple offers a battery replacement service for all MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro notebooks with built-in batteries.
As such, I'd say your level of wear is much higher than it should be considering you should be able to get to 1000 cycles with ~20% degradation. If you've got Apple Care, I wouldn't worry. You can simply take the MacBook in for a free replacement once it hits 80% capacity assuming you're still well under that 1000 cycle mark.

If you don't have Apple Care, things might be a bit more difficult depending on where you live. I don't know what Consumer Protection laws there are in the US but in the UK I know you'd be covered for that sort of issue even outside of Apple's 1 year warranty.
 
If the two numbers are correct (they aren't always), that suggests accelerated wear.

Are you seeing notably shorter runtimes? (this usually needs to be considered of greater importance over the numerical figures, IMO)
When you discharge the battery, how deeply do you discharge it?
Is your system ever stored in hot-hot or cold-cold conditions? Do you currently have AppleCare+? (this will cover replacement.)

If you are seeing drastically shorter runtimes, having Apple test the battery next time you are near the Apple Store may be worthwhile.
 
If the two numbers are correct (they aren't always), that suggests accelerated wear.

Are you seeing notably shorter runtimes? (this usually needs to be considered of greater importance over the numerical figures, IMO)
When you discharge the battery, how deeply do you discharge it?
Is your system ever stored in hot-hot or cold-cold conditions? Do you currently have AppleCare+? (this will cover replacement.)

If you are seeing drastically shorter runtimes, having Apple test the battery next time you are near the Apple Store may be worthwhile.
Battery degradation is NOT a linear process so I'm not sure how you can suggest an acceleration of anything?
 
Battery degradation is NOT a linear process so I'm not sure how you can suggest an acceleration of anything?

Forgive my wording. I should have stated that better along the lines of "if those two figures are accurate, then I feel this suggests that the battery is wearing at a rate that is faster than what is usually expected under most normal usage and proper care conditions, although a variety of factors can influence wear."
 
Forgive my wording. I should have stated that better along the lines of "if those two figures are accurate, then I feel this suggests that the battery is wearing at a rate that is faster than what is usually expected under most normal usage and proper care conditions, although a variety of factors can influence wear."
All good, I've just been trying to push back on battery misunderstandings due to phrasing....which has clearly been rampant in the last couple of weeks here.
 
According to Apple's page on Battery servicing:

Your battery is designed to retain up to 80 per cent of its original capacity at 1,000 complete charge cycles. The one-year warranty includes replacement coverage for a defective battery. Apple offers a battery replacement service for all MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro notebooks with built-in batteries.
As such, I'd say your level of wear is much higher than it should be considering you should be able to get to 1000 cycles with ~20% degradation. If you've got Apple Care, I wouldn't worry. You can simply take the MacBook in for a free replacement once it hits 80% capacity assuming you're still well under that 1000 cycle mark.

If you don't have Apple Care, things might be a bit more difficult depending on where you live. I don't know what Consumer Protection laws there are in the US but in the UK I know you'd be covered for that sort of issue even outside of Apple's 1 year warranty.
My MacBook also expired the warranty and no Apple care, already got 14% wearing off with only 54 cycled counted, not sure if I got a defective battery
 
My MacBook also expired the warranty and no Apple care, already got 14% wearing off with only 54 cycled counted, not sure if I got a defective battery
Battery wear is NOT linear, so having 14% at 54 doesn't really mean much. If it continues at its current pace (it won't) then you'd have a problem, but there's simply no way to know right now if it's actually defective.

Every MacBook I've owned dropped an alarming rate in the first few months of use (7%+), but then stayed at that percentage for damn well over a year on each of them before slowly decaying as expected. Initial wear does not keep up at that pace if the battery is operating as intended.


For just a simple check, hold down the option key and click on the battery indicator in the upper right. If condition is Normal, you're fine. Just check back on the condition in a few months.
 
Thanks, I booked Genius Bar this Sunday to see if they can help. And yes, the conditions stated “good”
 
Thanks, I booked Genius Bar this Sunday to see if they can help. And yes, the conditions stated “good”
I'm not trying to be rude about this (text on a screen is an awful way to convey tone), but just be prepared for them to do absolutely nothing when you bring it in. From my personal experience being an ACMT certified Mac technician formerly in charge of all the Macs on campus at my previous job, your machine is fine. The large drop at initial cycles is normal for where it's at, but if the degradation amount doesn't slow down dramatically going forward then I'd be concerned.

If you want to take it in for piece of mind that's understandable, personally I'd rather use that time for a good nap, but if you are concerned enough to bring it in definitely go for it.
 
I'm not trying to be rude about this (text on a screen is an awful way to convey tone), but just be prepared for them to do absolutely nothing when you bring it in. From my personal experience being an ACMT certified Mac technician formerly in charge of all the Macs on campus at my previous job, your machine is fine. The large drop at initial cycles is normal for where it's at, but if the degradation amount doesn't slow down dramatically going forward then I'd be concerned.

If you want to take it in for piece of mind that's understandable, personally I'd rather use that time for a good nap, but if you are concerned enough to bring it in definitely go for it.

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences, no hard feeling at all. Maybe I should spend more months to see whether the degradation pace can be dramatically slowed down, but just curious how the 6% left to reach 80% can last, and actually I’m quite disappointed since I thought the 1000 cycled charged can still sustain 80% of battery capacity, maybe I got the wrong information from advertising
 
Thanks so much for sharing your experiences, no hard feeling at all. Maybe I should spend more months to see whether the degradation pace can be dramatically slowed down, but just curious how the 6% left to reach 80% can last, and actually I’m quite disappointed since I thought the 1000 cycled charged can still sustain 80% of battery capacity, maybe I got the wrong information from advertising
No you're understanding is correct, Mac batteries are rated to get 80% at 1000 charges. That said, you might find that 6% threshold is going to take waaaaaaaay longer to degrade than the degradation that has already occured.

My current Macbook was somewhere around 92% mere weeks after buying it. Two years later it's now at 85ish%.
 
it's really nice to talk with you, very appreciate for your worthy sharing.

Per my experience and knowledge to lithium ion battery, i seldom charge it to full hundred percent and usually unplug the charger once the battery reach 90 to 95% charged, and never drop to 30% before plug in, am i right for this practice? My gadgets all keep well condition under this circumstance including iPhone(s)
 
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it's really nice to talk with you, very appreciate for your worthy sharing
No problem, I was just hoping to provide you with some piece of mind given that this forum is over run by people willfully misunderstanding technological things.

Check your battery again in a few months, then you can decide if it warrants taking the time to bring it to the store.
 
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Sorry for reviving this thread, but I am disgusted with the battery of my MacBook 2017.

My 3.5 year old MBP has LESS battery wear than my 6 months old MB.
 

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I guess this answers my question regarding whether rMB batteries have been improved since the 2015 disastrous model.

Screen Shot 2018-02-02 at 10.34.51.png
Mine is more or less always connected, largely because of what I've read about the battery behaviour – I prefer to have it plugged most of the time, so that when I need to use it on battery I have 90% instead of 77%. I know it's not recommended, but based on what I see on this forum there seems to be no way to use the rMB that will not cause the battery to degrade at terrifying speed.

My 2015 MBP took almost a year to drop below 100%. Original charge capacity was 104%.
 
Update:

Odd, but now its back up to 93% health at 1.6 years... I am using the battery health app. I just picked up a Dell u2518h and will be using it docked more, but still hope the battery doesn't degrade too badly in the next couple of years.
 
Update:

Odd, but now its back up to 93% health at 1.6 years... I am using the battery health app. I just picked up a Dell u2518h and will be using it docked more, but still hope the battery doesn't degrade too badly in the next couple of years.

The battery capacity readings seem to fluctuate a lot, as you can see in navaira's screenshot.
I think 93% after 1.6 years are okay, but my 92% after 6 months are rather scary.
If it keeps degrading at this level, I will easily hit 80% within the 2 years of warranty.
 
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