Battery calibration

[ladytonya]

Okay, I got my MacBook Pro on July 6 and keep trying to calibrate it but can never get it to die at a time when I can leave it asleep for 5 to 6 hours! It's getting to the point of ridiculousness! Right now, I think I am the closest I've come, but I was hoping the battery would last until I go to bed tonight, but I'm all the way down to 17% at 5:55 pm so it ain't happening :-(

Anybody have any suggestions? This is my only computer and I'm an online college student. I keep trying to get it to die at the right time, right before I go to bed so it can just rest while I sleep, but these batteries last so dang long I have just not yet figured out how to make that happen! LOL!

 

[GGJstudios]

Okay, I got my MacBook Pro on July 6 and keep trying to calibrate it but can never get it to die at a time when I can leave it asleep for 5 to 6 hours! It's getting to the point of ridiculousness! Right now, I think I am the closest I've come, but I was hoping the battery would last until I go to bed tonight, but I'm all the way down to 17% at 5:55 pm so it ain't happening :-(

Anybody have any suggestions? This is my only computer and I'm an online college student. I keep trying to get it to die at the right time, right before I go to bed so it can just rest while I sleep, but these batteries last so dang long I have just not yet figured out how to make that happen! LOL!

The new unibody MBPs with the built-in battery don't require regular calibration, so there's no need to calibrate unless you suspect your battery readings are off. This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions:

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

 

[ladytonya]

Reading the Apple Notebook Battery FAQ is where I got the info on how to calibrate my battery. Every thread I have read where people ask anything about battery issues and maintenance you seem to jump in with all your links. I think most people can find those links, especially as often as they've been posted. Believe me, I've read the documentation and I understand that it doesn't have to be done often, but not doing it often and not doing it at all are two different things. Thanks for the link but it doesn't answer my question.

The question I asked was what suggestions do people have as to how they time their use in order to calibrate the battery properly to allow the battery to run out at a time that they can leave it off or sleeping for the amount of time the documentation suggests. Just looking for some ideas as I keep having to plug it back in before I can calibrate it. Help!

 

[GGJstudios]

Every thread I have read where people ask anything about battery issues and maintenance you seem to jump in with all your links.

That's why I created the Battery FAQ to begin with; because people keep asking the same questions over and over.

I think most people can find those links, especially as often as they've been posted.

I agree that should be the case, but as evidenced by all the new threads asking the same battery questions, apparently most of them aren't searching before posting.

The question I asked was what suggestions do people have as to how they time their use in order to calibrate the battery properly to allow the battery to run out at a time that they can leave it off or sleeping for the amount of time the documentation suggests. Just looking for some ideas as I keep having to plug it back in before I can calibrate it. Help!

The best I can recommend, if you still want to calibrate, is get a feel for how long your battery charge lasts under your normal workload. If it's lasting 5 hours, then unplug it around 5-6 hours before you go to sleep. That should give you 5 hours after it shuts down (while you're asleep).

 

[urimils]

Are you by any chance a gamer?
In my experience with heavy graphics games(like half life 2, portal etc), battery is drained in about an hour from a full charge.

if not, i suggest 2-3 hours before bedtime(and after the battery is fully charged, of course), unplug it, and run a few flash movies in the background(the more the merrier), it will consume CPU and drain the battery faster.

anything else that utilizes a lot of cpu and/or the secondary graphics card(Assuming you have one) will also do the trick. good luck

 

[DewGuy1999]

This doesn't answer your question directly, but according to this Apple doc:

Current Apple portable computer batteries are pre-calibrated and do not require the calibration procedure outlined in this article. These computers use batteries that should be replaced only by an Apple Authorized Service Provider.​

So, indirectly the answer to your question is that you're trying to come up with a way to do something that isn't necessary.

 

[ladytonya]

Thanks, urimils! I had never thought about running stuff in the background, just wish I would have read earlier. Right now I am down to 30% and was thinking about just leaving it open and on, but I'm afraid my cat will mess with it. LOL! I rarely let it run down so I don't have a feeling for how long the battery actually lasts, but I will do the same thing tomorrow night that I did tonight only with running some flash in the background. Hopefully I can the timing to work right. I know it's not 100% necessary on the new MBPs, but I'm curious as to what it will do to my battery health, if it will get the capacity back up to design capacity. Yeah, so maybe I have too much time on my hands. Anyway, thanks for all the feedback!

 

[GuitarG20]

if you really wanna kill the battery fast for a calibration, get something that uses a lot of CPU (games), crank the settings, and then play till it dies. that's how i did it.

 

[GGJstudios]

I know it's not 100% necessary on the new MBPs, but I'm curious as to what it will do to my battery health, if it will get the capacity back up to design capacity.

Battery calibration will not change your battery's health up or down. Nothing will get it back to original capacity. It only makes your readings more accurate. That's clearly stated in the CALIBRATION section of the FAQ.