Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

battery health starting at 98%?

C

ct04

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 28, 2008
38
0
Hi guys,

So I got my new mbp on Tuesday, but when I installed iStat, it told me my battery health was already at 98%. Normal? Should I take it in and get the battery replaced?

Thanks!
 
Try calibrating your battery

PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD), MacBook (all models), MacBook Pro (all models), and MacBook Pro (17-inch) (all models)

The battery calibration for the PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD) and any model of MacBook or MacBook Pro has been updated because of a new battery released with this computer. With these computers, follow these steps to calibrate your battery:
  1. Plug in the power adapter and fully charge your PowerBook's battery until the light ring or LED on the power adapter plug changes to green and the onscreen meter in the menu bar indicates that the battery is fully charged.
  2. Allow the battery to rest in the fully charged state for at least two hours. You may use your computer during this time as long as the adapter is plugged in.
  3. Disconnect the power adapter with the computer still on and start running the computer off battery power. You may use your computer during this time. When your battery gets low, you will see the low battery warning dialog on the screen.
  4. Continue to keep your computer on until it goes to sleep. Save all your work and close all applications when the battery gets very low, before the computer goes to sleep.
  5. Turn off the computer or allow it to sleep for five hours or more.
  6. Connect the power adapter and leave it connected until the battery is fully charged again.
Tip: When the battery reaches "empty", the computer is forced into sleep mode. The battery actually keeps back a reserve beyond "empty", to maintain the computer in sleep for a period of time. Once the battery is truly exhausted, the computer is forced to shut down. At this point, with the safe sleep function introduced in the PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD) computers, the computer's memory contents have been saved to the hard drive. When power is restored, the computer returns itself to its pre-sleep state using the safe sleep image on the hard drive.
Click to expand...
 
ct04 said:
Hi guys,

So I got my new mbp on Tuesday, but when I installed iStat, it told me my battery health was already at 98%. Normal? Should I take it in and get the battery replaced?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

same here, got my MBP last friday and the battery started at 98% health.
used it on batteries for 7 cycles now and it's at 97%.

i wonder if there's anyone with a 100% health out there.
know people who have 100% while on AC but when they start using batttery, it quickly drains, and the mbp shuts off at 20% without warning.

mine, shuts off around 5% and i get a warning before it goes to sleep:)
 
i had that happen with my macbook. I tried to calibrate it and it is at 96% with 30 cycles.... It is funny considering it replaced a bad battery.
 
iStat issues just for your information

Just so you are aware, several of us MBP owners who installed iStat were having serious MBP sleep problems. The computer would not awaken from sleep and you would have to do a hard reboot.

One MacRumors member figured out the iStat connection and had some suggestions. Here is a link to that post:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/441089/

I have a machine that is 4 months old and has 98-99% batter life with 27 cycles. I have installed Leopard Cache Cleaner which has a feature that will tell you the battery health. You may want to check it out too!

Good luck with your new MBP:apple:
 
I had started from 98% too. I calibrated my battery yesterday. Today it says 100% battery health so that really helped.
 
I have found that it often takes a couple of cycles after it's been recalibrated before things start to look right again.

And keep in mind - you're not recalibrating the battery, you're recalibrating the hardware and software that's tracking battery performance.

MacDann
 
I wouldn't worry about it. 80%/300 cycles is the cutoff. i.e. if you battery is less than 80% health at less than 300 cycles you can get a new one for free, as long as its within the warranty. Of course 79% at 299 cycles is taking the piss a bit.

It also fluctuates a few percentage points each time its charged.
 
I have calibrated my batter monthly, like suggested, and still only shows a maximum of 99% battery health.

From what I have read, the 99% is good as many see a much steeper drop in health much sooner.

The price to pay for a battery powered portable computer I guess!
 
Mine is back to 99%. :(

Oh well. I have 5 cycles on my battery. But I plan on keeping it plugged it to save me some cycles.
 
I've got 177 cycles and 89% health. I'm assuming this is good for where i'm at?

It always bumps down to like 83% and then back up to 89, so I'm not really sure what to believe.
 
fs454 said:
I've got 177 cycles and 89% health. I'm assuming this is good for where i'm at?

It always bumps down to like 83% and then back up to 89, so I'm not really sure what to believe.
Click to expand...

that's look ok to me.
how long did it took you to have 177 cycles?
i'm always on Ac even when i'm out.
but every month i try to use the battery
 
ok i know this is not the right laptop for this post but my ibook g4 has 460 cycles and its still at 88%.i got istat and thats what its telling me.that sounds like it could be wrong after all these charges.
 
fs454 said:
I've got 177 cycles and 89% health. I'm assuming this is good for where i'm at?

It always bumps down to like 83% and then back up to 89, so I'm not really sure what to believe.
Click to expand...

That sound pretty good to me. I'm personally on 60% after 108 cycles, which worries me a bit.

A friend of mine has a white MB a year old, with 279 cycles at 100% and that scares me :p
 
my new base penryn has 3 cycles and is at 97% battery health :-/. I have calibrated with no luck.

so is there nothing to do? is 97% normal for a 2 day old mbp?
 
Went and got a new battery yesterday. Turns out it was defective and one of those batteries Apple did a recall on last year.

New battery no questions asked. The battery runs now at 99% after 2 cycles. It moves from 99% - 100% couple times a day.
 
TraustiB said:
Went and got a new battery yesterday. Turns out it was defective and one of those batteries Apple did a recall on last year.

New battery no questions asked. The battery runs now at 99% after 2 cycles. It moves from 99% - 100% couple times a day.
Click to expand...

Really a recall battery?

I guess I'm going to have to check my battery too then.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back