Battery Problem - Unibody MBP

[Sdahe]

Hello Guys,

I have a new unibody MBP that is having something not right with the battery. This computer is like 2 or 3 months new...

The problem is that the battery is not lasting what it says in the battery meter. It says 5 hours and in 30 minutes goes to 2 hours....

 

[GGJstudios]

Have you calibrated it?

 

[celticpride678]

Like the previous poster said, try calibrating the battery. Also, try a SMC reset.

 

[Sdahe]

Have you calibrated it?

Thanks... I will try that... I never done it

 

[GGJstudios]

Thanks... I will try that... I never done it

You should be calibrating at least every month or two:
http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

 

[miles01110]

The problem is that the battery is not lasting what it says in the battery meter. It says 5 hours and in 30 minutes goes to 2 hours....

Calibrating probably has nothing to do with it. What's probably happening is that you turn on your machine on a full charge and see that you have 5.5 hours remaining... if you just left your computer as-is with nothing running. Then you open Safari and start watching Youtube videos and see that the battery indicator is now at 2 hours.

 

[GGJstudios]

Calibrating probably has nothing to do with it.

Calibrating has everything to do with inaccurate reporting of the battery's condition. The OP said nothing about the time remaining changing, which it does constantly, based on the current load on the battery. The OP said the meter is showing 5 hours but doesn't last that long. That's clearly a calibration issue.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1490

The battery has an internal microprocessor that provides an estimate of the amount of energy in the battery as it charges and discharges. The battery needs to be recalibrated from time to time to keep the onscreen battery time and percent display accurate and to keep the battery operating at maximum efficiency.

 

[miles01110]

The problem is that the battery is not lasting what it says in the battery meter. It says 5 hours and in 30 minutes goes to 2 hours....

Calibrating has everything to do with inaccurate reporting of the battery's condition. The OP said nothing about the time remaining changing, which it does constantly, based on the current load on the battery.

Re-read, please. "It says 5 hours and in 30 minutes goes to 2 hours" = "The battery reading originally states it will last for five hours, but after a half hour of using the machine the battery reading says it will last for 2 hours longer." In other words the entire issue is about "time remaining." The assumption that there is something wrong with how the software reports the remaining calibration is based on incomplete information at best, and is just a totally irrelevant suggestion at worst.

I realize that the knee-jerk reaction to every battery post is "you should calibrate your battery" but sometimes it just gets a little ridiculous.

 

[GGJstudios]

I realize that the knee-jerk reaction to every battery post is "you should calibrate your battery" but sometimes it just gets a little ridiculous.

It's not a knee-jerk reaction. It's a first step in troubleshooting battery issues. If they called Apple with the same question, the first question they'd probably hear is "have you calibrated your battery?" Obviously, it was appropriate advice:

Thanks... I will try that... I never done it