determining battery quality on air 2012

[dubs83]

Hi Everyone,

I'm getting ready to sell my macbook air (mid 2012) laptop. I suspect my battery might need replacing and was curious if there was a way to test the quality of the battery for free. Can I just go to an Apple store and they can test it? I'm planning on selling on ebay or the offer up app, and want to give the most accurate info on the laptop and its overall quality.

Appreciate the help!

 

[Ruskes]

Your Mac can tell you all you want to know about Battery

Copy Paste following in the Terminal

ioreg -l -w 0 | grep Capacity

It will tell you not only current values but you can see the remaining capacity as Lifetime in %

Example
"MaxCapacity" = 6756
| | "CurrentCapacity" = 6649
| | "LegacyBatteryInfo" = {"Amperage"=0,"Flags"=5,"Capacity"=6756,"Current"=6649,"Voltage"=8453,"Cycle Count"=227}
| | "DesignCapacity" = 7150

Divide MaxCapacity with DesignCapacity to get remaining % of life
6756/7150= 94%

 

[dubs83]

Your Mac can tell you all you want to know about Battery

Copy Paste following in the Terminal

ioreg -l -w 0 | grep Capacity

It will tell you not only current values but you can see the remaining capacity as Lifetime in %

Example
"MaxCapacity" = 6756
| | "CurrentCapacity" = 6649
| | "LegacyBatteryInfo" = {"Amperage"=0,"Flags"=5,"Capacity"=6756,"Current"=6649,"Voltage"=8453,"Cycle Count"=227}
| | "DesignCapacity" = 7150

Divide MaxCapacity with DesignCapacity to get remaining % of life
6756/7150= 94%

Where do I find the terminal? Thanks!

 

[Ruskes]

Where do I find the terminal? Thanks!

In the Utility Folder.

 

[yngwietiger]

Just install the Coconut Battery app. It shows you everything in a nice UI.

At that age, I doubt the battery is in great shape. But you never know.

BTW, I recently installed a new battery in my mid-2012 MBA: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...battery-how-good-is-it.2160313/#post-26934950

Coconut Battery example (in the linked post as well):

BEFORE / AFTER

And the Battery Info....

BEFORE / AFTER

 

[dubs83]

Coconut battery says my battery life is good. Ran that command in terminal as well and my values were max capacity of 5076 and design capacity of 6700. Looks like I have about 75% battery life left?

Not sure I totally believe this though as I have had this computer for about 7 years. I didn't use it daily though so is that why I still have plenty of battery life left?

Thanks for the help!

 

[yngwietiger]

Coconut battery says my battery life is good. Ran that command in terminal as well and my values were max capacity of 5076 and design capacity of 6700. Looks like I have about 75% battery life left?

Not sure I totally believe this though as I have had this computer for about 7 years. I didn't use it daily though so is that why I still have plenty of battery life left?

Thanks for the help!

Well, that 76% just means that your battery still charges up to 75% of its original capacity. If you went just by charge cycle counts (supposedly 1000 is the recommended limit) then you'd theoretically have about ~48% left (not taking age into account)?

Your battery is about as old as mine was. But mine was only 51% of original capacity, had 1510 charges, and was considered "Fair" (even though I think it said "replace battery soon", and would only last maybe an hour or so on a charge). Whereas yours is only at 522, and is still considered "Good".

That actually looks really good, considering the age.

As long as you're not having any issues, I wouldn't bother replacing, especially if you're going to sell.

 

[dubs83]

Should I make it a point to mention how many charge cycles are left or just say the battery is in good condition?

 

[yngwietiger]

Should I make it a point to mention how many charge cycles are left or just say the battery is in good condition?

That's a good question. I'd probably look around and see what other sellers are doing.

Might be a selling point, since your battery is likely in better condition than most that age. From what I can see, most don't list it, but that's probably because they're original batteries (probably Fair condition at best)? If I was selling and had a battery in Good condition (even if original, but especially if replaced), I'd mention it. And as a buyer, I'd appreciate knowing that detail.

 

[Ruskes]

Coconut battery says my battery life is good. Ran that command in terminal as well and my values were max capacity of 5076 and design capacity of 6700. Looks like I have about 75% battery life left?

Not sure I totally believe this though as I have had this computer for about 7 years. I didn't use it daily though so is that why I still have plenty of battery life left?

Thanks for the help!

If you want to know if the battery will last a Year after sales, it will.