Horrible battery life!

[JeanJPoirier]

So I've had my MacBook for a little over a year now, and for some reason I haven't seen over two hours on the battery in ages. I thought even older MacBooks got at least three-ish hours…I usually have WiFi and Bluetooth on but I don't think that should make a huge difference. I looked at the battery in System Profiler and it says it has 5213 mAh Full Charge Capacity after 174 cycles, which I've read is almost normal. I always run it on "Better Battery Life" when it's unplugged and keep the screen on the lowest brightness, and make sure to close unused applications.

So why am I only getting around 1:50 on a full charge? People have told me that leaving the adapter plugged in after it's at full charge can be detrimental, but again I didn't think that could cause such a drastic drop in battery life. (I like to charge it overnight when I'm not using it so it might stay plugged in at green for a while usually.)

I have read the Apple support article on recalibrating the battery and followed the instructions about a week ago, charging it to full, letting it run out of power, leaving it to sit for about 5 hours and charging it up again. Didn't really fix anything…

Any advice is much appreciated. I hope my battery isn't just a dud!

 

[hogfaninga]

I know the previous gen of Macbook had a battery recall. You might be eligible. Check it out. It is on their site. I would call Apple and talk to their customer service. You definitely should be getting better battery life than that.

I don't see how you guys have brightness on low. Mine is always near the top end. If I go low, it is too dark.

 

[TEG]

WiFi and BlueTooth eats battery life. Same goes for if you have a Disc in the drive or are constantly using the HD. Leaving the system plugged in will have almost no effect on the life of the battery, since the system will bypass the battery when full and run directly off the AC adapter.

TEG

 

[WillMak]

I had this problem. My battery qualified for replacement. DO IT!

 

[WhiteNoiseMaker]

I had the problem of my MacBook battery not charging and had mine replaced out of warranty. My new battery arrived today, thanks Apple!

Identifying an affected battery

Affected batteries will have one or more of the following symptoms:

• Battery is not recognized causing an “X” to appear in the battery icon in the Finder menu bar.
• Battery will not charge when computer is plugged into AC power.
• Battery exhibits low charge capacity/runtime when using a fully charged battery with a battery cycle count (as shown in System Profiler) of less than 300.
• Battery pack is visibly deformed.

Note: If your MacBook or MacBook Pro battery does not have any of the symptoms noted above, your battery does not need to be replaced.

Check out this support page and give them a call: MacBook and MacBook Pro Battery Update 1.2

...worst that can happen is they say no.

 

[*Sandy*]

I have been getting 4+ on mine, time to call Apple.