How do I check *when* the battery cycles occurred on a system?

[Synchromesh]

Long story short, I have someone who purchased a brand new sealed 2017 Macbook Pro 15in and then returned it to me with 2 cycles on the battery. I was under the impression that all new Apple machines have 0 cycles from the factory but this guy claims that I need to check the log and that I can verify these 2 cycles occurred before purchase date. I tried Coconut battery but this info is definitely not in there. So the question is: is it possible to find *when* battery cycles occurred in any of the system logs? Thanks!

 

[DeltaMac]

You are operating under a misconception...
It is a common occurrence for brand new (fresh from a sealed box) to show a small number of charge cycles on the battery - - - maybe more than 4 or 5 would be excessive, I don't know.
Probably something to do with confidence testing, or random quality control tests at the factory.
I seriously doubt that there would be any log entries, as any software used for that factory testing would not be left on the computer, and the normal system would not be used for that power test, anyway.
So, anything that would be related to that factory testing would never be left for a new owner to see.
The result would be no log reports to review, but, of course, the battery might have a couple of charge cycles showing.
And, "when" would be before the box was sealed at the factory

 

[Synchromesh]

Interesting. I always thought that a factory-fresh machine would have 0. Guess not. How about this - what are the chances that a factory-sealed machine would have a visible scratch on the body right out of the box?

 

[kohlson]

I bought a new 13 MBP last December for my college-aged daughter. I seem to remember that there was a cycle or two on the battery when I looked.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

Interesting. I always thought that a factory-fresh machine would have 0. Guess not. How about this - what are the chances that a factory-sealed machine would have a visible scratch on the body right out of the box?

You clearly don't spend as much time reading posts on this forum as some of us do. ;-) There's a long history of "my brand-new Apple product had a blemish (or worse)" threads. I'd like to think that this is an infrequent issue in the big scheme of things, and some may be coming from people looking for an excuse to return their product, but the odds are in favor of a small percentage of units being blemished.

Since these questions seem to stem from a customer/vendor dispute... sorry, there's no way for us to settle the questions you're facing. It's possible that the battery cycle count was 2 and the scratch was present fresh from the box, it's also possible that they were not. Regardless, most return privileges do not require non-use of the product. The customer gets to take it home, use it, and decide that it doesn't meet his/her needs.

 

[Synchromesh]

Since these questions seem to stem from a customer/vendor dispute... sorry, there's no way for us to settle the questions you're facing. It's possible that the battery cycle count was 2 and the scratch was present fresh from the box, it's also possible that they were not. Regardless, most return privileges do not require non-use of the product. The customer gets to take it home, use it, and decide that it doesn't meet his/her needs.

Obviously I wouldn't ask anyone to solve any issues for me. I'm just trying to do research to see how truthful his statements about the machine were. It was an expensive system which he opened up making it a used machine and then refused to accept for further usage due to a very minor scratch that (according to him) was from the factory. Of course we'll never know if he's telling the truth or not but at least now I know all these things are plausible.

 

[ZapNZs]

I've seen new MBPs with as many as 7 cycles on them - my rMB had something like 5 cycles when I purchased it.

It's completely possible it had a scratch right out of the box given QC is never perfect and shipping damage can and does happen - alternatively, I've also witnessed customers who decided to set up their brand new MBP in the store damage the MBP's finish within a few minutes of opening it and then claim that the unit had a cosmetic blemish.

Some people are legitimately given a machine with a factory defect. Others are outright oblivious (quite a few people fit this category.) Some are just plain negligent and dishonest.