In need of new battery?

[das1223]

Hello,

I have a 13inch MBA, late 2010 version.

Question #1:
I'm thinking of updating to the retina MBA once it comes out, but meanwhile, I was wondering if it's time that I replace the battery. I haven't been using my MBA much for the last two years (once a week or so) and these days when I turn it on I realize I get around 3 hrs max from it.

When I look at my battery stats though, it shows:
Health: 84~85%
Cycles: 499 only

and I've been told that it takes around 1000 cycles that the battery starts to fail. Anyone know why it's been only getting around 3 hrs, without any intense work? All I do really is internet surf and write. Is the health level of the battery decent? or in need of change?

Question #2:
I'm not sure if this is the correct place to ask this question, but if I decide to sell instead and upgrade, what is the current value of my MBA? (how much can i sell it for?)

Here's the specs:
Processor 2.13 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 320M 256 MB
Software Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 (11G63)

Thanks so much for reading this!

 

[Weaselboy]

Look in Activity Monitor in the CPU tab and see if you have anything there chewing up a high amount of CPU cycles. If you don't, then yes it sounds like your battery is in need of replacement. The life of these batteries varies a lot based on usage and that 1,000 cycles is just a guideline.

Looks like those models are selling for around $500 on eBay.

A suggestion. You might try upgrading to Mavericks. Mavs has better power and memory management and might help you milk a little more time out of your existing battery.

 

[das1223]

thanks for your reply. so i guess my battery is a bit getting older now.. is 85% health around the level where ppl start looking to change? I wil def check out the new OS X and see which is a better option.

and I'm surprised I can still get around $500 for this.. that's half the current basic MBA despite the four year usage.

this may be a stupid question so apologies in advance, if i were to replace my battery now, will I be getting the "latest" battery that's given to the newest MBA? which means mine will probably hold around 10 hrs as well? though I'm sure it'll be less efficient due to my old OS X system.

 

[Weaselboy]

thanks for your reply. so i guess my battery is a bit getting older now.. is 85% health around the level where ppl start looking to change? I wil def check out the new OS X and see which is a better option.

and I'm surprised I can still get around $500 for this.. that's half the current basic MBA despite the four year usage.

this may be a stupid question so apologies in advance, if i were to replace my battery now, will I be getting the "latest" battery that's given to the newest MBA? which means mine will probably hold around 10 hrs as well? though I'm sure it'll be less efficient due to my old OS X system.

No... if you get a new battery it will bring you back to the original battery life, but you won't get the 10-12 like the Airs. That has more to do with newer low power chipsets and CPUs than the battery.

If you can squeak by with 3-4 hours of battery life, there is nothing wrong with just hanging on to that battery for a while. It will impact resale though.

 

[Isamilis]

85% is good for 4 years old notebook. My 2012 MBA has only 79-81% battery health.