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Is it bad I'm raking up Cycles?

C

chris2k5

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 30, 2010
687
0
Is it bad that I am using a lot of CYCLES on my MBP 13" 2010?

So far I have 22 cycles and my Macbook is 2 months old according to Coconut Battery.

I see a lot of people selling their MBP's they got in 2009 that have 30-40 cycles on them!
 
chris2k5 said:
Is it bad that I am using a lot of CYCLES on my MBP 13" 2010?

So far I have 22 cycles and my Macbook is 2 months old according to Coconut Battery.

I see a lot of people selling their MBP's they got in 2009 that have 30-40 cycles on them!
Click to expand...

There's a happy medium between leaving it plugged in all the time and draining it/recharging it every single day. Any way you slice it though your battery will deplete over time. So just use it however you like and don't worry too much about it.
 
MBHockey said:
There's a happy medium between leaving it plugged in all the time and draining it/recharging it every single day. Any way you slice it though your battery will deplete over time. So just use it however you like and don't worry too much about it.
Click to expand...

I always use it until it drops to 30%-40%-50% and then I plug it in and then charge it all the way up. I do it every single day. Is this bad?

Should I leave it plugged in more?
 
Take a look at this:

http://www.apple.com/asia/batteries/notebooks.html

For proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. Apple does not recommend leaving your notebook plugged in all the time. An ideal use would be a commuter who uses her notebook on the train, then plugs it in at the office to charge. This keeps the battery juices flowing. If, on the other hand, you use a desktop computer at work and save a notebook for infrequent travel, Apple recommends charging and discharging its battery at least once per month.
Click to expand...
 
I used to have OCD about my battery. Now, I can't care less. I use my laptop when I need it, how I feel like it.

If it needs charging, I charge it.

139€ for a replacement, if I need one, in a few years time. By that time, I will probably have the new model Macbook Pro, with ~20 months of battery life.
 
chris2k5 said:
I always use it until it drops to 30%-40%-50% and then I plug it in and then charge it all the way up. I do it every single day. Is this bad?

Should I leave it plugged in more?
Click to expand...

my mbp is 10 months old and I've run 93 cycles on it. My battery is still in great shape and depending on my usage I can easily still get 5+ hours.

However, I try to let my battery run all the way down to 1% or so before charging it back up.
 
Mac-key said:
my mbp is 10 months old and I've run 93 cycles on it. My battery is still in great shape and depending on my usage I can easily still get 5+ hours.

However, I try to let my battery run all the way down to 1% or so before charging it back up.
Click to expand...

not good for the battery if it's done frequently

only good for calibration
 
hmm, laptop is from june 16th and i already have 24 cycles. :p

ill buy a new battery once i start to notice battery life issues.. but apple claims its good for 1000 recharges so if it starts to suck under that # ill be apple caring it. :p
 
Just plug it into an outlet when one is near you and otherwise don't. You shouldn't worry too much. My more than 3 year old battery with 250 cycles is still at 97%.
 
4 months, 82 cycles, max charge is 6950mah which is more than 6900mah which is default factory charge :D
 
I guess mine is the only weird one..

I have 33 cycles, with 96% health.. I don't have coconut battery so I can't exactly say when it was made but it's in one of the new 2010 13" MacBook Pros..
 
csjo00 said:
I guess mine is the only weird one..

I have 33 cycles, with 96% health.. I don't have coconut battery so I can't exactly say when it was made but it's in one of the new 2010 13" MacBook Pros..
Click to expand...

There's nothing weird about that. Read the link I posted earlier.
 
This is a useful table. The rest of the site is good too. The guy does seem to know about batteries

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/partone-21.htm

Note in particular:
"Do charge the battery often. The battery lasts longer with partial rather than full discharges."
and
"Avoid full cycle because of wear. 80% depth-of-discharge recommended. Re- charge more often."
and
"No maintenance needed. Loses capacity due to aging whether used or not."
 
I wouldn't worry:

Macbook (Black).
37 months old.
Loadcycles: 988 (yes, nine hundred and eighty eight, which sounds about right, about one a day)
Original battery capacity: 5020mAh
Current battery capacity: 4875mAh
Health: 97%
 
jdavtz said:
I wouldn't worry:

Macbook (Black).
37 months old.
Loadcycles: 988 (yes, nine hundred and eighty eight, which sounds about right, about one a day)
Original battery capacity: 5020mAh
Current battery capacity: 4875mAh
Health: 97%
Click to expand...

Wow, thats really good.
Whats your secret? :cool:
 
wordoflife said:
Wow, thats really good.
Whats your secret? :cool:
Click to expand...

No secrets, I've never really paid much attention to the battery, I do the "battery calibration" thing every 6-8 months or so (fully charge, leave 2 hours on charger, disconnect, allow to die completely, leave 'dead' for 5 hours, recharge) but I think that's so it can give more reliable estimates of 'time remaining' rather than actually affecting battery life.

I charge the laptop whenever the battery icon goes red, or if I know I need a full charge when I'm going out or whatever. No strict rules at all.
 
Age: 8 months
Cycles: 218
Battery health: 98%

I hardly even pay attention to cycles. I use it whenever I need it and charge it when I need to.
 
I wouldn't worry at all as well.

I have the Jun '09 Revision MacBook Pro 13" which i bought the 18th of June '09.
I can still get very close to the advertised battery life. Coconut battery says I have 98% charge capacity after owning my MBP for a little more than a year.
This is with 175 charge cycles. :)

(I do have to admit i'm kind of OCD about my battery and always drain it until 2%.)
The only good part about Windows PC's is they don't tell you how many charge cycles you have. That way I can't worry about it. :p
 
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