Is the MacBook Air's Battery Supposed to Run Down When Switched Off?

[ryan101]

I have a MacBook Air which is the 2012 model. Now I will charge it up and switch it off so that if I need to rush off somewhere I have a charged laptop with me. When I say switch it off, I do mean switch it off properly. Shut it down. I sometimes won't use my MacBook for 1 or 2 weeks. However, when I do turn it on again, I either find that the battery is either down to 50% or almost to 20% - it just depends for how long I have not used it.

Is this normal? I always thought that the charge would at least keep for several weeks, if not a month or two!

Thanks.

 

[Mrbobb]

By "switch off" = lets define precisely, "you told OSX to SHUTDOWN."

I believe it does take some juice, very minimal, so if u leave it off for a month, I think u may lose 10%, maybe. Some of it is called battery leakage, meaning if u pull the battery out and have it sit on a shelf not hooked up to anything, it does *some* minimal rundown.

No empirical data sorry, I don't use it that way.

 

[Ronnoco]

I have a MacBook Air which is the 2012 model. Now I will charge it up and switch it off so that if I need to rush off somewhere I have a charged laptop with me. When I say switch it off, I do mean switch it off properly. Shut it down. I sometimes won't use my MacBook for 1 or 2 weeks. However, when I do turn it on again, I either find that the battery is either down to 50% or almost to 20% - it just depends for how long I have not used it.

Is this normal? I always thought that the charge would at least keep for several weeks, if not a month or two!

Thanks.

Not normal...take it to Apple.

 

[Aylan]

^^ This. Definitely take it to to get checked out. Batteries should not be discharging at such rates. Although, if a battery is discharging without power draw, wouldn't it do the same when it is being used? How long is your battery lasting during use?

 

[ryan101]

By "switch off" = lets define precisely, "you told OSX to SHUTDOWN."

I believe it does take some juice, very minimal, so if u leave it off for a month, I think u may lose 10%, maybe. Some of it is called battery leakage, meaning if u pull the battery out and have it sit on a shelf not hooked up to anything, it does *some* minimal rundown.

No empirical data sorry, I don't use it that way.

I press SHUTDOWN, and the MacBook shuts down and the computer turns off. I thought that was a proper
I just checked

I just checked my one year warranty ran out this July.

 

[DisplacedMic]

I press SHUTDOWN, and the MacBook shuts down and the computer turns off. I thought that was a proper
I just checked

I just checked my one year warranty ran out this July.

take it in anyway. if this keeps happening you need service, and since you just ran out of warranty they might work with you.

 

[ryan101]

OK. I just realised that I was pretty stupid about this. This has been the case with my MacBook Air from the very beginning - from day one when I bought it. The MacBook Air holds charge 3-5 hours normally when I am running on battery (and using it) so it's been OK in that sense. However, it never held charge for very long when it was turned off completely. I never thought about it too much, and for some stupid reason I thought maybe it was normal.

I am going run some measured tests before I take it in. I am going to charge it now to 100% and turn it on in 2 days and see how much battery power is left. And then turn it on again after 7 days and so on. Because I know that's what they will most likely ask me when I go to Apple store.

I will take it in to Apple see if they would be willing to help me. I am hoping they will be reasonable with me because I have around £4,000 ($6,000) on Apple products in the last 18 months. I know it's probably nothing to Apple being the gigantic company that they are... but it would be nice to be appreciated as a customer.

Anyway, I will go in and see. I will update you guys in due course.

 

[magbarn]

I assume power nap is off and you don't have any Bluetooth devices that are on and paired?

 

[ryan101]

I assume power nap is off and you don't have any Bluetooth devices that are on and paired?

I don't have any bluetooth devices connected as I don't use them with my MacBook, and I didn't know what power nap was until I googled it. I shut it down. I don't put it to sleep, so I am assuming that feature won't apply.

 

[magbarn]

I don't have any bluetooth devices connected as I don't use them with my MacBook, and I didn't know what power nap was until I googled it. I shut it down. I don't put it to sleep, so I am assuming that feature won't apply.

If your MBA is truly off than it sounds like an internal short somewhere. Most likely a logic board issue which unfortunately is probably about tied with a screen replacement as the single most expensive piece to replace on our MBA's.

 

[ryan101]

I really hope I am wrong. I am running a test at the moment. Let's see how much charge is left after a week of no-use.

 

[magbarn]

Get coconutbattery too, it'll tell how much wear/tear is on your battery.

 

[BenTrovato]

Just as a last check... do you press shutdown and wait for it to completely shutdown before closing the lid or press shutdown and close the lid immediately?

 

[ryan101]

Just as a last check... do you press shutdown and wait for it to completely shutdown before closing the lid or press shutdown and close the lid immediately?

I do NOT press the shutdown BUTTON. I CLICK shutdown and it shutdown, AND THEN I close the lid. I assumed that is normal and proper way.

----------

Here is an update for you all. I have so far run the test for one week. I would turn the MacBook on, login for 1 or 2 minutes, take a reading of the battery charge "on display" and then shut it down. Based on that here is my result:

Sun 18 Aug 4pm = 70% or 75% (I am not sure about this)
Monday 19 Aug 2.30pm = 72%
Wednesday 21 Aug 9am = 70%
Sunday 25 Aug 8pm = 65%

So you could say in 1 week it has lost 10% charge.

I will turn it on again next Sunday unless I badly need it for any reason. I now know it definitely loses charge while being "switched off". Now all it's about is the pace of loss.

I will take it in to Apple hopefully next week, and I hope someone will even talk to me. I think I don't have a chance of getting help from Apple. So IO will call and see if there is a reasonable person at Apple who would look at my case.

Thank you all.

 

[magbarn]

Make sure you make a genius bar appointment. Most Apple stores are now too busy to accept 'walk-ins'. With an appointment they will be forced to 'talk' to you at least.

 

[DisplacedMic]

I do NOT press the shutdown BUTTON. I CLICK shutdown and it shutdown, AND THEN I close the lid. I assumed that is normal and proper way.

----------

Here is an update for you all. I have so far run the test for one week. I would turn the MacBook on, login for 1 or 2 minutes, take a reading of the battery charge "on display" and then shut it down. Based on that here is my result:

Sun 18 Aug 4pm = 70% or 75% (I am not sure about this)
Monday 19 Aug 2.30pm = 72%
Wednesday 21 Aug 9am = 70%
Sunday 25 Aug 8pm = 65%

So you could say in 1 week it has lost 10% charge.

I will turn it on again next Sunday unless I badly need it for any reason. I now know it definitely loses charge while being "switched off". Now all it's about is the pace of loss.

I will take it in to Apple hopefully next week, and I hope someone will even talk to me. I think I don't have a chance of getting help from Apple. So IO will call and see if there is a reasonable person at Apple who would look at my case.

Thank you all.

why do you think that you won't get any help from Apple? is it still under warranty? there is something wrong - make an appointment, take it in asap.

 

[ryan101]

@magbarn and @DisplacedMic , the warranty ran out last month. However, the issue was present from day one. I always thought it was normal. I actually contacted Apple about battery not keeping charge for too long while it was on (now it's an issue when it is off), and I raised this issue while it was under warranty however, the tech support guy told me it was normal.

Will they give me an appointment without charging me even if I am outside warranty?

 

[Mrbobb]

Delete.

 

[DisplacedMic]

@magbarn and @DisplacedMic , the warranty ran out last month. However, the issue was present from day one. I always thought it was normal. I actually contacted Apple about battery not keeping charge for too long while it was on (now it's an issue when it is off), and I raised this issue while it was under warranty however, the tech support guy told me it was normal.

Will they give me an appointment without charging me even if I am outside warranty?

genius bar appointments are free. it depends on what's wrong and who you get as to whether they'll honor the month-expired warranty but i feel that i have to remind you that this thread is already 10 days old... i would never have lived with this issue for even that long let alone a year+

i would take it in.

 

[usename]

Our new MacBook air had issues from the beginning but we didn't notice it until 1.5 months of ownership. It was purchased in the fall of 2013. The battery will lose 16%, 20% if turned off for 5 to 7 days. If left off for 2 weeks the laptop will be dead when turned on again. Shut down is preformed correctly.

So far they have replaced the logic board, battery, keyboard, I/O board, I/O flex cable on our first repair. We should be receiving it back from the second repair next week. I assume the same items have been replaced again. And we doubt it is repaired this time.

 

[van101]

Our new MacBook air had issues from the beginning but we didn't notice it until 1.5 months of ownership. It was purchased in the fall of 2013. The battery will lose 16%, 20% if turned off for 5 to 7 days. If left off for 2 weeks the laptop will be dead when turned on again. Shut down is preformed correctly.

So far they have replaced the logic board, battery, keyboard, I/O board, I/O flex cable on our first repair. We should be receiving it back from the second repair next week. I assume the same items have been replaced again. And we doubt it is repaired this time.

How did this go? Was the issue fixed?

I seem to be having the same defect on a recently purchased MacBook Air (6,2, picked it up end of Nov). Battery is noticeably losing charge when turned off.

 

[usernameme]

We just received the laptop back and the logic board and battery were replaced again. My initial test looked promising but I have put it away for an extended time, perhaps 5-6 days to see what happens. Fortunately it isn't a laptop that is used on a daily basis or we would never have noticed the drain. I will post next week when I turn it back on.

Not really pleased with our new machine.

You might notice my username has changed - there was some issue with passwords and I had to create a new account to get back in.

 

[gnasher729]

OK. I just realised that I was pretty stupid about this. This has been the case with my MacBook Air from the very beginning - from day one when I bought it.

1. Manufacturer's warranty should be for problems that appear within one year. I wouldn't be sure that you have to ask for it to be fixed within one year. (Say your Mac breaks five days before warranty runs out while you are on a 14 day holiday). Of course it's a matter of proof. Or a matter of going to the store and making the person responsible want to help you.

2. Since you bought stuff for £4,000, it seems you are in the UK. So you have statutory rights against the seller, which would be the store where you bought it (Apple Store, PC World, whoever sold the Mac). A computer should usually last for about two years. By law, you'd have to prove that the fault was present when you got the Mac. Again, it's a matter of going to the store and making the person responsible want to help you.

3. There could be some problem that is easily fixed, so it's always worth making an appointment at an Apple Store. For example if a USB device is plugged in, that might possibly wake up your Mac.