Is this normal?

[whatmakestheredmanred]

Hi, forum!

I ordered one of the Best Buy 2016 12" MacBooks (I mean, $975+tax for an m5 is hard to beat) and it arrived this morning.


1. The battery was dead on arrival. 0% charge.

Every iPhone I've bought in the past has shipped with some battery juice--not flat.

2. The battery's already got 4 cycles (the 4th was probably me charging it from a completely discharged state, or maybe now it's 5?).

Does this seem normal to you Mac experts?

I appreciate your time.
[doublepost=1503761904][/doublepost]I forgot to mention that it's new, not open box.

 

[DeltaMac]

Pretty common, I think, to find the battery in a new Macbook with a couple of charge cycles, so 4 or 5 is not a surprise.
Each unit has a testing routine at the factory, which may run up a few charge cycles.
It's a previous gen model, so even if it originally shipped with a partial charge, storage on a pallet or a shelf for a few months might drain whatever charge existed.
Keep in mind that it is NOT fresh this month from the factory, and has been sitting in a box for a few months.
Neither would concern me, but I am not you. You did post here, so you already have some issue with what you found in the box. If you remain uncomfortable, then return it.

 

[Buerkletucson]

That's what I warn the people about that think the Best Buy deals are such a huge bargain......

A Lithium battery sitting for months with zero charge is very hard on a battery and warned against (short periods no issues but for longer periods it does hurt the lithium battery - well documented). It will more than likely shorten the total life of the battery and probably not allow you to reach a complete full charge like a new MacBook would.
4 charge cycles seem suspect to me...

FYI...
My new 2017 MacBook had 1 charge cycle on it and was charged to 95% when I powered it up for the first time.

 

[JD2015]

When I bought MacBook 12”2015 version it came with no charge. Was like you as all other apple devices I have bought come with a charge. However, as others have stated it will have sat for months so likely to have depleted to this stage and should be fine going forward.

 

[Brookzy]

If you post the fourth and fifth digits of the serial number I can tell you when it was manufactured (and thus, had charge).