Macbook 2015 Battery Capacity degrading fast ?

[DAMNiatx]

Hi Guys,

I just notice my macbook capacity losing really fast, just after 11 cycles it reduced the capacity to 94% of its original capacity. anyone have the same problem as me ?

i just do the battery calibration last night, before added the new record. i dont expect this much after only 11 cycles.

Thanks

 

[Queen6]

Don't waste your time on calibration, it`s redundant on Mac`s with non removable batteries. Too many parameters effect Notebook batteries, so just look as the value as an indicator, not an absolute.

Q-6

 

[facrat]

Remember also that the reported battery capacity can vary even within one cycle, depending on conditions - both up and down. Use this terminal command a few times in 5 min intervals to see the typical min/max range (including when idle):

ioreg -l -w0 | grep "Capacity"

I guess the problem with apps like coconut is that they only record snapshots at particular points in time (I assume). In any case, Apple's own tools are probably better here.

 

[jimboutilier]

I've seen more threads on the rMB with this concern than with any previous Mac release, but its not huge and there is no good way to know yet if there is a real problem or if there is, how serious or widespread it might be.

All batteries degrade over time, sometimes faster and sometimes slower and measuring health isn't perfectly exact (it can vary by a few points at any given time). Apple will replace your battery if you drop below 80% health within 1000 cycles. But 20% can mean close to a 2 hour battery time difference in this case so it can significantly impact the use of your machine long before its eligible for repair.

Battery life is important to me and I expect a product of this spec that starts out with battery health within a few points of 100% and trends somewhere near or better than the 1% drop in health per 50 cycles. I'm not completely anal about measuring it (I do it once a week to once a month), but nor am I in the "just use it and don't worry about it" camp. Most of my Macs have been pretty good but those few that fell significantly outside that trend required a battery replacement at some point.

If I got a rMB with <95% battery health or dropped to that (using apples measurement) within the return period, I'd likely think about returning it. That may seem a bit harsh or alarmist because because there are variances and this new battery technology may have a different curve that has a faster initial drop off then remains stable for a longer period. But I would look at it as a half hour of battery life I paid for and did not get. Thats just me though.

 

[Mr. Buzzcut]

This is why there is a warranty, no?

 

[jimboutilier]

This is why there is a warranty, no?

Warranty only kicks in at below 80% health within 1000 cycles. If your battery dropped to 90% in the first month then slowly to 80% over a year or more, how happy would you be with 1-2 hours less battery life for that period?

Most of my Macs stayed above 90% for the entire 1-3 years I owned them and that's fine with me. But dropping to 90% within a few months isn't.

My particular Mac seems OK so far, but there does seem to be a dissapointing trend in terms of initial health and the rate of drop for some.

 

[Mr. Buzzcut]

Warranty only kicks in at below 80% health within 1000 cycles. If your battery dropped to 90% in the first month then slowly to 80% over a year or more, how happy would you be with 1-2 hours less battery life for that period?

Most of my Macs stayed above 90% for the entire 1-3 years I owned them and that's fine with me. But dropping to 90% within a few months isn't.

My particular Mac seems OK so far, but there does seem to be a dissapointing trend in terms of initial health and the rate of drop for some.

The point is you're not going to identify a meaningful trend during the return period so you really have no choice but to lean on the warranty (base or extended) to take care of any issues that do develop. This day to day OCD monitoring of poorly understood statistics is a waste of time and degrades one's enjoyment of the product.

If the battery is degraded as the warranty is coming to an end, you better believe I will be at the Apple Store asking for a replacement.

 

[kingofwale]

i made a thread and recorded my battery health since day 1... now i'm at 92%.

am I happy that Apple warranty covers it?? Doesn't help me now. does it?

 

[jimboutilier]

Just like I would return a computer with dead pixels on its screen even if it was below the manufacturers defect threshold, I would return a computer that had less battery life than I feel it should even if it were below the manufactures defect threshold.

In my experience with Macs, if they start out with poor health or drops fast, it's likely to be a lemon and I'll return it and get another so I don't have to suffer through poor battery life til it falls below 80% It also avoids having to take my machine in for service and potentially being without it for several days. Not sure with its glued in batteries that the rMB would be a swap the battery while you wait even if they had one in Stock.

While health varies a bit I've never seen it improve by more than a percent or two so it's not about identifying a steady trend but it falling below an acceptable threshold or dropping too far too fast. And that you can do in the return period

The point is you're not going to identify a meaningful trend during the return period so you really have no choice but to lean on the warranty (base or extended) to take care of any issues that do develop. This day to day OCD monitoring of poorly understood statistics is a waste of time and degrades one's enjoyment of the product.

If the battery is degraded as the warranty is coming to an end, you better believe I will be at the Apple Store asking for a replacement.

 

[MVPinFLA]

Hmm, mine was at 97% after my first charge and is now at 96% after a week. I sure hope that it doesn't continue to drop at that rate.

 

[Alicia1]

When I bought my base model it was at 98%. Within a week it had dropped to 95% and has stayed at that for the past 8 weeks or so. I wouldn't worry too much as it seems to be happening to numerous MacBooks and maybe it is the way the new style of battery is designed.

 

[mubeenshahid]

My mba 2013 is at 85 % of maximum capacity after 2 years of use

 

[Fuzzball84]

While it is true batteries degrade with both calendar time and cycles, the battery in the rMB would have been sourced by apple to be sufficient to last a certain time so that they don't have to replace too many batteries during customers warranty or (especially) apple care periods.

While the rMB can get warm, even hot if pushed hard, and that batteries degrade at higher temps... Ive never had an issue with any batteries on apple products. Such as my original iPhone 3GS and iPad first generation (4-5 years old now).... they still have real good runtime (using and standby). Those devices have everything crammed into the smallest possible space like the macbook, so all that heat generated by the mainboard gets transferred to the case and batteries... Much more than say the air or MBP that have a heat pipe and vent to transfer heat.

This makes me think that if you are a user that pushes the rMB all day real hard, its always very warm to touch near the underside at back etc that chances are you will truly degrade the battery faster than a casual user. But you'd need to spend months monitoring it to see if it is real battery degradation.

My Surface 3 over the past month is pretty stable at ~96-99% of true capacity. I checked using the powercfg utility in windows 8 after seeing this thread. For my rMB, Ive only had this ~ 48 hours, so really too soon to check at all.

All in all, Apple are pretty good for replacing units. So if you use the first year warranty, get applecare etc, I don't think you should worry.

 

[Fuzzball84]

I should say that when I use my MBP and air that my use is so light that the case almost never gets warm to the touch... Its amazing how efficient they are, processors running between 35-50 oC...while on my rMB the processor temps are usually 35-65oC but because of its burst nature it rapidly drops back to the lower temp of that range.

I haven't looked at my processor temps on my new rMB after returning the the rMB fold... I find constantly monitoring the device really distracts from enjoying it.

 

[Fuzzball84]

BTW I'm getting amazing battery life so far on my unit (rMB 256 GB).

Just like the first rMB I had, its practically matching the MBA 11 inch 2014 for web surfing, using pages and iTunes etc..9-11 hours of use on the first run down.

 

[shenan1982]

I'm at 95% at 12 cycles (have had the rMB since launch weekend).

Seems a bit poor to be down 5% after 1% of it's design life. At current degradation, it'll be below 80% by 48 cycles. Hopefully it's just an initial design drop, and won't keep up the trend.

 

[burgman]

Is it possible that the Coconut app isn't reporting battery stats correctly? My battery displays 94% and 27 cycles.
After doing a SMC reset it show 97%. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. Also charge level is different from what Laptop displays, off by 5%.

 

[Queen6]

I'm at 95% at 12 cycles (have had the rMB since launch weekend).

Seems a bit poor to be down 5% after 1% of it's design life. At current degradation, it'll be below 80% by 48 cycles. Hopefully it's just an initial design drop, and won't keep up the trend.

Doesn't work that way, it`s not linear, your rMB won't be at <80% @ 48 cycles, unless you leave it plugged continuously for the next 3 years.

Q-6

 

[shenan1982]

Doesn't work that way, it`s not linear, your rMB won't be at <80% @ 8 cycles, unless you leave it plugged continuously for the next 3 years.

Q-6

Good to know

 

[Queen6]

Is it possible that the Coconut app isn't reporting battery stats correctly? My battery displays 94% and 27 cycles.
After doing a SMC reset it show 97%. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. Also charge level is different from what Laptop displays, off by 5%.

If the battery has issue it will likely rear it`s head in the first year of ownership and Apple will cover it. The way the rMB monitors the battery does seem to be slightly different to my other Mac`s. My own 1.2 rMB is at 97% - 98% with around 5-7 cycles (on MBP now).

I would tend to use the Notebook as intended, not look to deliberately "deep discharge" the battery. Coconut battery has it`s uses and I have it installed on my portables, equally don't let it become an overriding factor. Personally I don't look at more than 1 - 2 times a month, if not less.

Q-6

 

[shenan1982]

If the battery has issue it will likely rear it`s head in the first year of ownership and Apple will cover it. The way the rMB monitors the battery does seem to be slightly different to my other Mac`s. My own 1.2 rMB is at 97% - 98% with around 5-7 cycles (on MBP now).

I would tend to use the Notebook as intended, not look to deliberately "deep discharge" the battery. Coconut battery has it`s uses and I have it installed on my portables, equally don't let it become an overriding factor. Personally I don't look at more than 1 - 2 times a month, if not less.

Q-6

Agreed. I don't think it's even technically possible to see 100% battery health... Every other new device I've owned shows 95-100%... just noticed it because of the posts here.

The one thing I do notice weird about the rMB that differs from any other Macbook I've owned is the battery reporting in OS X. It'll sit at discharging at 100% for an hour, then will quickly drop to 90% in minutes, then see a normal discharge rate past that. I asked at the Apple store the last time I was in there, and they said they've been getting a lot of complaints about it, and have submitted it for review.

 

[nalbagli]

I am really worried, with only 9 cycles my computer is down to 94% of it's original capacity, do you have any ideas of what may be causing this, what could I do to fix this issue, this is really disappointing as i've had this computer only for almost two weeks

 

[Fuzzball84]

Agreed. I don't think it's even technically possible to see 100% battery health... Every other new device I've owned shows 95-100%... just noticed it because of the posts here.

The one thing I do notice weird about the rMB that differs from any other Macbook I've owned is the battery reporting in OS X. It'll sit at discharging at 100% for an hour, then will quickly drop to 90% in minutes, then see a normal discharge rate past that. I asked at the Apple store the last time I was in there, and they said they've been getting a lot of complaints about it, and have submitted it for review.

I hadn't noticed that yet, I think mine has been going down 'normally' in the 90s... I'll keep an eye on that just incase... only had my rMB a few days now. So far so good... I also got an apple watch sport SG and together with the rMB and my iPhone its really awesome setup. The watch is better than I expected.

I picked both rMB and the watch from the apple store too, looks like stocks are getting better.

 

[Queen6]

View attachment 562129 View attachment 562124
I am really worried, with only 9 cycles my computer is down to 94% of it's original capacity, do you have any ideas of what may be causing this, what could I do to fix this issue, this is really disappointing as i've had this computer only for almost two weeks

Wait and see where it settles, it`s nothing new for batteries to drop in percentage out the box. Conversely the rMBP I am on now is reporting 99.5% after 47 cycles, it started off at over 104% these values we can "pull" are not absolutes. There is a lot of parameters that effect battery life and longevity on Notebooks; charging & discharging temp, charging & discharging rates, depth of discharge etc.

I am only concerned with how long it can run "off the wire" for all we know OS X may not be optimised for the rMB`s battery sensor, it`s not like the 10.10 is free of issue...

Q-6

 

[nalbagli]

Now I've also realized that with 25% of the battery when I see the time left it says only 1:20 that means that with 100% battery would last like five hours which really sucks. I don't know if something can be done or if I have to wait for the maximum capacity to go under 80%.

I really hate this, because it's the only issue i've had with this awesome computer.