Macbook 2015 Battery Capacity degrading fast ?

[Queen6]

What's you all's battery manufacturer?

My vendor is 'SMP' and now only 87.6% with 52 cycles.

My 2014 13" rMB (462 days) battery is SMP and it`s at 96%, my 2015 rMB (263 days) is also SMB at 96%

Q-6
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I took my Macbook in to my local Apple reseller as I've been having problems with battery life on a fresh install of El Capitan, getting approx 4 hours. It was only charging to 70-80% (4500-4600mAh) according to the battery app I installed from App Store. They've used Apple Diagnostics and found it charges to 90% supposedly. Could there be any reason for the difference in reported capacity? This is a nightmare for me as I need the machine for work and the battery life is dire. Apple won't fix it with their diagnostic readout.

Try Coconut Battery, many of us here use this application and it`s proved to be very accurate. Apple will only accept their own data, however Coconut Battery will give you valuable information on the battery performance & health. It can also display power consumption which is useful in problem solving poor battery life.

If you do install Coconut Battery, I would also uninstall the other application first, to avoid any potential conflict.

Q-6

 

[edmackintosh]

Try Coconut Battery, many of us here use this application and it`s proved to be very accurate. Apple will only accept their own data, however Coconut Battery will give you valuable information on the battery performance & health. It can also display power consumption which is useful in problem solving poor battery life.

If you do install Coconut Battery, I would also uninstall the other application first, to avoid any potential conflict.

Q-6

Many thanks will give that a try.

 

[Influenist]

MB 12" bought after Christmas now has 91,5% within 20 days...

$ ioreg -l -w0 | grep "Capacity"
| | "MaxCapacity" = 4849
| | "CurrentCapacity" = 702
| | "LegacyBatteryInfo" = {"Amperage"=2731,"Flags"=7,"Capacity"=4849,"Current"=702,"Voltage"=7491,"Cycle Count"=27}
| | "DesignCapacity" = 5297

 

[kipperkip]

Same situation here. 9 cycles on battery and capacity is 91.4%.

 

[polee]

The capacity should improve over time, I hope. Mine has gone up and down over the last few months. This has turned out to be my favourite computer. Had it since end April 2015.

 

[Christoffee]

I don't have a MB, but a 2011 MBP. Great battery, until I upgraded to Lion. It was well publicised, if I recall. My battery health dropped to about 70% within a month of the "upgrade" with a corresponding drop in performance (so poor readings ruled out). It was well publicised, so I didn't complain to Apple. Eventually it was fixed, and over a short period the battery health recovered all the way to 94% or 95%.

My point is, software could cause this and could fix it.

 

[art6969]

Same situation here. 9 cycles on battery and capacity is 91.4%.

Try charge your macbook at 70% and let it be charge 6 hrs plus

 

[xDKP]

I've had my MacBook since early December and it's been performing awesome ever since. Very quickly became my favourite laptop to date.

My battery has similarly been very positive and with around 10-20% after I leave the office after a full day (don't even bring my charger to the office any more)

Been hovering for a long time around 90-92-94% up and down and I'm over 70 cycles now

 

[sasha.danielle]

Does it make sense for my battery capacity to suddenly improve? I'd noticed my battery life was getting worse, down to 5 hours or so, with capacity at 83%, but now it's at 92% (242 cycles, and for some reason coconut battery says my battery is 173 months). Is that usual?

 

[Fuzzball84]

Mines been hovering around 92 percent. As bad as 87 and as high as 95...

Seems to be fine although Im about to buy apple care for extra two years coverage before my standard warranty runs out.

I have a samsung series 5 ultrabook and the battery is currently on 90% and its 3 years old!

 

[throAU]

Battery capacity will fluctuate up and down depending on how hard it has been used (i.e., mostly idle on battery vs. running a game or something similarly processor/battery intense) and charged.

My MBP 2011 has been down to 88% and back up to 92% after nearly 5 years.

Basically, stop watching the battery cycle count/life, just use the thing and if you notice real world life drops to any significant degree (you seriously won't pick a few percent day to day) THEN go assuming the sky is falling and your battery is stuffed.

All watching the cycle count and capacity like a hawk will do is drive you nuts. It will go down, it will come back up...
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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

My MBP 2011 spent most of its time on AC and battery is still healthy.

 

[Queen6]

Battery capacity will fluctuate up and down depending on how hard it has been used (i.e., mostly idle on battery vs. running a game or something similarly processor/battery intense) and charged.

My MBP 2011 has been down to 88% and back up to 92% after nearly 5 years.

Basically, stop watching the battery cycle count/life, just use the thing and if you notice real world life drops to any significant degree (you seriously won't pick a few percent day to day) THEN go assuming the sky is falling and your battery is stuffed.

All watching the cycle count and capacity like a hawk will do is drive you nuts. It will go down, it will come back up...
[doublepost=1460268456][/doublepost]

My MBP 2011 spent most of its time on AC and battery is still healthy.

Have a 2011 15" MBP that`s mostly been run on mains and it`s battery is just over 50%, equally too many variables with batteries, loads, temperature usage patterns etc. 2012 15" Retina is still in the 90`s, likely just a bad battery in the 2011. Do agree that unless there is a perceived depreciation in battery performance it`s by far best not to worry about it.

Q-6

 

[Fuzzball84]

Have a 2011 15" MBP that`s mostly been run on mains and it`s battery is just over 50%, equally too many variables with batteries, loads, temperature usage patterns etc. 2012 15" Retina is still in the 90`s, likely just a bad battery in the 2011. Do agree that unless there is a perceived depreciation in battery performance it`s by far best not to worry about it.

Q-6

I agree, for most consumers the battery quality and technology apple uses to prolong battery longevity means most need not every worry about it. If an issue does occur the warranty and apple care will cover it, plus apples out of warranty battery replacement program is pretty good.

Unless you leave the laptop in a car all day in the sun or have it running plugged in at full processor load 24/7/365 in a hot room the conditions most people use their devices in shouldn't be any concern.

I used to think that my retina macbook would damage the battery when it got warm or occasionally hot. But its not much different from my iPad and Ive been happy with all my Apple products battery performance for years now. I still have an original iPad that can still run 9+ hours watching movies, really amazing.

 

[Picapau21]

may new macbook is also reporting 96-97% after only 10 charge cycles.

Spoken to apple care who asked me to recalibrate the battery which didn't do anything.

Going to have another chat with them later.

 

[grahamperrin]

… apple care who asked me to recalibrate the battery which didn't do anything. …

Strictly speaking – according to OS X El Capitan: Manage your portable computer’s battery – calibration is for removable batteries.

Please: what, exactly, was suggested by AppleCare?

My experience with a non-removable battery is at https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/22926284 under What does my MacBook Pro do when I close the lid?

 

[Bonaqua]

Lise Gade from mobiletechreviews mentioned the battery being flaky as well. She thought it was pretty disappointing that the 2015 model had lost 20% of its capacity after only about a year. Maybe it something about the new battery design? I remember that Apple upgraded the batteries of their portables about 5-6 years ago to last about 1000 charges before losing getting down to 80% capacity.

 

[Picapau21]

Strictly speaking – according to OS X El Capitan: Manage your portable computer’s battery – calibration is for removable batteries.

Please: what, exactly, was suggested by AppleCare?

My experience with a non-removable battery is at https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/22926284 under What does my MacBook Pro do when I close the lid?

I didn't think they needed calibration either but apple care suggested letting it complexity discharge and then recharge.

 

[grahamperrin]

… apple care suggested letting it complexity discharge and then recharge.

Thanks.

… calibration, it`s redundant on Mac`s with non removable batteries. …

So says an Apple Support article, but my experience was that calibration-like routines are not entirely redundant.

… Maybe once a year IF you are having a problem. …

… as far as I recall the Apple-provided replacement battery for my MacBookPro5,2 was used by me for less than a year before significant problems occurred …

… occasional "deep discharge" while using the the Notebook will correct any deviation of the battery indicator, as in once or twice a year is generally more than adequate as the drift is not significant …

… for me there was more than just a visible drift in reported measurement of a percentage. There was loss of data, which is significant. YMMV.

 

[xDKP]

Lise Gade from mobiletechreviews mentioned the battery being flaky as well. She thought it was pretty disappointing that the 2015 model had lost 20% of its capacity after only about a year. Maybe it something about the new battery design? I remember that Apple upgraded the batteries of their portables about 5-6 years ago to last about 1000 charges before losing getting down to 80% capacity.

Well I have a year old 2015, and it's (according to Coconut Battery) been hovering between 93-90, going up and down etc. but not really below and not above either. 90 cycles so far... Have a hard time feeling it in real life use, so I'm not really making a fuss about it

 

[grahamperrin]

For the battery that I have here:

• manufactured by DP 2012-02-20 (1,561 days old)
  
• 328 load cycles
• full (98%)
• 59.6% of design capacity

– a service is suggested but for how I use the notebook, that 59.6 feels fine.

 

[polee]

Mine is now about 91% after one year of use. This looks about similar to some users here.

 

[DAMNiatx]

So after around a year, it goes to 86.3%.
The good thing is it stop worry about this after about a month. Even a year later, it only goes to 86.3%.

 

[Picapau21]

So after around a year, it goes to 86.3%.
The good thing is it stop worry about this after about a month. Even a year later, it only goes to 86.3%. View attachment 633675 View attachment 633674

That's not great! 15% can be the difference between all day working and needing to take a charger with you.

 

[navaira]

I'm super curious whether this is fixed in the 2016 model...

 

[Retops]

I am not at all sure these minor fluctuations in "battery capacity" are significant at all. I base that on owning many Apple products, most of them several years old, and all working fine after all these years. (I had a bad battery in a MacBook some years ago, but it refused to hold a charge and Apple replaced it.)

My 2016 Macbook, admittedly new, is at 100% in spite of near daily use and charging.