Macbook Air 2011 Battery Issues

[beeinformed]

Hi,

My Macbook Air 2011 13 inch version has been having battery issues (as well as other hardware-related problems) for quite some time and when I looked today under system report/power, next to the term condition, it saids service battery.

I do have the Apple Care Extended Warranty plan (for another 16 days), so I can still have it replaced but this will be the third battery and was wondering approximately how many years should the battery should last? Thanks!

 

[Newtons Apple]

Much depends on how you use your battery. They are only good for so many cycles and need to be replaced.

The average should last at least two years.

What are your use/charging habits?

 

[mrbyu]

Hi,

My Macbook Air 2011 13 inch version has been having battery issues (as well as other hardware-related problems) for quite some time and when I looked today under system report/power, next to the term condition, it saids service battery.

I do have the Apple Care Extended Warranty plan (for another 16 days), so I can still have it replaced but this will be the third battery and was wondering approximately how many years should the battery should last? Thanks!

I have the same machine. What is the nature of your problem precisely? Download cooconutBattery and show us a picture of what it says. (you can take a snapshot of selective windows with Command + Shift 4 then hitting Space)

Here is mine.

As you can see it also isn't in pristine condition though I tried to save as much loadcycles as I just could (so I'm pretty much using my Mac connected to a power source whenever I can). Apple says a MacBook's battery should last for about 1000 cycles. But as you can see the deterioration of the capacity is continuous, it's not like you can get the same 7-8 hours from it for 5 years and then suddenly the battery dies.

Show us a pic of your battery condition and then we can diagnose if it's normal.

As for the "service battery" message it's most likely just a bug, it started to show up for me in Mavericks, sometimes it disappeared. In Yosemite it looks like it behaves normally again. There's no way a perfectly operational battery with about 70% needs service.

Update: I just made a quick calculation. I divided the current capacity of my battery (4619 mAh) with the number of the remaining loadcycles (687) then multiplied it by 1000 and as a result I got almost exactly the design capacity of the battery. So it seems that the deterioration I mentioned is really consistent with the usage (so far at least), and Apple isn't lying with this 1000 loadcycles thing.

 

[Biscotti]

I dont think that formula is correct.

I think there are just a lot of variables that go into it, like heat for example will seriously degrade a battery, even one with very few cycles. A battery running in a 115 degree environment will last considerable less than one at 65 degrees for example. Even with the same cycle count.

I have the same machine. What is the nature of your problem precisely? Download cooconutBattery and show us a picture of what it says. (you can take a snapshot of selective windows with Command + Shift 4 then hitting Space)

Here is mine. Image

As you can see it also isn't in pristine condition though I tried to save as much loadcycles as I just could (so I'm pretty much using my Mac connected to a power source whenever I can). Apple says a MacBook's battery should last for about 1000 cycles. But as you can see the deterioration of the capacity is continuous, it's not like you can get the same 7-8 hours from it for 5 years and then suddenly the battery dies.

Show us a pic of your battery condition and then we can diagnose if it's normal.

As for the "service battery" message it's most likely just a bug, it started to show up for me in Mavericks, sometimes it disappeared. In Yosemite it looks like it behaves normally again. There's no way a perfectly operational battery with about 70% needs service.

Update: I just made a quick calculation. I divided the current capacity of my battery (4619 mAh) with the number of the remaining loadcycles (687) then multiplied it by 1000 and as a result I got almost exactly the design capacity of the battery. So it seems that the detonation I mentioned is really consistent with the usage (so far at least), and Apple isn't lying with this 1000 loadcycles thing.

 

[mrbyu]

I dont think that formula is correct.

I think there are just a lot of variables that go into it, like heat for example will seriously degrade a battery, even one with very few cycles. A battery running in a 115 degree environment will last considerable less than one at 65 degrees for example. Even with the same cycle count.

Yeah, your battery is seemingly in a better condition than mine despite the fact that you've put a lot more loadcycles into it. I didn't think I just found some magic formula, I was just surprised by the fact that in my case it actually gave me the right number.

 

[motrek]

...
As you can see it also isn't in pristine condition though I tried to save as much loadcycles as I just could (so I'm pretty much using my Mac connected to a power source whenever I can). Apple says a MacBook's battery should last for about 1000 cycles. ...

Apple claims their batteries will retain 80% capacity after 1000 charge cycles.

You're at ~70% capacity after only ~300 charge cycles.

This is clearly out of spec. I would print out Apple's pages about batteries and charge cycles and take them with you to the Apple store and get your battery replaced.

 

[mrbyu]

Apple claims their batteries will retain 80% capacity after 1000 charge cycles.

You're at ~70% capacity after only ~300 charge cycles.

This is clearly out of spec. I would print out Apple's pages about batteries and charge cycles and take them with you to the Apple store and get your battery replaced.

I'm way out of warranty unfortunately. Here in Hungary we don't even have "real" Apple Stores yet, just APR-s (Apple Premium Resellers), some of them are authorized repair services as well. I don't know how things in the U.S. work, I've heard some pretty amazing stories, but here they don't just replace things out of warranty if you're pushful enough. Only if it's a manufacturing defect officially acknowledged by Apple. So I'll just agree that I'm out of luck here, but somehow I can understand this. Apple cannot control how people maintain their batteries in the long-term.

 

[motrek]

I'm way out of warranty unfortunately. Here in Hungary we don't even have "real" Apple Stores yet, just APR-s (Apple Premium Resellers), some of them are authorized repair services as well. I don't know how things in the U.S. work, I've heard some pretty amazing stories, but here they don't just replace things out of warranty if you're pushful enough. Only if it's a manufacturing defect officially acknowledged by Apple. So I'll just agree that I'm out of luck here, but somehow I can understand this. Apple cannot control how people maintain their batteries in the long-term.

I doubt an Apple Store in the US would replace a battery like this either but I'd give it a shot anyway.

70% of original capacity isn't horrible but if you decide to, I think it should be fairly easy to replace the battery yourself. I wouldn't be surprised if a company like iFixIt sells the parts and tools necessary.