MacBook Air 2012 battery problem

[pjsmith67]

My Macbook Air battery life has suddenly gone down drastically. IStat Pros gives its health at 90%. This machine is less than a year old. Is there anything I can try/look at before I head off to the Apple Store?

I'm in the process of calibrating it but from what I've read, it doesn't need this so I'm not expecting it to help.

Thanks,

Phil

 

[BillyBobBongo]

You're not on your own, mine has plummeted recently. My battery health is at 94% and I've got a predicted battery duration of about 2.5 hours from a full charge. That's more than half the duration that I'm used to.

I have just the browser open and there's nothing weird to be seen in activity monitor.

I'm going to try resetting the SMC later to see what effect that may have on it all.

 

[nightlong]

Mine is 10 months old, fluctuates between 93 and 96 percent.

Last week something weird happened, the computer wouldn't turn on, seemed totally dead.

Called Apple support. After trying reset, which didn't work, they thought it was a battery issue. Took it to a mac fixer, he tried reset over and over, and it suddenly started and has been okay since, but this doesn't inspire confidence in stability and longevity. I've been lucky with my last 3 macs, no problems at all. But I'm glad now that I took AppleCare on the Air!

 

[pjsmith67]

Well, I calibrated and updated my OS to 10.8.4 and now it seems to be working better, but I'm not fully convinced, yet.

Phil

 

[bp1000]

Mine is late 2011 and battery health hovers around 80%, never higher than 84% and lowest 76%.

Had service battery message several times.

100% drops to 96% within minutes and idle 100% gives 5hrs 30min when it used to give 11 hours.

Realistic usage has halved to 3 hours. 4 max.

Disappointed with the battery decline recently.

 

[harnadem]

I saw my battery life decline to 2.5 hours after upgrading to OS X 10.8.4. Saw that some old HP processes (left over from when I had an HP printer) were running amok. Removed those, and battery life is back to 8 hours!

Check for runaway processes

 

[macnvrbck]

Macbook Air 2012 i7 Battery Life

My i7 2012 Macbook Air battery life has alway sucked. I get like 2hours now.

Just got back from the Genius Bar (I have Applecare) and they did the diagnostic and said it's fine!!!! 200 charge cycles...

EVERYTHING I said about my computer they had an answer for as to why m battery life sucked.... everything but them waiting to replace it!!!

I told them it sucked even with a fresh install. The health is below.

HOW DO I GET APPLECARE TO REPLACE THIS BATTERY?

 

[SpoekGTi]

My i7 2012 Macbook Air battery life has alway sucked. I get like 2hours now.

Just got back from the Genius Bar (I have Applecare) and they did the diagnostic and said it's fine!!!! 200 charge cycles...

EVERYTHING I said about my computer they had an answer for as to why m battery life sucked.... everything but them waiting to replace it!!!

I told them it sucked even with a fresh install. The health is below.

HOW DO I GET APPLECARE TO REPLACE THIS BATTERY?

You are not, because Applecare warrants for hardware defects for the notebook not for wear and tear on regular use of the battery.

If your cycle count is below 1000 (which it is) and your battery health is under 80% of its design capacity (which is NOT) AND you are in your first year of warranty you are eligible for a new battery. Applecare doesn't cover batteries.

That your battery life kinda sucks (2 hours) must be something else, my battery hovers around the same health and i still get 6 to 7 hrs of use (yes its a i5) so i reckon there must be something else wrong, you already tried a fresh install so that can't be it.

Try to get the Genius, to check other hardware errors than just the battery. Maybe something else is eating up power.

 

[GGJstudios]

My Macbook Air battery life has suddenly gone down drastically. IStat Pros gives its health at 90%. This machine is less than a year old. Is there anything I can try/look at before I head off to the Apple Store?

It is perfectly normal if your battery health (maximum capacity) is more or less than 100%, even when brand new, or if it fluctuates up or down over time. The gradual decline is not in a straight line downward, and it may decline more rapidly at some times and slower at others. For further details, read the CHECKING STATUS AND HEALTH section of the following link.

​

The link below should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions. If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend you take the time to read it.

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

I'm in the process of calibrating it but from what I've read, it doesn't need this so I'm not expecting it to help.

The built-in batteries in the newer Mac unibody notebooks come pre-calibrated and do not require regular calibration like the removable batteries in older Apple notebooks.