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MacBook Battery questions about health and cycles.
- Thread starter SamIchi
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If you're always plugged in, that can do it.
If you drop below 80% and are still in warranty (with less than 300 cycles) you can try getting a new one c/o Apple.
If you drop below 80% and are still in warranty (with less than 300 cycles) you can try getting a new one c/o Apple.
How old is your MB? Keep in mind that it loses charge overnight if not plugged in if you put it to sleep and that it stops charging when it gets to 100% and begins charging again at 95% even while plugged in (while in use).
Not properly calibrating every 2-3 months will also kill a battery and only keeping it charging all the time.
That was confusing, could you explain again.
So should I sleep my MB at night? Will that help? Does it matter if I unplug or not?
1) While in sleep mode, your computer uses some of the battery's charge if it's not plugged in.
2) Once the charge state gets between 95-100% it will stop charging.
3) Calibrate it monthly if you rarely use it unplugged, as constant plugged in can kill the battery as you're not "exercising" it.
Lol sorry going back and reading what I wrote it wasn't that clear. My first question is how old is your battery? An old battery is an old battery even if you don't use it that much. Many fail after 2-3 years. You may have increased the aging process by not using it that much but we can't know as you haven't told us how old the machine is and which one it is.
As the previous poster said, this is what I mean:
1) The battery loses charge during the night if you have it asleep and not charging. (This is normal and you should keep it asleep if you plan to use it the next day. Also, you shouldn't really keep it charging all night)
2) While in use, the machine slows its charging once it hits 95% in order to prevent overcharging. Then once it hits 100% it stops charging. When it gets down to 95% it begins charging again slowly and continues this cycle.
3) Full calibration is important to exercise the battery and ensure that the battery is accurate in calculating capacity and time remaining. Not using the battery for an extended period can cause an early death of the battery. You should calibrate every 2 months or so.
Don't worry so much about the battery, just use your computer and enjoy it like it's meant to be enjoyed. 
Hello,
I don't mean to hi-jack or anything, but I thought I should refrain from opening a new thread.
I just bought a white MacBook from Apple about 2 weeks ago. For about 1 week, my battery showed that it's 'health' was 100% (using iStat Nano), but now my battery only has 91% health. Do I have a faulty battery? It shows only 10 cycles on the battery. Also, is it best to use the battery until it warns and then plug it in, or should I keep it plugged in when I'm at home? Any help is appreciated!
I don't mean to hi-jack or anything, but I thought I should refrain from opening a new thread.
I just bought a white MacBook from Apple about 2 weeks ago. For about 1 week, my battery showed that it's 'health' was 100% (using iStat Nano), but now my battery only has 91% health. Do I have a faulty battery? It shows only 10 cycles on the battery. Also, is it best to use the battery until it warns and then plug it in, or should I keep it plugged in when I'm at home? Any help is appreciated!
Ok. I just thought it was strange losing almost 10% health in a week. Does Apple still manufacture new batteries or will I need to do a risky eBay search when it actually dies?
Don't worry, in one day of heavy usage my battery went from 99 health to 87 health, then that night after doing a careful cycle it was back to 99 health again. It fluctuates depending on how you drain the battery, how you charge it up again, yada yada. I usually don't pay any attention to it at all.
Wow... You're totally right! My battery say's 100% again! I've been leaving it on the charger most of the time and have only had it on battery power for 20-30 minutes. I won't worry too much anymore. Thank you all for easing my worries! =)
I've had my white Macbook 2.1 for just over 2 yrs. In that time I've never calibrated the battery. I didn't know I was supposed to do so. iStat tells me that my battery's health right now is 94% and has over 400 cycles (whatever that means!) I get a little over 2 hrs of battery time. If I'm supposed to calibrate, can you give me a link to find out how to do so? This is my first mac and I'm a little technologically challenged.
Same here.. I used to freak out about it but now I just use it and dont worry.
To the OP's original statement about it not being the same as his friends or whatever... Its a battery, no battery is going to have/hold/produce the same exact results even if the conditions are the same. Batteries fluctuate. You can see an example of this when people have new batteries and or a new MacBook, the full charge mAh will be different for every battery, even tho they are all "new" and "the same"
As the previous poster posted:
Charge fully and leave charged for two hours.
Unplug the magsafe power, discharge fully (use your CPU to get it to discharge quicker with something like flash, turn the brightness up, turn on wifi, bluetooth, and IR), and leave discharged for at least 5 hours.
Charge fully.