MacBook Neo Gets Same Battery Cycle Rating as MacBook Pro, Air

[MacRumors]

Apple has updated its battery cycle count support document to include the new MacBook Neo, revealing that the entry-level laptop has a maximum cycle count of 1,000.

A battery cycle is completed when you've discharged an amount equal to 100% of the battery's total capacity, but not necessarily in one go. For example, if you use 60% one day and 40% the next, it still counts as one cycle, even though you recharged in between.

First spotted in the updated support document by 9to5Mac, the 1,000-cycle limit puts the MacBook Neo right in line with every MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and standard MacBook that Apple has sold since 2009. Older models from the pre-unibody era had limits as low as 300 cycles.

In real-world terms, even someone who burns through a full cycle every day would take nearly three years to hit the 1,000 count cap. More typical usage patterns could well stretch that beyond five years.

Apple says its lithium-ion batteries are designed to hold up to 80% of their original capacity at the maximum cycle count. After that, the battery is considered "consumed" and a replacement is recommended, but that doesn't mean it will simply stop working.

Launching today with a $599 starting price, the all-new MacBook Neo ships with a 36.5-watt-hour lithium-ion battery, which Apple rates for up to 16 hours of video playback and up to 11 hours of wireless web browsing.

• Check Your Mac's Battery Cycle Count

Every new Mac bought from Apple comes with a one-year warranty that includes service coverage for a defective battery. If your Mac is out of warranty and the battery hasn't aged well, Apple offers battery service for a charge. In this case, a MacBook Neo battery service costs $149.

Article Link: MacBook Neo Gets Same Battery Cycle Rating as MacBook Pro, Air

 

[HouseLannister]

Is this a brag or a dis? Why would it be any different than every other product Apple sells?

 

[chrono1081]

I'm not dismissing anyone who wants a touch screen laptop, I'm just failing to see the use case for a touch screen laptop. I couldn't stand seeing prints all over my laptop screen. It's bad enough seeing them on an iPad screen.

 

[darngooddesign]

I'm not dismissing anyone who wants a touch screen laptop, I'm just failing to see the use case for a touch screen laptop. I couldn't stand seeing prints all over my laptop screen. It's bad enough seeing them on an iPad screen.

I just wipe the fingerprints off my iPad screen.

 

[randomchap]

I've got a M1 13" MBP (2020) which is at 355 cycles and 81% maximum capacity... This Macbook is rated at 1000 cycles...

But I have been using it for 5 years now, so perhaps the 80% SoH for 1000 cycles is for the first few years of use, and in my case the longevity of use has degraded the battery further? 🤷‍♂️

 

[johnrlaporta]

I've got a M1 13" MBP (2020) which is at 355 cycles and 81% maximum capacity... This Macbook is rated at 1000 cycles...

But I have been using it for 5 years now, so perhaps the 80% SoH for 1000 cycles is for the first few years of use, and in my case the longevity of use has degraded the battery further? 🤷‍♂️

Just hit 250 cycles on my 2016 MBP. 86% design capacity left.

 

[Eriamjh1138@DAN]

Bring on the teardowns.

 

[MatthewGTX]

I have been using 2023 m3 pro 14 inch a lot while unplugged, though mostly low intensity tasks. I already have 552 cycles after 2 years (definitely getting my money's worth). But MacOS says the maximum capacity is at 97%, while AlDente says it is 94%. So it will be quite a bit more than 1000 cycles before it gets to 80% at this rate.
It seems like battery degradation has as much to do with the age of the laptop as it does the cycle count.

 

[BlankStar]

I love that stock picture. The cheapest Apple laptop paired with their most expensive headphones. So realistic.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

I love that stock picture. The cheapest Apple laptop paired with their most expensive headphones. So realistic.

Why not? My eldest daughter has a pretty pricy, $400ish, pair of Sony headphones, but uses a pixel 4 and a laptop old enough to originally have windows 7.

The headphones were a gift; the other two were hand-me-downs. When she goes to college, we'll set her up.

 

[sotosoul]

In my experience, the biggest problems I've faced with laptop batteries, often well before they reach any max-cycle mark, are:

1. Swelling and causing issues of mechanical nature.
2. Significant drop of max capacity.
3. Very difficult sourcing of quality replacement batteries outside of Apple's support channels. What I'm usually getting are low-quality crap that might report 100% health at day one but their true capacity is as low as 50-60% of what it should be.

No matter what Apple, or anybody else, claim about (their) batteries, they are fragile and 100% consumable components that will eventually need to be replaced. In my experience, those "1000 cycles" numbers are nothing more than a general feeling of how things might turn out to be.

 

[Hank001]

I just wipe the fingerprints off my iPad screen.

I don't because I don't see them when using my iPad. Only see fingerprints when it's asleep.

 

[randomchap]

I have been using 2023 m3 pro 14 inch a lot while unplugged, though mostly low intensity tasks. I already have 552 cycles after 2 years (definitely getting my money's worth). But MacOS says the maximum capacity is at 97%, while AlDente says it is 94%. So it will be quite a bit more than 1000 cycles before it gets to 80% at this rate.
It seems like battery degradation has as much to do with the age of the laptop as it does the cycle count.

Yeah, that does answer my suspicion about my degradation most likely being linked to the physical age of the battery. Thanks Matthew!

 

[needsomecoffee]

Waiting on 26.4 release so we can finally set a charging level limit for our MBPA which stays on the desktop quite a lot. HTH, NSC

 

[vanishing]

Apple has always over quoted the battery health as far back as I can remember - the rule was Coconut battery +3/4% to get the Apple %.

They also stated on their website for some considerable time that batteries were guaranteed to last 80% for 5 years or 1000 cycles (whichever comes first). I got several batteries changed (begrudgingly) by Apple this way.

My thinking now is that the battery health algorithm is even further away from the hardware capacity, my M2 MacBook Air was stuck on 100% for over a year and my iPhone 13 has been stuck on 84% for at least 18 months (my charge frequency suggests around 70%)

 

[Parowdy]

the entry-level laptop has a maximum cycle count of 1,000.

That’s weird wording. It reads like after 1k cycles it’s just dead.
In reality it mean it‘s rated to take 1000 cycles before the battery has lost 1/5 of its design capacity. That’s two very different things.

I know that you comment about that later on in the article, but that doesn’t make this wording any more correct, even if Apple says the exact same thing. It’s not the maximum cycle count. It’s not like it stops at 1000 or doesn’t allow the battery to be used anymore.

But that’s just me being picky I guess.

 

[Parowdy]

Waiting on 26.4 release so we can finally set a charging level limit for our MBPA which stays on the desktop quite a lot. HTH, NSC

Just get Al Dente. It’s an app that lets you put the limit you want. I have it set to 75% for my MacBook as it sometimes still charges a little further, so I stay below 80%.
But I agree, a first party solution would be better.

 

[delsoul]

My 2021 M1 Pro that I bought at release is still at 99% capacity original battery. I have no problem believing the Neo battery will hold up well too

 

[Parowdy]

I'm not dismissing anyone who wants a touch screen laptop, I'm just failing to see the use case for a touch screen laptop. I couldn't stand seeing prints all over my laptop screen. It's bad enough seeing them on an iPad screen.

Wrong article.
But 100% agreed.

 

[darngooddesign]

My 2021 M1 Pro that I bought at release is still at 99% capacity original battery. I have no problem believing the Neo battery will hold up well too

Mine is at 637 cycles, but I probably use battery more than you. Regardless, I will have upgraded MPBs before my battery is really degraded so I’m also not worried about the Neo’s battery.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Is this a brag or a dis? Why would it be any different than every other product Apple sells?

I think it's a brag.
They cut so many other corners that I could see one simply assuming they gimped the battery somehow also.

 

[darngooddesign]

I think it's a brag.
They cut so many other corners that I could see one simply assuming they gimped the battery somehow also.

The Neo-haters really dislike its nice battery.

 

[Graphate]

The Neo-haters really dislike its nice battery.

Be gentle with them, reading this groupings other posts and post frequency might make one view the negative posters differently. Perhaps they deserve a little more sympathy and understanding, this is consequential.

I think the battery is also one of the components Apple will replace cheaply or free with Apple Care; so it’s probably safe to assume, like the other components, Apple didn’t find a new source, they’re using many of the same quality and reliable components found in all their products.

 

[chrono1081]

Wrong article.
But 100% agreed.

Oh yea it is. I don't know what happened 😆

 

[macduke]

Their battery lifespan estimates aren’t very accurate. My 14” M3 Max MBP is at 85% after 27 months, and I think my cycle count is around 200 or less.