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Macbook Pro Battery Health

N

nexus144

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 23, 2008
45
0
Hi,
I got a Macbook Pro about 6 months ago. Its my first Mac and I've had no problems until now. My battery health is 86% and the number is cycles is 40 as of today but yesterday the health was 97%. I have no idea what is wrong and why there was such a drastic change overnight. I did leave the computer on overnight yesterday by accident and the battery ran all the way down, but I don't think that should have done anything to the battery. Also, even when the battery in 100% charged, the LED on the charger stays orange instead of going green and the battery menu in the menu bar is frozen on "calculating... until full" Should I look as getting the battery replaced at an Apple Store? Thanks in advance for any advice.

EDIT: The LED issue seems to have sorted itself out. Battery health has also jumped back to 92% according to iStat Pro and 94% according to Coconut Battery. I'm not sure which is correct but 92% seems kind of low for a relatively new computer which is plugged in most of the time.
 
I actually noticed the 99% thing happening to my battery and a drop in the amount of time left in the charge. I calibrated, and it made it worse (I think the battery is faulty, not the calibration process). My capacity went down to 93% in a battery that is less than two months old. I called Apple, on hold for almost an hour, got a very, very, very perky customer support representative who tried to help. She said she would speak to someone regarding my issue to get a replacement and they said no (who she spoke with is unknown) and sent her an article that even she found insulting. It showed how to prolong battery life, not fix a battery that is quickly losing it's maximum capacity. They said a 7% loss of a battery cycled in less than two months with 1 cycles is acceptable and will not be replaced. She said call back when I noticed a more drastic change. I then asked what is considered an acceptable loss in battery time for a replacement and she had no answer. I asked to speak to someone else and she told me to speak with a product specialist, but the hold time is over forty minutes, and she would have to be on hold with me. I said of course we will hold for the product specialist. After nearly an hour, he came on, she had already explained everything to him and he apologized profusely and said that I was misinformed. Macbook Pro batteries should not be losing their charge that quickly and sent out a replacement.

Ask to speak with a product specialist. It is not simply the percentage, but you may notice an even bigger gap in your remaining time (mine went from nearly four hours to two and half with no setting changes and merely word processing during both time periods). Tell them you lost an hour of more of battery time and they should replace the battery.
 
Thanks for the advice. The health has now dropped back to 88% again. I have had no troubles with the battery until now so I have a strong suspicion that something has gone wrong with the battery. I just had power adaptor replaced two days ago with a brand new one, but that should not cause damage (at least I hope). Would you recommend I call Applecare (they were very helpful with the power adaptor) or go to an Apple Store in person. I'm leaning towards calling them. Thanks again.
 
if it is above 80% health, but still works normally, applecare won't do anything about it. My MBP battery had dropped to 82% health and then once it got to 17% battery life and died. It wouldn't ever run on the battery again... It wouldn't charge and when you unplugged it, it would die instantly... Applecare gave me another battery without question, Thanks Apple Store Nashville Green Hills!

Lithium batteries aren't really designed to run all the way until empty. Repeated deep discharge will hurt a Li-ion, Li-polymer battery, so try to avoid it if possible.
 
had the EXACT same problem as you. dropping from 96 to 88% then to 82% in a matter of days...i called apple and they said 2hrs battery life and above 80 % is normal. Im gonna call back again and say I paid 3 grand for your computer and at the rate this battery is dropping i wont have a battery in 4 months.

If i pay for apple care im sure gonna get something out of it.
 
My battery time now only says 2:12 on 100% charge and also seems to jump up to 163 hours down to 3 hours and finally back to around 2 hours a few times a day. This can't be normal. Can it?
 
That is really funny that a deep discharge will hurt the battery when Apple specifically tells you to calibrate it by running the battery out and letting it sit for five hours, then charging it. My battery started to get worse after I followed the Apple calibration.

Make sure to speak with a product specialist or a supervisor, too. The battery they sent me was actually overnighted, which was nice since the said it would take three to five days. I will let you guys know if they sent a refurb or a brand new battery.
 
MBP batteries are a little wonky. The 1.2 AND 1.3 battery updates fixed the problem for some users, while others kept having difficulties. I think that the percentage on the battery indicator is a guideline only -- it doesn't reflect the actual performance, but rather it gives an estimate of expected life. Calibrating simply makes it better at estimating.

I got sick of unpredictable battery life on my machine, and called Apple yesterday. I told them about my poor performance problems, and the CS agent had me check this information:
System profiler --> Hardware --> Power, then the value for Full charge capacity (mAh).

Apparently a new MBP battery should be somewhere in the 5400 range, +/- 200. Mine is just above 4000 with only 55 cycles (I received the computer in late April of last year). She told me immediately that my full charge capacity is below normal for the kind of usage, and set in motion the process to send me a new battery. It shipped within a few hours.

One of the problems of poor battery life is that you end up cycling it more often, meaning your cycle count climbs toward that magical 300 faster than it would for an unproblematic battery. Better to catch it early, in my opinion.
 
Well, I phoned Applecare and they refused to even acknowledge that there could be a problem. According to the person I spoke with a 5000mah full charge capacity after six months is normal. I mentioned multiple times that it seemed to drop overnight, but he skirted around that. I think I'll try an Apple retail store this weekend.
 
nexus144 said:
Well, I phoned Applecare and they refused to even acknowledge that there could be a problem. According to the person I spoke with a 5000mah full charge capacity after six months is normal. I mentioned multiple times that it seemed to drop overnight, but he skirted around that. I think I'll try an Apple retail store this weekend.
Click to expand...

Thats what they said to me. im gonna keep trying, til i break them down. you should try to do the same. If they keep getting the same reports they are bound to start fixing them. I mean i didnt pay apple care for nothing. and incase you didnt know, your battery is only covered for one year. no matter now long your apple care is.
 
nexus144 said:
djinn, did you get you battery replaced?
Click to expand...

No, I'm watching it closely. Last night it from from 83% health to 78% back to 83%. If it continues to fluctuate up and down I might give Apple a call or just drive to my local Apple store.
 
5000 mah after 6 months seems acceptable to me.
Thats what I'm at, but at 223 cycles as well :\

Also, Ive noticed most battery health calculators are pretty inconsistent.
I have about a 15% fluctuation rate with istat pro....its currently at 91 but it was at 84 last night.
-shrugs-
 
bubblemayhem said:
5000 mah after 6 months seems acceptable to me.
Thats what I'm at, but at 223 cycles as well :\

Also, Ive noticed most battery health calculators are pretty inconsistent.
I have about a 15% fluctuation rate with istat pro....its currently at 91 but it was at 84 last night.
-shrugs-
Click to expand...

Mine was at around 5400mah and 96% health three days ago though. I don't think it should fall that fast. Should it?
 
bubblemayhem said:
5000 mah after 6 months seems acceptable to me.
Thats what I'm at, but at 223 cycles as well :\

Also, Ive noticed most battery health calculators are pretty inconsistent.
I have about a 15% fluctuation rate with istat pro....its currently at 91 but it was at 84 last night.
-shrugs-
Click to expand...

I experienced the same thing in istat pro. Kind of weird that these battery issues are coming up with some of us.
 
My battery health is back up to 96% and appears to be staying there. This is very strange behavior as I've never seen this before
 
I wouldnt worry too much about the health, unless your battery life becomes noticeably shorter. Both my roomates have the same problem with their batteries as well, but it doesnt seem to affect the life as much as it would seem.
I have done the deep discharge a couple times, and it always displayed the health about 20% lower then before the conditioning. Kind of made me mad.
But after a couple cycles it would go back up to the same health as before, maybe gaining 1% or something small like that.
 
I keep mine plugged in most of the time and run it while its plugged in a lot too. So my battery seems pretty strong. You can see that it dropped off for a bit, but I have it back up to good numbers. :apple:
 

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forgive a dumb question...

What is "battery health" and how do I check it? I also have a new mbp (less than six months old). :confused:
 
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