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MBAir battery replacement or keep Mag Safe plugged in?

T

tphan91

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 24, 2022
31
8
Hey all,

I'd like to know your thoughts on this situation here.

I have a Macbook Air 11" mid-2013. Everything is pretty good cosmetically. And the machine works fine for my needs. It's a little slow but after reading this thread here, I'm planning to upgrade to a SSD.

However, one bad thing about this MBA is that it already has around 2350 battery cycle counts. There is no swelling surprisingly. In fact, it still charges to 100% when I plug in my Mag Safe, but the battery only lasts for about 2 hours which is totally understandable.

Now, I've been reading up online about Mac's battery. Many sources said that if you keep your Mag Safe plugged in, it will power up your machine just like a desktop without feeding (hope that's the right word) your battery.

I don't know if this is true. But if it is, my plan is to do that and only remove the Mag Safe when I turn off the computer. I already have my Chromebook so I really don't need to carry this MBA around. But is this a safe practice at all? As I mentioned, there is no battery swelling. Yet.

And for this 9-year-old machine, Apple doesn't offer battery replacement anymore. I mean, I can replace the original battery, which is Dynapack btw, with an aftermarket one like iFixit or OWC. But then I don't know how well those batteries will hold up.

So what do you think? Should I follow my plan? Or just pay for a battery replacement to prevent any unexpected problems?

Any input is highly appreciated.

TIA.
 
Replace the battery.

Eventually they swell (this isn't just an apple or just a PC problem, all Lithium Ion batteries are prone to it) and this will potentially damage the machine.
 
OWC is iffy and kinda over priced and expect a 3 year life span according to members here.

I have the same MacBook air series and the original battery which NO ONE can replace function wise.
therefore that battery stays, which i get 2 hours with but have an iPad i never use that much away.

if you need to replace:
most MBA intel users here like that amazon dicksmith i think (not joking) were happy with this brand.
replacing the battery is very easy and keep your original one, that might work years down the road

and
Te MacBook air was always plugged ins since 2010.

i hoped this helped and let us know what you decided to do.
 
Last edited:
MBAir2010 said:
OWC is iffy and kinda over priced and expect a 3 year life span according to members here.

I have the same MacBook air series and the original battery which NO ONE can replace function wise.
therefore that battery stays, which i get 2 hours with but have an iPad i never use that much away.

if you need to replace:
most MBA intel users here like that amazon dicksmith i think (not joking) were happy with this brand.
replacing the battery is very easy and keep your original one, that might work years down the road

and
Te MacBook air was always plugged ins since 2010.

i hoped this helped and let us know what you decided to do.
Click to expand...
lolol


is this the dicksmith you're talking about? I couldn't find one on either Amazon US or Canada.
 
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tphan91 said:
lolol


is this the dicksmith you're talking about? I couldn't find one on either Amazon US or Canada.
Click to expand...
nope that is too expensive, they only last 3 years now.
there were threads here on February or this 2022 about a good replacement batteries for $30-$40 via amazon.
i was going to purchase on back then, then realized i dont need to now.
personally I would wait a couple more days for feedback
 
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I replaced my first MBA with iFixit battery and it was fine with no issues for I think almost a year...until I spilled a glass of wine in the thing.. iFixit will be my next one as well. The replacement MBA I got still has decent battery, but when time comes, I'll get one from them again.
 
MBAir2010 said:
nope that is too expensive, they only last 3 years now.
there were threads here on February or this 2022 about a good replacement batteries for $30-$40 via amazon.
i was going to purchase on back then, then realized i dont need to now.
personally I would wait a couple more days for feedback
Click to expand...
Alright. Thanks man. I’ll do a search on the forum.
xboxbml said:
I replaced my first MBA with iFixit battery and it was fine with no issues for I think almost a year...until I spilled a glass of wine in the thing.. iFixit will be my next one as well. The replacement MBA I got still has decent battery, but when time comes, I'll get one from them again.
Click to expand...
Damn. That’s good to hear about iFixit. With this MacAir, if I could get another 2 years of battery out of it, I’d be happy.
 
One thing to keep in mind is that you’re excluded from Monterey. That’s a challenge from a security standpoint. You can run Big Sur or Catalina, but Catalina updates will stop this year I would think. And then Big Sur the following year.

You can risk it anyway, or go non-MacOS, but if you wanted to stay in the eco-system securely, there isn’t a huge amount of time left.
 
tphan91 said:
Alright. Thanks man. I’ll do a search on the forum.

Damn. That’s good to hear about iFixit. With this MacAir, if I could get another 2 years of battery out of it, I’d be happy.
Click to expand...


2 years could be just the ticket.
I did a battery refresh through Apple on my 2015 13” MBPro 12-18 months ago. I don’t regret it, but I will likely replace it with an M2 MBA.
 
Howard2k said:
One thing to keep in mind is that you’re excluded from Monterey. That’s a challenge from a security standpoint. You can run Big Sur or Catalina, but Catalina updates will stop this year I would think. And then Big Sur the following year.

You can risk it anyway, or go non-MacOS, but if you wanted to stay in the eco-system securely, there isn’t a huge amount of time left.
Click to expand...
I’m just using it to learn some front end web development so I don’t really need the latest OS. All the apps that I’m going to use still support El Capitan. I’m just not ready for the M1 yet. I’m waiting til they roll out the M2 and the likes.
 
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