MBP battery

[hansiedejong]

Hi all, last saturday I've bought a MBP 13'', 2.26GHz, 160GB HDD (for my job I had to buy a MBP right now).

So I installed Coconut Battery and I saw that my battery health now already at 98% is, after 3 days of usage. Do I have to worry me about that? And in Coconut Battery also stands that my mac has an age of 5 months --> it's 3 day's!!

 

[hobo.hopkins]

Not to worry

Don't worry about the 98%, at least not yet. If you continue to see dramatic declines within the first year then Apple will cover any replacement costs.

As for the age, Coconut Battery tells you when the MacBook was manufactured, not sold. Your MacBook is already 5 months old, it has just been sitting in some warehouse until you received it.

 

[Pax]

There are a zillion threads on here about this - try searching eg for coconutbattery.

Battery health goes up and down between around 90% and (sometimes!) more than 100%. It's just a guess anyway, the computer never knows exactly how much is in the battery.

Almost certainly it will wander around a bit but never go below 90% over the next few years.

 

[hansiedejong]

and is there any possibility to get back the 100%. Calibrate my battery (what I've done on sunday)??

 

[Pax]

and is there any possibility to get back the 100%. Calibrate my battery (what I've done on sunday)??

If you calibrate it again you will get a different answer which might be higher or lower than the 98% you have at the moment. But both answers are "wrong". Your Mac just can't measure your battery's capacity that accurately.

It's like trying to fill the gas tank on your car exactly half full using the gas gauge. The gauge just isn't accurate enough to do that.

Coconutbattery & calibration tell you what the Mac thinks the battery capacity is. But like the gas gauge it's just a good guess, not exact.

And calibration won't make your battery any "better" or "bigger", it will just make the gas gauge more accurate for a while.

 

[hansiedejong]

Okay, thanks, but I'm really not happy with this problem. So will there be any solution to fix this problem? Or do I have to wait until it's 100%, because now it's already 99% (first it was 98%)

Wait / calibrate / another solution?

 

[Pax]

I don't understand. You don't have a problem.
Your Mac really doesn't know exactly how much electricity can fit inside your battery because
1 - It depends on so many factors, like temperature, which change every time your charge it
2 - your Mac can only estimate it using complicated measurements which are a bit inaccurate.

Using another analogy, it's like buying a bag of rice at the supermarket, the bag says it contains 1 kg. You weigh it and it contains 0.99 kg
You eat it grain by grain and find out there are 3000 grains of rice in the bag.
You take the same bag and fill it up yourself with 1 kg of rice
You count the grains and it's only got 2900 grains of rice in it.
You weigh it again and the scales say 1.01 kg, simply because they are not perfectly accurate.

What's the true "capacity" of your bag of rice? 1 kg? 1.01 kg? 3000 grains? 2900 grains? It's impossible to say.
The Mac's battery is like that, only the bag changes size as temperature changes as well!

It doesn't mean anything is wrong with your battery.

 

[Esquare]

Okay, thanks, but I'm really not happy with this problem.

It is simply NOT a problem. Just get on with whatever you do with that MacBook.

 

[hansiedejong]

Okay, thanks. Still one question. How can I use my battery that I get the best battery-life: When I'm at my desk, loading and then use and when I'm at my desk always loading or just when I'm at 100% then let it drop to 10%, then load up to 100%, drop to 10%.....

 

[ayeying]

Okay, thanks. Still one question. How can I use my battery that I get the best battery-life: When I'm at my desk, loading and then use and when I'm at my desk always loading or just when I'm at 100% then let it drop to 10%, then load up to 100%, drop to 10%.....

There's no PROPER way of using the battery. Just use it. If you're this paranoid, I highly doubt a laptop/notebook system is for you.

A Battery is a wearable item, just like tires on a car. It's going to wear down no matter what you do. Unlike tires on a car, not using a battery is a good way of killing it.

 

[Pax]

There's no PROPER way of using the battery. Just use it. If you're this paranoid, I highly doubt a laptop/notebook system is for you.

A Battery is a wearable item, just like tires on a car. It's going to wear down no matter what you do. Unlike tires on a car, not using a battery is a good way of killing it.

+1

You just have to face the fact that you MIGHT have to replace the battery in your Mac's lifetime. It might cost you $150 to do this. Some people's batteries go for 5 years, others only go for 2 years.