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ls1dreams

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 13, 2009
708
319
Hi all,

I have a 2011 13" Macbook pro (i5 sandybridge, etc), and the battery is starting to show it's age.

Cycle count: 582
Condition: Normal (though occasionally shows 'needs service')

I feel like I'm generally getting around 3-4 hours of usage out of it, which isn't bad, but isn't great either.

I've read that some of the newer batteries can handle 1000 cycles at 80% capacity.

A few questions:

1. What year did they start using these new battery types?
2. Would they be backward compatible into a 2011 MBP 13"?

Basically, if I'm going to replace the battery, I'd obviously much rather go with a 1000 cycle option than a 600 cycle option. My goal is to keep this laptop another 3 years or so and just add an SSD. I don't really game on it, so I feel a Sandybridge i5 is plenty fast. The only annoying downside IMO is no USB 3.0.

Here's my battery model #: SMP bq20z451
 
well they started the 1000 cycle batteries in all unibody macbook and macbook pro i guess from 2009. You have that battery in your system and you get a fairly good battery time. The service battery warning indicates that there may be a defect or something not right in the battery. If you have apple care then get it checked out at the genius bar.
Whats your battery health according to coconut battery
 
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