New Macbook Pro 2016 Battery

[soundsystem00]

Hey all. I just upgraded from Macbook Air 11inch 1.4GHZ 128gb SSD 4gb ram to 2016 Macbook Pro 13inch no touchbar 256GB SSD 2GHZ processor.

I was worried about the lack of ports, but turns out, its not a problem at all. I got a 10 dollar converter for usb and it worked for everything. The speakers are great, the ergonomics are amazing. Anyway, heres my question :

While looking at used laptops, I noticed that the Battery Cycles are a big deal and it made me worry about using my battery. How many Battery Cycles will this computer get? Should I try to keep it charged at all times? Whenever the battery goes out, will I be able to change it out?

Also, what is a good shell that you would recommend? I take this laptop to work everyday and I am kind of nervous because I dont want anything to spill on it, or for it to get scratched. You know the feeling of a new laptop. It's a little stressful, almost like buying a new car. I dont want a scratch on it.

Are there any good package deals out there where I can get a keyboard cover, shell, case, and whatnot? Also, is the SSD upgradable? I read that it is not, but then I saw somewhere that it may be, it's just a little harder to remove the SSD because of the location. Any info on that? 256GB should be fine though. I mostly just use this computer for music production. Sorry for the long story, thanks everyone.

 

[darkmaxdevil]

1. just use the laptop, battery is expected to hold 80% capacity at 1000 cycles. Apple will take care of that if you keep it under 1000 cycles. Apple care last for 3 years, that's mean approx. 1 cycle per day.
2. I don't user shell or anything to cover the laptop and I carry the laptop to my office everyday in a sleeve. For me it just a tool, as long as it works, I don't really care for scratch. But that's doesn't mean I don't take care of it.
3. 2016 model has SSD solder into motherboard, so no, you cannot upgrade the internal SSD.

 

[Sanpete]

You can in theory upgrade the SSD for the 13" non-touch-bar. Don't know if anyone but Apple could do it, though, since they use custom controllers. Macsales.com sells them for older models, but I don't know if they have anything for this model.

 

[soundsystem00]

1. just use the laptop, battery is expected to hold 80% capacity at 1000 cycles. Apple will take care of that if you keep it under 1000 cycles. Apple care last for 3 years, that's mean approx. 1 cycle per day.
2. I don't user shell or anything to cover the laptop and I carry the laptop to my office everyday in a sleeve. For me it just a tool, as long as it works, I don't really care for scratch. But that's doesn't mean I don't take care of it.
3. 2016 model has SSD solder into motherboard, so no, you cannot upgrade the internal SSD.

Thanks for the answer. I'd rather just get a sleeve really. I'm not all that worried about scratches and the Shell adds weight to it and is expensive, plus it doesn't look as nice. I already have a laptop case, so should I even get a sleeve? The laptop case is pretty big, but it will fit things like charger, and other accessories. A sleeve wouldn't fit any of that, would it?

 

[ZapNZs]

Unfortunately, there isn't a lot you can do to prolong the battery.

If you deeply discharge the battery, it will wear. If you turn the computer on, it will create heat, and the battery will wear. If you always keep the battery at 100% (a surge voltage), it will wear. Essentially, rechargeable lithium cells despise almost everything about laptops. The fact that Apple laptops batteries are rated to retain 80% original capacity at 1,000 cycles is no short of amazing given how much lithium batteries hate the conditions laptops expose them to!

The best single way to protect your battery is probably AppleCare, and other options include:

• avoiding unnecessary deep discharges (as these wear much more on the battery than light discharges),
• understanding that lithium cells last longer with lighter discharges (the total opposite of NiCad/NiMH cells, as LiCo/LiMn cells do NOT have memory and should NEVER be treated as if they do), and
• avoiding any advice that says to periodically cycle the battery (as this wears it for no reason)
• (however, I don't recommend modifying your usage so much that it becomes an inconvenience - enjoy the system for what it is, and accept that lithium cell wear is inevitable.)

Also, I believe the terms of AppleCare will now replace the battery once it hits 80%. This could be an argument to use your battery more - you will want to verify this applies to Macs, as I believe it applies to them (in addition to iOS devices) but am not 100% about Mac.

The SSD is more or less not replaceable, even though your model does use a connector (rather than being soldered in, like the touchbar models) - it is unlikely many (if any) third parties will offer a design that adhere to Apple's proprietary connector, and the cost of a larger OEM product would be so prohibitively high (and so hard to find) that it may be more financially beneficial to sell the computer and purchase a new MBP with a larger SSD.

 

[soundsystem00]

Unfortunately, there isn't a lot you can do to prolong the battery.

If you deeply discharge the battery, it will wear. If you turn the computer on, it will create heat, and the battery will wear. If you always keep the battery at 100% (a surge voltage), it will wear. Essentially, rechargeable lithium cells despise almost everything about laptops. The fact that Apple laptops batteries are rated to retain 80% original capacity at 1,000 cycles is no short of amazing given how much lithium batteries hate the conditions laptops expose them to!

The best single way to protect your battery is probably AppleCare, and other options include:

• avoiding unnecessary deep discharges (as these wear much more on the battery than light discharges),
• understanding that lithium cells last longer with lighter discharges (the total opposite of NiCad/NiMH cells, as LiCo/LiMn cells do NOT have memory and should NEVER be treated as if they do), and
• avoiding any advice that says to periodically cycle the battery (as this wears it for no reason)
• (however, I don't recommend modifying your usage so much that it becomes an inconvenience - enjoy the system for what it is, and accept that lithium cell wear is inevitable.)

Also, I believe the terms of AppleCare will now replace the battery once it hits 80%. This could be an argument to use your battery more - you will want to verify this applies to Macs, as I believe it applies to them (in addition to iOS devices) but am not 100% about Mac.

The SSD is more or less not replaceable, even though your model does use a connector (rather than being soldered in, like the touchbar models) - it is unlikely many (if any) third parties will offer a design that adhere to Apple's proprietary connector, and the cost of a larger OEM product would be so prohibitively high (and so hard to find) that it may be more financially beneficial to sell the computer and purchase a new MBP with a larger SSD.

Wow, great post, thank you. Are you sure we are talking about the 2016 MBP w/o touchbar? I heard somewhere that it is soldered to the motherboard. I may be wrong though, just seems like I read it somewhere.

I enjoy using the battery. This machine has great battery life, and it is lightweight and portable. That is why I asked, because I enjoy using the battery. I don't mind paying 1 or 2 hundred bucks to replace the battery way down the line. My friend has a 2015 mbp and apple said they will charge around $130 to replace the battery. I think that is a pretty good deal.

I hate to ask, but what is a Deep Discharge and a Light Discharge? I assume it means running the battery all the way down compared to letting it run halfway down, right?

Thanks

 

[Sanpete]

Are you sure we are talking about the 2016 MBP w/o touchbar? I heard somewhere that it is soldered to the motherboard.

https://blog.macsales.com/38440-ssd-in-late-2016-entry-level-macbook-pro-removable

 

[ZapNZs]

I hate to ask, but what is a Deep Discharge and a Light Discharge? I assume it means running the battery all the way down compared to letting it run halfway down, right?

Thanks

The depth of the discharge refers to how extensively the battery is discharged before being recharged. What constitutes each (quantitatively) is somewhat debated, but a deep discharge would refer to running the battery further down, where as lighter would refer to running it less. Even the concept of what constitutes a "cycle" has some variation to it (although a "full cycle" generally means running the battery through 100% depth of discharge (i.e., expending all of its available capacity) and this can place considerable wear on the battery, and permanently damage unprotected cells [not applicable to laptops].)

But what is certain is that the deeper the discharge goes, the greater the wear that occurs. For example, if you ran the battery down to say 80% remaining capacity (so the discharge was only 20% of the total capacity) and then recharged it, repeating this process 10-20 times could potentially place less wear on the battery than running it down to 20% just once, because lithium cells dislike deep discharges and the deeper discharge = greater wear. Ironically, with NiMH cells, this is the exact opposite, which has led to some confusion in this area. This isn't to say you should modify your usage to a point that it becomes a burden, but if you have the opportunity to charge the computer, limiting the depth of the discharge (when convenient) can potentially slow the speed of wear.

If you store the battery for an extended period, you should NOT store it at 100% nor 0% - rather, a little below half capacity is probably the best for these batteries. Especially if still connected to a computer, periodically, it's not a bad idea to recharge them to that partial capacity to account for the discharge that occurs even if the computer isn't powered on, IMO.