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It is perfectly normal if your battery health (maximum capacity) is more or less than 100%, even when brand new, or if it fluctuates up or down over time. For further details, read the CHECKING STATUS AND HEALTH section of the following link.

The built-in batteries in the newer Mac unibody notebooks come pre-calibrated and do not require regular calibration like the removable batteries.

Run on battery whenever you need to and plug it in whenever you can. You can plug or unplug at any time, regardless of the charged percentage. Just make sure you don't run on AC power all the time, as your battery needs to be used regularly to stay healthy. This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions:

Thanks there's some good info in there.
 
Ideally you want your battery to hover around 50% most of the time
Your recommendations are fine, except this one. You don't want the battery to stay at any certain percentage. The battery needs to be exercised to stay healthy. Rather than try to keep it at a certain level, just use it normally. In the process of using it normally, you may drain the battery down to 80%, then recharge to 100%, then drain to 45%, then charge to 78%, then drain to 30%, then charge to 90%, etc. (as an example).
 
My rMBP is at 8566mAh after 10 cycles.

Where do you find the battery rating? What is the max mAh for the battery when new?

Edit: just installed Coconut Battery

It says Current Capacity: 8567 mAh
Design capacity: 8460 mAh

Surely incorrect?
 
Click the links above. The 50% is straight from apple. Not sure why you got all defensive in this thread. relax man.

I'm calm. I would just rather people post facts rather than conjectures. Also, I read those links and that's why I'm surprised that so much hogwash is being posted here. Concerning the 50%, here is what Apple says:

AppleCare support recommends that if you leave your Mac plugged in most of the time, unplug it every 2 or 3 days and run on battery down to somewhere around 50%, then plug it back in. That keeps the electrons moving.

Notice the conditional that I bolded for you, if you run it plugged in most of the time.... That doesn't apply to those who run it unplugged most of the time.

These are the same types of batteries as in the iPhone and iPad. Why aren't you recommending people only use their iPads and iPhones to 50%?
 
By full discharge potentially harming the lithium battery they do mean a full discharge. If you still have 1-2%, that's not a full discharge and so far as I know there is no evidence that going that low is harmful. If you have some actual hard data to show us, please do.



Why? Is this just your opinion, or do you have anything to show us?

Just general info I've picked up around the Internet from researching this topic ages ago when I first purchased an iPod touch. There's a lot of fluff out there on this topic, but constant themes out there repeat that it's harmful to fully discharge these batteries (some have implied that <20% is bad), and that you should keep the battery "exercised" without stressing it too hard, hence trying to keep the charge very loosely around middle-ish without violent swings from 0% to 100%.

I've yet to find a consice, referenced, detailed writeup on the whys and wherefores of this, and I'd love to know some of the chemistry involved.
Assuming it's an equilibrium reaction that releases electrical energy by the conversion of Li to Li+, then it makes sense to hover around 50% charge to maintain equilibrium, especially when in storage, and it also makes sense that fully discharging damages the cell.

But then again, like I said, I've never seen a good writeup.
 
My rMBP is at 8566mAh after 10 cycles.

Where do you find the battery rating?
System Profiler > Hardware > Power > Battery Information
Or, install iStat Pro to quickly check stats on battery, temperatures, fans, drive usage, CPU usage, uptime, etc.
What is the max mAh for the battery when new?
That varies from one model to another. iStat Pro will give you the percentage remaining.
 
Just general info I've picked up around the Internet from researching this topic ages ago when I first purchased an iPod touch. There's a lot of fluff out there on this topic, but constant themes out there repeat that it's harmful to fully discharge these batteries (some have implied that <20% is bad), and that you should keep the battery "exercised" without stressing it too hard, hence trying to keep the charge very loosely around middle-ish without violent swings from 0% to 100%.

I've yet to find a consice, referenced, detailed writeup on the whys and wherefores of this, and I'd love to know some of the chemistry involved.
Assuming it's an equilibrium reaction that releases electrical energy by the conversion of Li to Li+, then it makes sense to hover around 50% charge to maintain equilibrium, especially when in storage, and it also makes sense that fully discharging damages the cell.

But then again, like I said, I've never seen a good writeup.

Thanks. Though sadly there is no hard data (not your fault), the post is very informative.

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My rMBP is at 8566mAh after 10 cycles.

Where do you find the battery rating? What is the max mAh for the battery when new?

Edit: just installed Coconut Battery

It says Current Capacity: 8567 mAh
Design capacity: 8460 mAh

Surely incorrect?

What model do you have? My base model, 2.3 ghz, 256gb, and 8gb RAM had ~8760 on cycle 1.
 
What model do you have? My base model, 2.3 ghz, 256gb, and 8gb RAM had ~8760 on cycle 1.

I have the 2.6/8/512

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There is definitely fluctuation in the battery capacity.

Just sitting here with coconut battery open it has gone from the figure I previously posted, to 8574, to 8550, to 8574, to 8594.

These battery readings seem to be only good for ballpark (at best) ideas of if your battery has taken a large percentage hit in capacity.
 
it's harmful to fully discharge these batteries (some have implied that <20% is bad), and that you should keep the battery "exercised" without stressing it too hard, hence trying to keep the charge very loosely around middle-ish without violent swings from 0% to 100%.
While the batteries don't like to be fully discharged, it won't hurt to occasionally do so if your normal needs require it. There is no truth to the implication that draining or charging outside the middle range is bad.
it makes sense to hover around 50% charge to maintain equilibrium, especially when in storage,
I think you've confused normal daily use with storing a battery. Apple does recommend storing a battery (for 6 months or longer) with a 50% charge. However, that has nothing to do with normal use.
But then again, like I said, I've never seen a good writeup.
Read the Battery FAQ I posted.
 
I've never had a problem with my laptop batteries but I always keep my laptops plugged in. I thought most people did as well except for rare occasions.

So I guess it sounds like I might want to try to unplug it once in a while.
 
I have the 2.6/8/512

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There is definitely fluctuation in the battery capacity.

Just sitting here with coconut battery open it has gone from the figure I previously posted, to 8574, to 8550, to 8574, to 8594.

These battery readings seem to be only good for ballpark (at best) ideas of if your battery has taken a large percentage hit in capacity.

I would say it is normal. The battery will probably fluctuate until it gets "settled in" so to speak. All of my batteries in the past from apple seem to do this. Including replacements from 3rd parties. My wife never followed proper charging on her old gateway laptop from 2005 and it still holds a usable charge to this day.
 
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