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Should I be worried?

N

NelsonDone

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 19, 2017
4
0
I got a late 2014 13" MBP retina that I bought in earlier 2015.
My mac currently only holding 77% of original design capacity.
My current charge cycle count is 525.
Should I worry about the battery?

Screen Shot 2017-02-19 at 6.32.42 PM.png
 
Spudlicious said:
No you should not worry. Unless you seriously need to work away from mains power for extended periods your battery could be fine for years yet.
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As I'm a student, I don't leave my mac plugged in all the time because I'm taking it to my uni. Most of the time I would used it until it is not usable anymore (0%). I guess that's not good for the battery right?
 
NelsonDone said:
As I'm a student, I don't leave my mac plugged in all the time because I'm taking it to my uni. Most of the time I would used it until it is not usable anymore (0%). I guess that's not good for the battery right?
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It should not matter, use it as normal.
The battery is intended for it.
 
The battery will last more years if you plug it in when possible, if that's what's you're worried about.
 
NelsonDone said:
Hmmm, so do I leave it plugged in even when full 100%?
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Yes, I do plugin my mbp when I have the chance it's reducing the charging counts on the battery.
And then just leave it plugged in.

But really I don't think about it when I'm home it's plugged in , when I'm away I use battery sometimes when I'm home I use battery etc.

I don't really care I swipe mbp every third year and so far the battery have been good all the time.
 
YES - that is NOT within specifications, which to my understanding is about 80% of original capacity at 1,000 cycles. I would take it to Apple, where they can perform a more accurate test. If their test shows the same result and you have AppleCare, I think they will almost certainly replace it free of charge. Even if you do not, while their warranty on a defective battery is only for one year, such accelerated wear may still result in them replacing it free-of-charge as an act of good will.

However, it is also important to note that this application may not be accurate. If this is accurate, you should be getting only about 3/4 of the run time that you got when the device was purchased new. This is why you would need to have it tested by Apple.
 
ZapNZs said:
YES - that is NOT within specifications, which to my understanding is about 80% of original capacity at 1,000 cycles. I would take it to Apple, where they can perform a more accurate test. If their test shows the same result and you have AppleCare, I think they will almost certainly replace it free of charge. Even if you do not, while their warranty on a defective battery is only for one year, such accelerated wear may still result in them replacing it free-of-charge as an act of good will.
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Okay thank you for your advice, I will send it to Apple as soon as possible.
 
This is always my question about max battery usage. I have historically used my MBP plugged in when at home and not taken a charger with me when out and about except when traveling. I'm using an older MBP, early 2011, and my battery completely died last year. I installed a new battery next week so I'm trying to make it last as long as possible. When I bought the new battery, I also upgraded from 4 gb to 8 gb RAM and got a SSD drive. This thing is smoking fast now with the SSD, I love it and want to make it last as long as possible!
 
ladytonya said:
This is always my question about max battery usage. I have historically used my MBP plugged in when at home and not taken a charger with me when out and about except when traveling. I'm using an older MBP, early 2011, and my battery completely died last year. I installed a new battery next week so I'm trying to make it last as long as possible. When I bought the new battery, I also upgraded from 4 gb to 8 gb RAM and got a SSD drive. This thing is smoking fast now with the SSD, I love it and want to make it last as long as possible!
Click to expand...

I think the basic idea to expand its life is to:
- avoid (if possible) to use it on battery all the time;
- use it on battery from time to time (avoid to do a month without putting at least a few cycles on it).
 
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ladytonya said:
This is always my question about max battery usage. I have historically used my MBP plugged in when at home and not taken a charger with me when out and about except when traveling. I'm using an older MBP, early 2011, and my battery completely died last year. I installed a new battery next week so I'm trying to make it last as long as possible. When I bought the new battery, I also upgraded from 4 gb to 8 gb RAM and got a SSD drive. This thing is smoking fast now with the SSD, I love it and want to make it last as long as possible!
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My guess is that the reason that your battery did die was because it was 5 years old, and that you have been using your mbp?

I have been using my exactly like you have but my batteries has not died so.
 
From my experience, I'd say that OPs battery status is abnormal. There shouldn't be such a deterioration unless the laptop was stored inapropriately for some time.
 
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ladytonya said:
This is always my question about max battery usage. I have historically used my MBP plugged in when at home and not taken a charger with me when out and about except when traveling. I'm using an older MBP, early 2011, and my battery completely died last year. I installed a new battery next week so I'm trying to make it last as long as possible. When I bought the new battery, I also upgraded from 4 gb to 8 gb RAM and got a SSD drive. This thing is smoking fast now with the SSD, I love it and want to make it last as long as possible!
Click to expand...

There is no easy way to do this, because the inherent way laptops work harm lithium batteries, and no laptop Makers have ever given consumers all of the tools needed to further prolong life. Additionally, maximizing LiIon service life often means radical changes to personal usage habits that may be inconvenient or completely impractical.

Lithium batteries do NOT like being at full (surge) capacity for extended periods, and they DESPISE being at extremely low capacity for extended periods. Their native voltage is usually ideal for storage and periods when not being used, but this native voltage may only entail 1/3 of the energy of a full charge.

While we can change our own usage and set the computer to power off at a certain percentage to limit the "depth of the discharge", I do not know of any tool that could easily configure a laptop to only charge the battery to say, 40% of capacity, and then terminate the charge, and only continue to the full surge charge right before you use the battery. That would be inconvenient and require planning in advance (or living with always having a battery of only 40% capacity.)

Additionally, the fact that lithium batteries also DESPISE heat & the fact that computers produce a lot of heat is also a problem (especially as components become increasingly crammed closer and closer together.)

So, subsequently, other than ensuring the computer has adequate airflow and that one understands the basic principles of lithium cells, the most practical thing to do is usually to enjoy the battery and just replace it once its capacity deteriorates, in my opinion.

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
 
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Remember that Apple wants you to replace the battery when it gets to only holding 80% of the charge. So if your battery worked for 5 hours and now it works for 4 hours, they want you to replace it. Of course if you have apple care and they will do it for free, then go ahead.

If you do not, then its perfectly OK at that level, and it will cost a lot less than the $200 replacement to buy an external battery that plugs in like your mains and gives you a huge amount of time, and is only as big as a portable eternal drive.
 
icymountain said:
I think the basic idea to expand its life is to:
- avoid (if possible) to use it on battery all the time;
- use it on battery from time to time (avoid to do a month without putting at least a few cycles on it).
Click to expand...

While I agree that limiting usage methods can help, the battery will still wear on AC power without the User discharging it. When on AC power it will charge all the way up to its full specified surge charge (and then occasionally perform top-off charges) - simply being in the state of a full charge results in wear, as lithium batteries do not like being at a higher surge voltage. This is partially while the cycle count can only say so much regarding overall battery health.

Unlike NiMH, periodic discharge cycles are generally not needed to prolong life, and are usually only recommended if a specific battery requires this for calibration. Discharges also cause wear, and the deeper the discharge, the greater the wear. While limiting the depth of a discharge will reduce the speed of wear, the wear is really inevitable IMO.


http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/bu_808b_what_causes_li_ion_to_die
 
OP should definitely take it to Apple, hopefully he has Apple Care so they'll replace it for free. I took my laptop in for a full checkup like a month before my AC expired, I was really hoping they would at the very least replace the battery but of course they didn't. What ultimately did mine in was a trip to a cousins wedding where the high during the day was 106. Within a month I was getting service battery warnings.
 
Take it to apple when you have time and state it's under 80% .

Though , even in its current state, are you getting good battery life ?
 
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