UMB Battery Life?

[courboy]

Hi,

We have 4 UMB's in the family and all were being used at the same time. The battery life on my laptop however, is far lower than any of the others (they are all the same age). When I disconnect it from the power adapter with full charge, I get around 1hr 40mins battery life out of it. This surely cannot be right.

Firstly, is there a way I can make the battery life longer? The computer is only about 10 months old. If not, do you think Apple would replace the battery under AppleCare?

Thanks in advance,

Adam

 

[miles01110]

Your battery life is probably shorter because of usage, not because you have a faulty battery. What do you use your computer for?

 

[courboy]

Your battery life is probably shorter because of usage, not because you have a faulty battery. What do you use your computer for?

Well I use it as my main computer but it's plugged into the mains practically all the time as it's on my desk. I only use it on rare occasions to take it downstairs.

The thing is that everybody else uses their Macbook in exactly the same way and their battery life is at least double of mine - strange!

 

[Mexbearpig]

I only use it on rare occasions to take it downstairs.

How often is this?

Every now and then you should run off battery power. To keep your battery good you should keep the ions moving. With just having it sit at 100% and still charging doesnt do that.

 

[testcard]

Worth trying a battery calibration.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1490

 

[miles01110]

Well I use it as my main computer but it's plugged into the mains practically all the time as it's on my desk. I only use it on rare occasions to take it downstairs.

The thing is that everybody else uses their Macbook in exactly the same way and their battery life is at least double of mine - strange!

You kind of answered the question...

I have a hard time believing that "everybody else uses their Macbook in exactly the same way" - you are on the same websites, running the same applications, playing the same music, and watching the same movies at all times and your battery life is shorter than the rest?

Is it actually shorter (meaning you have tested your machine and another one side by side and yours lasts 1h 40m while the others last 3h+) or are you just going by the timer in the menu bar?

 

[courboy]

You kind of answered the question...

I have a hard time believing that "everybody else uses their Macbook in exactly the same way" - you are on the same websites, running the same applications, playing the same music, and watching the same movies at all times and your battery life is shorter than the rest?

Is it actually shorter (meaning you have tested your machine and another one side by side and yours lasts 1h 40m while the others last 3h+) or are you just going by the timer in the menu bar?

Sorry, I don't literally mean we use it in exactly the same manor, of course this is not realistically possible. What I meant was we all keep each Macbook connected to the mains charger about 90% of the time and they are generally used for at least 8 hours each day. The applications used, website browsed and music played, are obviously different on each laptop.

Have tested them next to each other and mine is significantly less battery life. This was performed with normal internet browsing on each computer, same display brightness, keyboard illumination etc.

 

[cluthz]

Have you downloaded coconut battery to see if it holds full charge?

Or you could type:

ioreg -l -w0 | grep Capacity

into terminal and see what it posts

Does DesignCapacity and MaxCapacity huge differences?
If so, your battery isn't good anymore.

(MaxCapacity/DesignCapacity)*100% = Battery health

 

[courboy]

Have you downloaded coconut battery to see if it holds full charge?

Or you could type:

ioreg -l -w0 | grep Capacity

into terminal and see what it posts

Does DesignCapacity and MaxCapacity huge differences?
If so, your battery isn't good anymore.

(MaxCapacity/DesignCapacity)*100% = Battery health

Had never heard of Coconut Battery, but downloaded it on your advice and the output is attached to this. Doesn't look to me as though there are any problems, at least using this program?

 

[Richard1028]

After 10 months, I can only get about 1:30 on mine. It's at 85% capacity right now and I've calibrated it religiously every month or so. Does this seem normal? What is Apple's warranty with batteries within the first year?

 

[cogsinister]

After 10 months, I can only get about 1:30 on mine. It's at 85% capacity right now and I've calibrated it religiously every month or so. Does this seem normal? What is Apple's warranty with batteries within the first year?

I have the same machine as you, 10 months old as well.....i have 84% capacity in coconut battery........but i have 321 loadcycles.....