I have a 2015 13" Mac Book Pro. Last year I had to have the upper case replaced due to a swollen battery. I don't use my computer away from home. In fact, when I use it, the majority of the time (98%) I have it plugged in. Yesterday, I just happened to look at the power section of the system report and saw a sharp increase in battery cycles from 3 to 50. With the way that I power the MBP, I have no idea how it could cycle that many times so quickly. As far as I know a cycle would involve draining the battery and then recharging. Please correct me if this is wrong. I'm just really curious as to why the cycle count increased so significantly. Thanks
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Went from 3 battery cycles to 50 in no time.
- Thread starter Tenashus1
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my guess is that you haven't kept an eye on it. have you consider running a log with something like coconut battery?
A cycle is from 100 to 0 recharged to 100. If you use from 100 to 80 and recharge to 100 5 times it also counts as a cycle
A cycle is from 100 to 0 recharged to 100. If you use from 100 to 80 and recharge to 100 5 times it also counts as a cycle
My 2017 MBP 13' stays plugged in most of the time and it's at 12 cycles after about a month of light usage.
Definitely recommend coconutBattery - http://www.coconut-flavour.com/ to monitor - I take a reading and write it down in Excel once or twice a week (but I'm OCD when it comes to batteries).
Definitely recommend coconutBattery - http://www.coconut-flavour.com/ to monitor - I take a reading and write it down in Excel once or twice a week (but I'm OCD when it comes to batteries).
Keep in mind that if you leave the MacBook plugged in a lot, even after it has hit a 100%, it will trickle drain and recharge the battery between 100% and 98% (roughly). Over time this trickle charge will add up to a full 100% charge and count as a charge cycle.
As a rule of thumb I like to unplug my MacBook Pros once they hit 100%.
Having said that without knowing the exact time frame (you said the battery was replaced last year), 50 cycles isn’t entirely unnormal if you’re using it on a regular basis. Don’t worry too much about the battery and enjoy the laptop!
I totally get it about tracking the battery cycles. You should know that CoconutBattery has a built-in spreadsheet.
Click on 'History', then click on the '+' sign at the bottom left to record cycles, capacity, and the date.
OP wrote:
"I don't use my computer away from home. In fact, when I use it, the majority of the time (98%) I have it plugged in."
My opinion only, but THIS is the root cause of your problem.
The battery needs to be "exercised" to maintain a good state of "battery health".
That means, at least once a week, preferably more than once, DISCONNECT the charger cord and let it run on battery power only down to about 30-40% of charge.
Then re-connect the charging cable and let the battery "cycle back up" to full charge.
Keep a piece of paper somewhere where you'll see it:
"Tuesday is battery exercise day".
"I don't use my computer away from home. In fact, when I use it, the majority of the time (98%) I have it plugged in."
My opinion only, but THIS is the root cause of your problem.
The battery needs to be "exercised" to maintain a good state of "battery health".
That means, at least once a week, preferably more than once, DISCONNECT the charger cord and let it run on battery power only down to about 30-40% of charge.
Then re-connect the charging cable and let the battery "cycle back up" to full charge.
Keep a piece of paper somewhere where you'll see it:
"Tuesday is battery exercise day".
47 power cycles equate to roughtly 470 hours of use assuming it took 10 hours to empty.
This is the ideal case scenario, so let's make it 6 hours so to say, including factoring the odd % drain while not being used. So approximate 282 hours of use. Does that sound about right to you?
This is the ideal case scenario, so let's make it 6 hours so to say, including factoring the odd % drain while not being used. So approximate 282 hours of use. Does that sound about right to you?