When To Replace MacBook Pro Mid-2012 Battery

[Rammer1]

I got this macbook pro new in mid 2012 and I just got the "Service Battery" message and was wondering if I should do it now. The person at the Genius Bar said the battery level was ay 77% and he considered anything below 80% bad. He said I could wait about a year or so before changing the battery, but I wanted to know what you thought about it.

 

[eneisch]

I assume the MacBook is over 1 year old. I am also assuming you don't have Applecare for your MacBook Pro. The benchmark for MacBook Pro battery is 80% capacity @ 1,000 charge cycles (http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html). If you were under 1,000 cycles they probably would have replaced it under the extended warranty.

That being said, if you the battery lasts long enough for your needs, you do not have to replace it now.

Also you could try re-calibrating your battery to see if the battery level rises, but I don't know if that works with lithium polymer batteries the way it used to with the older battery types.