View Full Version : Macbook Pro battery dying :(
SidewinderINC
22-09-2008, 21:19
Okay, so I've had my macbook pro about 14 months now, and just noticed a few minutes ago that the battery life and health is looking pretty terrible, at a health of 58% (according to iStat)
From the system profiler I've got this info
Battery Information:
Battery Installed: Yes
First low level warning: No
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 3266
Remaining Capacity (mAh): 3266
Amperage (mA): 148
Voltage (mV): 12627
Cycle Count: 467
Is there anything I can do about this to get the health back up?
Will apple replace the battery for me? or am I going to have to buy a new one?
*prays mohinder can shed some light on whether I can get it replaced*
I have the exact same issue. Mine's 18 months old and has done less than 150 cycles. Barely lasts half an hour on charge, then dies completely at about 20%.
Apparantly Apple have been sending out new ones if you call them. I shall be doing so myself shortly. I even tried the tricks they suggest, like completely discharging the battery then completely charging it and leaving it plugged in for x number of hours. Didn't help. :(
Edit for stats:
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 1616
Fully charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 1632
Health Information:
Cycle count: 132
SidewinderINC
22-09-2008, 21:23
I have a feeling you should be able to get yours replaced free of charge with less than 150 cycles.
mine has quite a few cycles so I'm not sure.
Dont know how it is with Apple, but with HP and Dell certainly, they're considered consumables.
Couple of clients sales guys get new batteries every 12 months which is about the average life of them with regular use ime.
My Dell battery is getting crap now and I barely get an hour out of it. £70 odd for a replacement is pretty steep I reckon and as I barely leave the house with my laptop, I'm not paying out for a replacement yet.
SidewinderINC
24-09-2008, 08:04
The friendly geeks over at OcUK have told me that as I bought it on the HE discount last year whilst I was at uni I get 3 years applecare as standard (even without adding it on as an option) and can just take it into one of the apple stores and they'll swap it out then and there.
Supposedly not in modern laptops. Older laptops this was certainly true. You will of course avoid your house burning down should the battery do a Sony on you.
That'll be why the batteries in my D600 still work (just) after four years then.
*whips battery out of D830 - thanks for the tip*
LeperousDust
24-09-2008, 11:52
Li-ion basically dies whether you use it or not, depending on how warm you keep it affects the life, but cycling is really a mjor factor. If you just leave it somewhere warm for a year chances are it'll still be pretty pap by the end of 18/24 months. Its how the technology works.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-ion_battery
The only reason it would last longer Lozza is because the laptop warms it slightly. If you want to hoard this battery and not use it then leave it in the fridge, but tbh i was careful with mine for all of 2 months then realised its going to die, why not just not worry and get some use out of it?
LeperousDust
24-09-2008, 14:48
I suppose i just walk about from room to room with my laptop, and being able to just plug and unplug it on the fly is a convenience i enjoy. Also last year we actually had pretty crappy power due to some major construction works nearby so having a battery was pretty handy! :D
What i'm saying is i don't feel i'm gaining all that much from plugging it in and out all the time. Sods law will also say i'll forget once and pull the power too it whilst the battery isn't in :p
The cycle and "memory" effect and most other battery related problems lie with Ni-Cad and Ni-Mh which aren't any use as high power batteries anyway. Li-ion is just more prone to explosion :D :p
Did you get yours fixed, LD or have you just not turned it off for months now?
Just went to the iStore in Basingstoke. Had my Macbook been in warranty (<12 months) then Apple would have replaced the battery for nowt, but as such I've had to shell out for a new one. They explained that the best way to use the battery is to charge it up and keep running it down, rather than keeping it plugged in. I think what I'm going to do is use the old one when it's plugged in, and keep the new one charged for when I'm mobile and just swap it out every time. This battery is knackered anyway, but gives about 20 minutes of charge.
As noted above I just run my laptop with no battery now when on the desk. In that circumstance it's either docked or has several cables directly in the back so I never just yank the power plug. Only problem would be a power failure.
The issue with the Macbook is the magsafe connection. It's great for if you're a clumsy fool, as the connector snaps out if you tug the wire. If you haven't got a battery in it's fairly diastrous though!
Oh, and I may have gone and bought an iPhone while I was out. Tum-te-tum!
Aye - I know what you mean. The connector on my Mac Mini doesn't take much to pull it out.
LeperousDust
12-10-2008, 18:44
Did you get yours fixed, LD or have you just not turned it off for months now?
I totally missed this sorry!
Well strange turn of events, it "fixed" itself for a while, and my laptop isn't technically under their umbrella problem warranty (even though it had the same graphics card which was causing the problems). Since its not showing any ill effects i can't really afford to waste the time and money sending it back to be told "it works". Theres no way of forcing it either, i've tried overheating it cooling it, it just seems to have solved itself. Occasionally when i restart it won't boot at all but turn it on and off again and its good to go. So god knows what i can really do about it. I've just silly unlucky with what was a superb laptop. I should have taken up their excellent warranty extension when i had the offer and i turned it down to "save money" ;D.
You win some you lose some.
Can't complain too much, its occasionally unreliable upon restart, but apart from that it does the job...
LeperousDust
12-10-2008, 18:50
Just went to the iStore in Basingstoke. Had my Macbook been in warranty (<12 months) then Apple would have replaced the battery for nowt, but as such I've had to shell out for a new one. They explained that the best way to use the battery is to charge it up and keep running it down, rather than keeping it plugged in. I think what I'm going to do is use the old one when it's plugged in, and keep the new one charged for when I'm mobile and just swap it out every time. This battery is knackered anyway, but gives about 20 minutes of charge.
They're talking out their arse really! Everyone gets so confused about batteries and lumps them all in the same category. Li-ion don't work like ni-cad which do in fact need cycling. If you want to store li-ion you need to charge them around 40% and keep them cold. Otherwise just use, but keep them as cool as possible (within reasons no need to freeze them ;)) and they'll last a while. Even though i know this i don't bother with any of that anyway. They're consumable and have a limited shelf life so get the most out of them!
Thanks for the tip-off (again). Without you I wouldn't know I now have warranty protection until 2012 for this issue. Curiously, since I applied a BIOS update, my laptop is actually reading higher temperatures. I'm not sure if that's a consequence of the update or there's some other reason, but I'm now seeing mid-80s from the CPU readings. :shocked:
can I say that every ACER laptop ive had, the battery has died almost as soon as the warranty ran out on it, but this Fujitsu one I have now is still perfect after three years continual use
can I say that every ACER laptop ive had, the battery has died almost as soon as the warranty ran out on it, but this Fujitsu one I have now is still perfect after three years continual use
yh Ive got an acer laptop under my bed that the battery lasts about 10 mins on ;D
Blighter
13-10-2008, 00:30
Oh, and I may have gone and bought an iPhone while I was out. Tum-te-tum!
You should have left it, paid your MOT, and come to the meet instead :p
AboveTheSalt
13-10-2008, 10:20
I'm convinced that the laptop manufacturers ramp up the price of replacement batteries and make sure that they are in short supply to "encourage" you to replace an entire otherwise perfectly serviceable laptop. :angry:
You should have left it, paid your MOT, and come to the meet instead :p
This is true. I am suitably ashamed. However I had budgeted for a new phone this year so most of the money was set aside. Still makes me a bit of a **** though.
Only a bit? You're a very naughty boy.
vBulletin® v3.7.4, Copyright ©2000-2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.