Battery Life - 1 hour 56 minutes ONLY?!?!

[Deleted member 651465]

My MacBook battery is still at 100% health after 130 cycles and just over a year old

I heard if you type "Google" in to Google you can actually break the internet.

 

[Matthew.M]

I heard if you type "Google" in to Google you can actually break the internet.

Coconut battery 2.5.1 and iStat Pro both report the same thing

So I choose to believe it

 

[Logsi]

Ive done 42 cycles in the 11 months i have had my 17" MBP, battery health 100%.

Josh

 

[Phaser]

I agree with the others, run it through a few cycles first to let it settle, then carry out a battery calibration. Fully charge the battery and leave it charged for a few hours (the computer can be used during this time) then run it on battery power (again it can be used) until it powers down - remember to save any work well before hand. Leave it in the uncharged state for at least 5 hours and then fully charge it again. It is a good idea to repeat calibration every couple of months as well.

What would you recommend then? I use my MB at a desk plugged in 99% of the time, say once or twice a month i'l use it elsewhere on battery, run it all the way down then recharge. Am I damaging the battery life?

 

[Sic]

I use my MB at a desk plugged in 99% of the time, say once or twice a month i'l use it elsewhere on battery, run it all the way down then recharge.

same here - luckily if I do break the battery, I'm fairly sure I'll be able to buy a new one. I've never been very good with batteries, so I'm used to having to buy new ones

 

[AJUK]

Apple advise against leaving a lappy plugged in all the time. It isn't exactly difficult to unplug it and it may prolong its life.

 

[Spyhop]

I'm sure I read that the frequent full discharge and recharge practice isn't necessary for that type of battery and actually harms it somewhat, but it's right there on Apple's site to do it - so fair enough!

 

[Energize]

It's true. Discharge cycles aren't required for lithium batteries and reduce the lifespan, also batteries discharged all the way have a risk of being ruined over time as the battery will discharge to below it's minimum voltage, when not being used they should be stored at ~40% charge because lithium batteries degrade much faster when stored at full charge.

 

[AJUK]

You are correct about the storage charge. If left for a long time about half a full charge is best.

 

[Spyhop]

I think there's a lot of misconception about it being good to do these full drains of the battery regularly - and not just with laptops.

 

[Rambaud]

I checked which Battery Update I should be using for my Macbook - it seems to be 1.2 which came out in April 2007.

However, 1.3 was installed which is for MBPs and came out in October 2007 - although mine had a date in January 2006!??

Anyway, 1.2 is now installed and, maybe, it + more calibration will increase the charge.

Apple will replace the defective batteries for machines bought between Feb 2006 and April 2007, I believe?