MBP - Battery dying on me...

SidewinderINC · 22 Sep 2008 at 21:16

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?

Kemik · 22 Sep 2008 at 21:31

SidewinderINC said:
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?

You'd have to buy a new one. It's classed as a disposable item.

Tip: Don't keep the battery in your laptop if it sits on your desk most of the time.

SidewinderINC · 22 Sep 2008 at 21:32

The large amount of cycles would show that it doesn't sit on my desk at all

cheers.

J1234 · 22 Sep 2008 at 21:48

If it's still under warranty Apple will give you a free one. I had mine replaced the other day. If not a new one is £100.

CocoPops · 22 Sep 2008 at 22:30

Yep, I've had a MBP battery replaced when it got to 85% with less than 300 cycles.

There is an apple support doc somewhere.

However, unless you have applecare then it is out of warranty.

SidewinderINC · 23 Sep 2008 at 07:47

I bought it on the HE/FE deal through uni, so I think I get the 3 years applecare with that.

CocoPops · 23 Sep 2008 at 07:52

Yep, so just got to Bluewater (your local apple store right?) and they'll swap it out.

J1234 · 23 Sep 2008 at 11:57

SidewinderINC said:
I bought it on the HE/FE deal through uni, so I think I get the 3 years applecare with that.

Yeah same here, rang them up and a new battery was with me the following morning. I had to remind them I bought it with HE though as they thought my warranty had expired.

Cybertronic · 23 Sep 2008 at 12:12

Kemik said:
Tip: Don't keep the battery in your laptop if it sits on your desk most of the time.

Tip: MacBook and MacBook Pro: Mac reduces processor speed when battery is removed while operating from an A/C adaptor

gavsim · 23 Sep 2008 at 13:52

I read this post which reminded me about how poor my battery on my Macbook Pro has been recently, I rang Apple they asked a couple of questions and now I have new battery being delivered to me tomorrow. I do have AppleCare.

Kemik · 23 Sep 2008 at 14:12

Cybertronic said:
Tip: MacBook and MacBook Pro: Mac reduces processor speed when battery is removed while operating from an A/C adaptor

Poo. I was just saying what one of the guys in the Mac shop told me to do when I bought it.

If the battery is removed from a MacBook or MacBook Pro, the computer will automatically reduce the processor speed. This prevents the computer from shutting down if it demands more power than the A/C adaptor alone can provide.

Surely an AC adaptor provides more power than a battery?

NickK · 23 Sep 2008 at 14:35

Cell Revision: 0303
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 4541
Fully charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 4541
Health Information:
Cycle count: 255
Condition: Good
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 150
Voltage (mV): 12592

And I thought my connect/disconnect count was high!

J1234 · 23 Sep 2008 at 14:38

My cycle was only 124 when mine died.

Cybertronic · 23 Sep 2008 at 15:20

Kemik said:
Surely an AC adaptor provides more power than a battery?

Strange as it seems, I'm not sure myself but it's an official Apple article

My MBP's battery is also dying according to System Profiler:

Charge Information:

Charge remaining (mAh): 3365
Fully charged: No
Charging: Yes
Full charge capacity (mAh): 4149

Health Information:

Cycle count: 202
Condition: Check battery

It used to say good condition the past few weeks :confused:

It used to have around 3 and a half hours battery life with wi-fi and bluetooth on during the first few months when I bought it. Now, it's only around 2 hours and I even followed Apple's battery calibration method once every month

SidewinderINC · 23 Sep 2008 at 17:53

CocoPops said:
Yep, so just got to Bluewater (your local apple store right?) and they'll swap it out.

Right there and then?

Woah, didn't know that they were that good

Think I'll do that this weekend

*notes to hide all downloads from desktop

*

FreeStream · 23 Sep 2008 at 18:18

I you have applecare then you get it replaced free.

11 month old MBP here that had a 51% battery, phoned the closest AASP (Apple Authorized Service Provider) yesterday, new one arrived today, drove to get it and now I have a new battery at 99%

PS: Not read the whole thread!

rp2000 · 23 Sep 2008 at 18:23

Which stats are we looking at from System Profiler as an indicator of Battery degradation?

Cell Revision: 0303
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 4991
Fully charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 5118
Health Information:
Cycle count: 146
Condition: Good
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): -1138
Voltage (mV): 12144

I see the "Condition" heading as Good on mine, but the other figures vary from other stats posted here. Don't know much about laptop batteries but apart from Cycle Count and Health, why are peoples Full Charge Capacities showing different values? (Are there different model batteries out there for different spec/gen MBPs? or should this figure decrease over the life of your battery?).

Justin said:
Yeah same here, rang them up and a new battery was with me the following morning. I had to remind them I bought it with HE though as they thought my warranty had expired.

OT, how does this work exactly? I bought mine with HE online, declined the £57 3 yr Applecare (as ppl on here kept insisting that you get 3 yrs anyway via HE). When I check mine online it shows the remainder of my 1 year Applecare as standard.
a) What did your warranty say online?
b) What did you "remind" them on the phone?

rp2000

Cybertronic · 23 Sep 2008 at 18:28

rp2000 said:
Which stats are we looking at from System Profiler as an indicator of Battery degradation?

Full charge capacity (mAh), if I remember correctly, the default capacity from the factory is 5400 for MacBook Pros.

rp2000 said:
When I check mine online it shows the remainder of my 1 year Applecare as standard.
a) What did your warranty say online?
b) What did you "remind" them on the phone?

When I found out the same thing online (purchased MBP through Apple HE store), I called up to check and the person on the phone verified that I had a 3 years warranty unlike the one reported on the website.

FreeStream · 23 Sep 2008 at 18:44

Cybertronic said:
Full charge capacity (mAh), if I remember correctly, the default capacity from the factory is 5400 for MacBook Pros.

When I found out the same thing online (purchased MBP through Apple HE store), I called up to check and the person on the phone verified that I had a 3 years warranty unlike the one reported on the website.

^^ All this is correct!

rp2000 · 23 Sep 2008 at 18:56

Cybertronic said:
Full charge capacity (mAh), if I remember correctly, the default capacity from the factory is 5400 for MacBook Pros.

When I found out the same thing online (purchased MBP through Apple HE store), I called up to check and the person on the phone verified that I had a 3 years warranty unlike the one reported on the website.

Concorde Rules said:
^^ All this is correct!

Cheers for putting my mind at rest, I was a tad annoyed thinking some smart alec on the forums had given me duff info (I was willing to pay £57 for 3 years additional care as it was a bargain).

It would be nice to have something in writing or on their website, but as long as they have it at their end I suppose it is OK.

On Topic: Any ideas whether my figures are any good for the current gen middle spec MBP which has had exactly 6 months usage from new? If default is 5400 then I have lost 282 in 6 months. Dunno if this is good or not as a I have no real frame of reference to compare to.

rp2000