Getting a new battery for my Macbook Pro

I have a macbook pro with a dead battery. If I run it on battery power, it would turn off in less than three minutes of use. I'm just about to go out and buy a new one but I wanted to make sure to do the right thing.

I have three questions:

1) Once I get my new battery, should I use it right out of the box until it discharges and then charge it up again while it's off? Or is there something else i need to do?

2) Are there steps I need to know about with this new battery? I don't want it to die on me. I use my laptop on the AC adapter for too long sometimes. How often should I use it on batt power?

3) Can I switch back to my dead battery when I'm going to use the laptop on ac power for a long time? Or should I just throw that away.


Thanks.

iMarco said:

1) Once I get my new battery, should I use it right out of the box until it discharges and then charge it up again while it's off? Or is there something else i need to do?

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You should be able to put it in the MBP full charge it before ANYTHING and then use it as you use it.

2) How often should I use it on batt power?

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Just do as i stated above and IMO use the AC power as often as you can. A battery life goes on cycles and if you run out of cycles you run out of Battery.
To get the absolute maximum out of your battery a calibration usually helps, but have a read of Apple - Calibrating your battery

3) Can I switch back to my dead battery when I'm going to use the laptop on ac power for a long time? Or should I just throw that away.

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I would be throwing it away. It will do your system no good if you put a old battery in and again as i stated above, use the AC as much as you can. For a portable my battery has had 46 cycles in 10 mnths and its on the AC basically 24/7

Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 4855
Fully charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 4929
Health Information:
Cycle count: 46
Condition: Normal
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): -813
Voltage (mV): 12360

Hope this helps some

TM

Hey thanks man. I didn't know it was better keeping your laptop connected to the ac adapter. I thought it was the other way around. Cool now I know.

I'm definitely getting that battery tonight, so should I just charge it with the computer off or I can use it in the meantime?

TattooedMac said:

You should be able to put it in the MBP full charge it before ANYTHING and then use it as you use it.


Just do as i stated above and IMO use the AC power as often as you can. A battery life goes on cycles and if you run out of cycles you run out of Battery.
To get the absolute maximum out of your battery a calibration usually helps, but have a read of Apple - Calibrating your battery


I would be throwing it away. It will do your system no good if you put a old battery in and again as i stated above, use the AC as much as you can. For a portable my battery has had 46 cycles in 10 mnths and its on the AC basically 24/7

Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 4855
Fully charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 4929
Health Information:
Cycle count: 46
Condition: Normal
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): -813
Voltage (mV): 12360

Hope this helps some

TM

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iMarco said:

I'm definitely getting that battery tonight, so should I just charge it with the computer off or I can use it in the meantime?

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In the meantime you mean until you get your new battery ?? Yes i cant see why not.
But if you mean while your charging it, it 6 of one half of the other IMO, but for me personally, for ANYTHING i have a battery in and im charging it for the 1st time, i charge it fully first, without any inhibitions so it gets a proper full charge. Then use AC as much as possible and with the new batteries i believe you have 1000 cycle life so it should last you a life time ....

Err on the safe side and give it a full charge before anything, unless you cant stay off the net

TM

Hey tattooed thanks a lot, that helped out a lot.

Bless.

TattooedMac said:

In the meantime you mean until you get your new battery ?? Yes i cant see why not.
But if you mean while your charging it, it 6 of one half of the other IMO, but for me personally, for ANYTHING i have a battery in and im charging it for the 1st time, i charge it fully first, without any inhibitions so it gets a proper full charge. Then use AC as much as possible and with the new batteries i believe you have 1000 cycle life so it should last you a life time ....

Err on the safe side and give it a full charge before anything, unless you cant stay off the net

TM

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Onneeee more question. I just got the battery. How long should I leave the battery connected? I know until the light turns green but how long does it take? I'll be at work for another 4 hours. Is that enough for the first charge?

TattooedMac said:

In the meantime you mean until you get your new battery ?? Yes i cant see why not.
But if you mean while your charging it, it 6 of one half of the other IMO, but for me personally, for ANYTHING i have a battery in and im charging it for the 1st time, i charge it fully first, without any inhibitions so it gets a proper full charge. Then use AC as much as possible and with the new batteries i believe you have 1000 cycle life so it should last you a life time ....

Err on the safe side and give it a full charge before anything, unless you cant stay off the net

TM

Click to expand...

That should be enough, but if you have your Mac on, it will take longer.

By "throwing [the old battery] away," I assume you mean "recycling it responsibly via a local battery store" of course ...

Don't throw computer batteries in the trash. Not environmentally cool AT ALL.