Battery Lifespan

[Skyrider007]

Does anyone know how many charge cycle a MBP battery needs to go through before it reaches the end of its life cycle? I have had my MBP for about 3 weeks now and already have gone through 7 cycles....

 

[fleurya]

I don't know about life cycles, but I can tell you how my MBP battery has performed. I don't use mine on battery too much, mostly I use it with an external keyboard and monitor at home. In the beginning it could last over 4 hours on battery. Then after about three months it started down downhill fast. After about 6 months it can barely make it 2 hours.

Personally I think that is just terrible. I don't know if having it plugged in all the time has something to do with it going bad so fast. Some people take their battery out when using it plugged in. I don't understand how that can do anything. There shouldn't be any power going to the battery when it's charged, so it shouldn't affect it.

I wonder sometimes if the battery makers aren't unlike the light bulb makers. The ability to make very long lasting light bulbs has been around for a very, very long time. But you don't get rich making things that last a long time. You get rich selling a lot of product. In the past 15 years there has been amazing advances in computing technology and laptops, but the batteries haven't changed hardly at all in all that time.

 

[technologist]

Your battery has a lifetime of about 300-500 charge-discharege "cycles," after which it will lose most of its capacity.

For instructions on how best to care for your battery, see
http://www.apple.com/batteries

That goes for you, too, fleurya.

I wonder sometimes if the battery makers aren't unlike the light bulb makers. The ability to make very long lasting light bulbs has been around for a very, very long time. But you don't get rich making things that last a long time. You get rich selling a lot of product. In the past 15 years there has been amazing advances in computing technology and laptops, but the batteries haven't changed hardly at all in all that time.

There have been huge advances in battery technology over the last 15 years. 15 years ago, you got about two hours of battery life out of your laptop. Today you can typically get four. In addition, today's laptops consume far more power, are half as thick and half as heavy as yesterday's laptops.

Same thing with lightbulbs, since you brought that up. Of course we can make hundred-year lightbulbs, but people don't want 100-year lightbulbs. They want 100-year lightbulbs that cost $0.50, fit in a normal lamp, and use no more than 60 watts to produce 900 lumens of broad-spectrum light. Them's the brakes.

 

[mongoloido]

...Personally I think that is just terrible. I don't know if having it plugged in all the time has something to do with it going bad so fast. Some people take their battery out when using it plugged in. I don't understand how that can do anything. There shouldn't be any power going to the battery when it's charged, so it shouldn't affect it...

When you leave the battery in your laptop while leaving it plugged in all the time, it does indeed hurt the battery. It's not do to any sort of overcharge though. It's because of the heat your computer creates. The biggest killer of a battery's life is heat. That's why people who will be using their laptop plugged in all the time are best off removing their battery.

The battery saving procedure I read most says to discharge your battery to about 40%, remove it from your computer, and store it in a cool, dry place (like a fridge... I'd assume wrapped up and in a freezer bag, but don't quote me).

 

[smurfy]

Y'all been calibrating your batteries?

 

[Skyrider007]

Y'all been calibrating your batteries?

I have!

 

[yellow19man]

When you leave the battery in your laptop while leaving it plugged in all the time, it does indeed hurt the battery. It's not do to any sort of overcharge though. It's because of the heat your computer creates. The biggest killer of a battery's life is heat. That's why people who will be using their laptop plugged in all the time are best off removing their battery.

The battery saving procedure I read most says to discharge your battery to about 40%, remove it from your computer, and store it in a cool, dry place (like a fridge... I'd assume wrapped up and in a freezer bag, but don't quote me).

This subject seems to pop up very frequently and the answers seem to always vary. Some say just keep the battery in and make sure to fully discharge and recharge it once in a while. Others say keeping it plugged in and using it this way doesn't do any damage. The official Apple website gives some pointers and tells you to keep the battery in because the computer may need power from the battery and AC power. Can someone confirm this battery and AC power thing. I remember reading it somewhere but I can't seem to find out where I read it.

With my old computer I took the battery out and left it out because I used it mainly as a desktop computer. The only reason I did this was I saw a CNET video on prolonging your battery life and taking it out of your laptop was one of the steps to prolong battery life.

I wonder if there is a final definitive way of prolonging battery life.

Does anyone here use their MBP's without the battery in? I would like to know how the computer performs.

 

[Skyrider007]

I guess it's best to follow the manufacturer's (Apple) recommendation. That is, keeping the battery in your notebook at all times and regularly (weekly) perform battery calibration.

Does anyone know whether Apple would replace the battery free of charge if its holding capacity falls below 80% during the 3-year AppleCare warranty?

 

[mongoloido]

I guess it's best to follow the manufacturer's (Apple) recommendation. That is, keeping the battery in your notebook at all times and regularly (weekly) perform battery calibration.

Does anyone know whether Apple would replace the battery free of charge if its holding capacity falls below 80% during the 3-year AppleCare warranty?

Apple's recommendation of keeping the battery in is based on keeping your computer running in the case of a power outage, or kicked cord. I don't believe it says anywhere that you should keep the battery in at all times for the health of the battery. You can do as you'd like, but I'd urge you to at least remove your battery before doing any prolonged gaming sessions (or anything that will really heat up the computer).

As for battery replacement, I think you're out of luck on that one. I don't believe Apple Care covers batteries.

 

[gundruk]

Does anyone know how many charge cycle a MBP battery needs to go through before it reaches the end of its life cycle? I have had my MBP for about 3 weeks now and already have gone through 7 cycles....

I don't know about MBP, but my macbook is 3 years old and it has 950 charge cycles on it (verified via battery health monitor).. my macbook still runs for one and half hour to 2 hours, with safari, chrome, skype, yahoo messenger, itunes running...