Take care of your battery & it will take care of you...

[TheGreatApple]

I've been noticing more and more that people are coming on here with the latest MBP and complaining about how the battery life is decreasing so drastically, and so early in it's life.

They wonder if my battery is already at just 88% capacity after just 75 cycles, how the heck is it gonna last for 1,000 cycles with a great charge? This is B.S. Apple!!

And yet...I'm willing to bet that just about all of these problems (other than the actual faulty batteries which are rare) are related to the user...as usual.

Keep your battery in good shape, and it will take care of you. I'm far from 1,000 charge cycles, but I'm willing to bet that you can go past that with your original batter still holding a pretty decent charge.

Personally, I do two calibrations per month. Do it properly!!! I also make sure to keep my MBP out of very cold conditions...although not in Texas we have spring here...so that's not a problem

I think the battery has held up pretty darn good so far eh?

 

[TattooedMac]

Yes i have seen the same with people coming in say the same. My Battery is 45cycles for just on 10mths old. The reason being is i keep it on AC for 27/4 and only use it off the cord if i really need to.
My Battery stats are quite good, mind you i havnt once calibrated it yet. I know i should but my philosophy is dont try to fix something that isnt broke ..

TM

 

[austin77]

How do you get to that screen? (New mac user, sorry!!!)

 

[TheGreatApple]

How do you get to that screen? (New mac user, sorry!!!)

No need to be sorry!

It's a 3rd party application called Coconut Battery which you can download and very easily use here --> coconut-flavour.com - [coconutBattery 2.6.6]

Enjoy!

 

[austin77]

No need to be sorry!

It's a 3rd party application called Coconut Battery which you can download and very easily use here --> coconut-flavour.com - [coconutBattery 2.6.6]

Enjoy!

right on!! Thanks a lot!!

 

[@iph0ne]

what do you mean by calibrations?

 

[TattooedMac]

what do you mean by calibrations?

Apple Support - Calibrating your battery

 

[6string]

Apple Portables: Calibrating your computer's battery for best performance

 

[6string]

You beat me TM

 

[TattooedMac]

Only seconds mate You wrote more letters lol

 

[chas_m]

There's no need to do the calibrations anywhere near that often. Once or twice a year should be sufficient for most users.

The bottom line is fairly simple: if you use your battery a lot, you can expect to replace it at some point in your machine's lifetime. If you don't use it a lot, you probably won't.

When you DO use the battery, it's probably best to let go down as far as possible before plugging it back in. You don't have to do this every single time, but at least occasionally you should do that.

I will never understand this mentality that seems to feel that computers OUGHT to be complicated and difficult and that if they're not we should deliberately make them more so.

 

[6string]

I will never understand this mentality that seems to feel that computers OUGHT to be complicated and difficult and that if they're not we should deliberately make them more so.

This can be said for more than just computers!

 

[firesidedog]

After eleven months of use, using my battery almost every day, i have 62 load cycles. I calibrate my battery once a month. This is my baby.

 

[JUKE179r]

2 1/2 years with the same battery on my MBP. With 2 completed calibrations, I'm still topping off at 100% battery capacity!
And yes I am bragging! ;D

Good info... http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1764220

 

[junwen]

This is help a lot actually, tks!
I just get my MBP about 3 weeks time, so this thread give me a good tips for take care of my MBP!

 

[ddehr026]

over 700 cycles

 

[StuartRedman1]

Yes i have seen the same with people coming in say the same. My Battery is 45cycles for just on 10mths old. The reason being is i keep it on AC for 27/4 and only use it off the cord if i really need to.
My Battery stats are quite good, mind you i havnt once calibrated it yet. I know i should but my philosophy is dont try to fix something that isnt broke ..

TM

I thought it was better to cycle it than leave it plugged in?
And yes i'm an official NOOB;D

 

[6string]

Better tp keep it plugged in, and let it run on battery every now and then just to keep the juices flowing, even if just down to around 50%.

 

[Chris H.]

I did what Apple said in their battery calibration steps when I first opened up the box. Plug it in, let it charge, and then I set up Mac OS X, used Migration Assistant (from my Mac Mini) while it was still plugged in, and then let it discharge 'til forced sleep mode that same evening. That was a long 8 hours, about a week ago. I run it unplugged pretty much every time I use it, and then when I'm done using it for the day, I shut it down and plug it in. If I have to, I close the shell (which sleeps the computer) and don't plug it in. This will be my college laptop, so I'm kind of wondering...do college students with  notebooks have to replace their battery sooner than someone who uses a MB/MBP at home or business?

 

[6string]

The more you use it on battery power, the sooner you'll have to replace the battery, that's just the way it is.
The older notebook batteries ar good for around 500+ cycles, and the new ones for around 1000+ cycles.
It's not an exact science, so some batteries may outlast others, and may run well above those cycle figures with a descent charge.