<p>In the last few weeks, I’ve noticed my battery is draining fast, very fast, but had not really kept track of it. We’re having serious storms in the area today, so I unplugged my laptop; I hit the 20% reserve battery in about 20 minutes. So I plugged it back in, and almost in reverse, it charged back to 100% in about 30 minutes.</p>
<p>I checked the activity monitor for CPU usage, and no programs are open that are draining the battery. </p>
<p>I’m guessing this is going to involve a trip to the Apple Store tomorrow (weather’s too bad to go out today), but I’m wanting to know what I’m possibly looking at… I’ve never had to replace a battery in a MacBook before. Can it typically be done in a one-day appointment? Or will I have to leave it at the store?</p>
<p>Rule number one, you own a Mac, and that means you do NOT have a problem. And if you think you do, never, ever admit it publicly. If you do, the true fanboys will disown you and take your Apple badge away. </p>
<p>On a serious note, your battery has probably reached its total cycles. The genii at the Apple store can measure the cycles and are expert at swapping the battery since it happens VERY often. It will cost you dearly and they are no bargains. The bonus is that they might update everything for you and see if there are no rogue gremlin programs aboard your jewel. It should require an overnight stay in the Apple ICU. Insist they check everything. Not all stores are equal. For instance, my parents always get the checks done in San Francisco. In West Texas, the stores are not very responsive. Different culture.</p>
<p>If you want to delay the inevitable, try to a couple of deep cycles. But that probably will not work. There is planned obsolescence in many Apple products.</p>
<p>While it may be your battery dying, you should do the following:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Besides looking up your battery cycles, you should reset the SMC. [url=<a href=“Reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support”>Reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support]Here[/url</a>] are instructions. Makes sure you do the one for your machine. Resetting the SMC is likely the first thing any repair person would try. And you should feel free to do this more than once to make sure it takes. </p></li>
<li><p>Condition the battery. [url=<a href=“http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1490]Here[/url”>Batteries - Maximizing Performance - Apple]Here[/url</a>] is what that means and how to do it. It may be your battery calibration is reporting the wrong percentages. </p></li>
<li><p>Open Activity Monitor, which is in the Utilities folder inside the Applications folder. See if anything is using a lot of cpu cycles. Kill those. Explore the menus of Activity Monitor and you’ll see how to do that.</p></li>
<li><p>Upgrade to Mavericks. The new operating system has a slew of brand new power savings tricks that increase battery life on older macbook pro’s - and newer. It even includes a little notice under the battery menu at the top of screen that will tell you which apps are using a lot of energy. To upgrade, just download; it’s free. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Battery replacement is easy if you have a removable battery - meaning there’s a compartment and you take it out. A replacement can easily be bought on line. If it’s not removable, then you should have Apple do it - or some other authorized repair person - IF you’re still under warranty. If you’re not under warranty and you’re moderately handy, it’s not hard to do. Vendors sell replacement batteries along with the necessary screw driver, etc.</p>
<p>Based on xiggi’s link, I was able to get the following information:</p>
<p>My model has a maximum cycle count of 1000.
The cycle count is down to 118.
The condition says: service battery.</p>
<p>Most importantly, I learned time has flown by. I didn’t realize I’d had this computer for so long, so it doesn’t bother me so much to have to get a new battery.</p>
<p>Lithium-ion batteries have a max lifespan of 3 years at 100% charge from the moment it’s manufactured, even if it’s sitting on the shelf or around 400 full recharge cycles. This applies regardless of brand of notebook/electronic device which uses such batteries.</p>
<p>Lithium-ion battery lifespan could be shortened if there’s prolonged exposure to high heat, stored unused for prolonged periods at below 20% or above 60% charge, or it’s run down to absolute zero charge too often. Unlike earlier nickel-metal hydride laptop/electronic batteries where you NEED to run to absolute zero to avoid the “memory effect” of it thinking the remaining percentage is the new absolute zero, you DON’T want to run your lithium-ion batteries to run completely empty before recharging.</p>
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<p>That sounds excessively high. I’m wondering if that count includes ones where it will hold any charge, not a count where it holds 100% charge as when brand new…</p>
<p>I have an Ipod from 2006 which probably exceeded 400 recharge cycles and still holds a charge after all these years. However, after 7+ years, the max charge is probably less than 10% of its former capacity when brand new. </p>
<p>Since most of my usage is less than an hour in total duration per session, it isn’t an issue with me. However, I can no longer use it on long trips on one charge of the battery alone like I used to.</p>
<p>cobrat - I got the information from the page xiggi linked for me. I have a 13" mid-2009 MacBook Pro. If you read the chart, that’s what it says for my model.</p>
<p>I’ve never run this battery to absolute zero (except for the one time I mention below). 95% of the time, it’s plugged in. About three weeks ago was the first time I noticed it would run down fast. In fact, I was working on it, unplugged, and it drained so fast that I couldn’t understand why it shut down on me, until I plugged it in and it restarted. It had only been unplugged for less than 30 minutes, so I didn’t pay attention to the warning that it was running on reserve. That’s probably the first time ever that this computer has ever drained down to zero.</p>
<p>Assuming the battery was original, it has already exceeded the 3-year life span where it can maintain 100% charge as brand new. </p>
<p>You also mentioned 800+ recharge cycles. IME, I’m thinking Apple is using a higher count where they guarantee the battery can hold any charge when fully charged…not 100% charge as if brand new. </p>
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<p>Agg. One trend I hate with more recent Mac notebook models and other notebook OEMs is one where they bury the battery deep inside the computer so it can’t be easily accessed.</p>
<p>Really bad as leaving a battery in a laptop while it’s plugged in is likely to expose it to excess heat and prolonged storage at above 60% charge. Both factors will contribute to the shortening of the battery lifespan to maintain 100% charge as if brand new. </p>
<p>If I know I am going to be plugged in for most of my time, I’d opt to make sure my battery is between 20-60% charge and take it out of the notebook while it’s plugged in for more than an hour. Prolongs max charge life of battery and reduces exposure to high heat, especially considering default notebook settings tend to run hotter when plugged in for greater performance.</p>
<p>Fwiw, that is how my Mom uses her 2010 MBP. She had to change the battery after less than three years. In addition, she will need to replace the trackpad for the second time because of the warping of the battery. </p>
<p>And regardless of the insisting posts about being free, Apple charges for those replacements. And as everything Apple, the parts are extremely overpriced. Part of the cult, I guess. Amortize it over the next three years, and the happiness exceeds the pain. </p>
<p>The good news is that replacing the parts makes the darn things feel brand new. Of course, that also highlights how sucky they could become if not changed often to keep up with the Joneses. Four years is a lifetime in Cupertino.</p>
<p>Lergnom - I tend to lean toward the grain of waiting a few weeks after a new OS comes out (I just finally updated my iPhone a few days ago) which is why I don’t have Mavericks yet. Maybe I’ll take care of it this afternoon.</p>
<p>I had to go to the library to install Mavericks, because my internet connection at home is very spotty and as soon as the software would lose connection, even for 2 seconds, it would then tell me I had to start over.
Hopefully you dont have that problem, or you can use the connection at the Apple store to upgrade your software.
( always back up first)</p>
<p>Just an update, in case anyone ever reads this thread again with the same issue. The battery was basically dead. Cost me $129 to have them replace it and put it in. Took about ten minutes. </p>
<p>They also did some quick diagnostic testing, and told me my hard drive is starting to fail. I’m going to take the gamble and wait to replace it. Got home and immediately started to download Carbonite (I have an external hard drive, but I question it’s reliability due to some error messages I’ve gotten from it) which I’ve been meaning to do for a few weeks now. Looks like the Carbonite initial backup is going to take a few days, so I’m hoping the hard drive behaves at least until then, if not for a few more weeks/months. </p>