MBP battery help, please

[juless]

...or else it just might get thrown through the nearest window.

My 2007 MBP battery life is already terrible - within the last month, it has gone from holding the charge until about 3% to turning off completely at 50% (today's incident was 49%, though). Is it that these nice, expensive batteries only live for about a year and then die, or are there things I should try before shelling out the dough? TIA :)

[giga Veteran]

2 year old Macbook battery here which has about 70% charge left.

Maybe you're not using/calibrating them properly?

[juless]

Thanks Giga. Just looked up some tips... calibrating it sounds like what I would do - use the battery until the computer shut down and plug it in. But this website had a tip on how to calibrate.

I'll try calibrating it.

[Aperture]

If Calibrating it doesn't work and you're wise enough to have bought Apple Care, I'm sure if you explain the situation and have proof of when purchased, they'll replace free of charge.

If after calibration your batteries life is still 49% within a year, I think that's a little miserable :(

[Cara Veteran]

...or else it just might get thrown through the nearest window.

My 2007 MBP battery life is already terrible - within the last month, it has gone from holding the charge until about 3% to turning off completely at 50% (today's incident was 49%, though). Is it that these nice, expensive batteries only live for about a year and then die, or are there things I should try before shelling out the dough? TIA :)

Hey there,

Can you provide me with the battery health information? You can get this by doing the following Steps.

Hold down the OPTION key on your keyboard, it is next to the Command key, click on the  menu at the top left of your screen, select 'System Profiler', scroll down to 'Power'. Copy and paste that information to a new post if you would, it should look something similar to...

Battery Information:

Model Information:

Serial Number: DEV-APPLE014-0009-6e3

Manufacturer: NONPROD

Device name: APPLE014

Pack Lot Code: 0000

PCB Lot Code: 0000

Firmware Version: 0110

Hardware Revision: 0500

Cell Revision: 0102

Charge Information:

Charge remaining (mAh): 6826

Fully charged: Yes

Charging: No

Full charge capacity (mAh): 6907

Health Information:

Cycle count: 2

Condition: Good

Battery Installed: Yes

Amperage (mA): 0

Voltage (mV): 12515

System Power Settings:

AC Power:

System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 0

Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 0

Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 0

Automatic Restart On Power Loss: No

Wake On AC Change: No

Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes

Wake On LAN: Yes

Display Sleep Uses Dim: No

Battery Power:

System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 5

Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10

Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 1

Wake On AC Change: No

Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes

Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes

Reduce Brightness: Yes

Hardware Configuration:

UPS Installed: No

AC Charger Information:

Connected: Yes

Charging: No

This is the same information that Apple will use to determine if a battery is bad or simply at the end of its life. :)

[juless]

Mine doesn't look quite like what you posted - but this is what was under my system profiler:

System Power Settings:

AC Power:

System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10

Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10

Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10

Automatic Restart On Power Loss: No

Wake On AC Change: No

Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes

Wake On LAN: Yes

Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes

Battery Power:

System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 5

Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10

Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 1

Wake On AC Change: No

Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes

Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes

Reduce Brightness: Yes

Battery Information:

Battery Installed: Yes

First low level warning: No

Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 1112

Remaining Capacity (mAh): 1112

Amperage (mA): 148

Voltage (mV): 12633

Cycle Count: 80

AC Charger Information:

Connected: Yes

Charging: No

Hardware Configuration:

UPS Installed: No

[team_NOOB]

make sure you close all programs before u calibrate. just to be safe.. ive had some issues where ive calibrated and programs were still running.. check my post: MBP Display issues for examples ;)

[juless]

I'm in the process of calibrating it correctly (with instruction via giantmike.com), I should know if it's worked or not by morning.

Annoying, but thank GOODNESS I have applecare. I will contact them if need be.

[giga Veteran]

Ouch 1112mah is horrible.

What are your usage habits? Hopefully you're not letting it drain all the way down frequently or letting it on AC power all the time.

[juless]

No, I don't drain it frequently. But I have it plugged in when I'm not using it - had no idea this was a no-no! This is my first laptop so I'm still new to how to maintain the battery, as you can probably tell ;)

I figured that was a terrible number since Cara post in 6k and yeah... I'm nowhere near that. Oy...

[Cara Veteran]

Battery Information:

Battery Installed: Yes

First low level warning: No

Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 1112

Remaining Capacity (mAh): 1112

Amperage (mA): 148

Voltage (mV): 12633

Cycle Count: 80

Oh man, at 80 cycles you should have a LOT better battery health than that. :p

Did you mention if you have AppleCare on your Laptop?

Edit: You did. Contact AppleCare and give them those numbers and the charge cycles, that battery should be replaced by the Rep without too many questions. :p

[juless]

Awesome. Thank you so much, Cara! Thanks to the others as well.

Edited June 20, 2008 by juless

[Cara Veteran]

Yes, I most certainly have AppleCare. is there anything in particular I should tell them is wrong with my battery besides my little story up there, or will they be able to figure it out?

Any way you can take it to a Apple Store? In my experience if you write down those numbers, or print it out if you can, make a Genius Bar Appointment and drop that information into the comments field, and then show up on time the Genius will most likely replace the battery for you on the spot after verifying your numbers. :)

If you have to call into AppleCare then just relay the numbers and the cycles and answer any questions they might have regarding calibration.

[juless]

Any way you can take it to a Apple Store? In my experience if you write down those numbers, or print it out if you can, make a Genius Bar Appointment and drop that information into the comments field, and then show up on time the Genius will most likely replace the battery for you on the spot after verifying your numbers. :)

If you have to call into AppleCare then just relay the numbers and the cycles and answer any questions they might have regarding calibration.

I live pretty close to the local Apple Store, so maybe I'll take it in this weekend instead. I'll see if I can't bring it in after work tomorrow. Thanks!

[Cara Veteran]

I live pretty close to the local Apple Store, so maybe I'll take it in this weekend instead. I'll see if I can't bring it in after work tomorrow. Thanks!

Excellent, they should be able to take good care of you from here! :)

Please do post back and let us know the result though!

[CPressland]

Good luck with that mate,

Here is my battery info
  Charge remaining (mAh):	5152
  Fully charged:	Yes
  Charging:	No
  Full charge capacity (mAh):	5152
  Health Information:
  Cycle count:	264
  Condition:	Good
  Battery Installed:	Yes
  Amperage (mA):	132
  Voltage (mV):	12585

As you can see it's somewhat better then yours even at 264 cycles. Defiantly something you should get looked at mate :)

Good luck

[Cara Veteran]

Good luck with that mate,

Here is my battery info
  Charge remaining (mAh):	5152
  Fully charged:	Yes
  Charging:	No
  Full charge capacity (mAh):	5152
  Health Information:
  Cycle count:	264
  Condition:	Good
  Battery Installed:	Yes
  Amperage (mA):	132
  Voltage (mV):	12585

As you can see it's somewhat better then yours even at 264 cycles. Defiantly something you should get looked at mate :)

Good luck

That is much more normal for that cycle range. :)

[Aperture]

I thought the Macbook Pro 17" had a maximum capacity of 6400 mAh. Unless you have a super secret 'Apple Employees only' battery, or 3rd party?

[Cara Veteran]

I thought the Macbook Pro 17" had a maximum capacity of 6400 mAh. Unless you have a super secret 'Apple Employees only' battery?

It is just the battery that came with the unit I was on at the time, I will have to check another 17-inch MBP to see if this is different than the norm.

[Aperture]

Sorry I edited my original post incase it came across as a flame, just curious! Wish I had that sort of capacity. My 15" has a Max Capacity of 5337 mAh

[Cara Veteran]

Sorry I edited my original post incase it came across as a flame, just curious! Wish I had that sort of capacity. My 15" has a Max Capacity of 5337 mAh

Naah, not a flame. :) Now you have me curious. LOL.

[CHALE]

My macbook pro 17" has 5925 mAh with 157 cycles with 1.5 years of use. So 6400 mAh new don't seemed to much of a streach.

[Aperture]

My macbook pro 17" has 5925 mAh with 157 cycles with 1.5 years of use. So 6400 mAh new don't seemed to much of a streach.

That's not my concern, 6400 mAh isn't a stretch, it's a fact. But Cara has a max capacity of 69xx mAh. That's quite a bit more than I've ever seen before, I want one of those batteries! :p

[Cara Veteran]

That's not my concern, 6400 mAh isn't a stretch, it's a fact. But Cara has a max capacity of 69xx mAh. That's quite a bit more than I've ever seen before, I want one of those batteries! :p

However, I checked 3 other MBP's that all ranged in the 6400 / 6300 range.

[Aperture]

However, I checked 3 other MBP's that all ranged in the 6400 / 6300 range.

Now you see that's odd, because I know 6400 is the max capacity Apple use for their 17" Macbook Pro batteries, and the only thing I've ever seen over that are 3rd Party ones.