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Battery life on MBP, is this normal?

jmckechnie

jmckechnie

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 18, 2006
71
0
I have a MBP and I replaced the battery probably back in October. I cycled the battery every month or so. I realized about a week ago I was only getting about an hour out of the battery. I cycled it last night and I'm only getting about an hour and 30 mins out of it. I'm not doing anything that is really taxing the computer, some light word processing and surfing the web. Do I have a case to call Apple?
 
If you run Applications->Utilities->System Profiler and select Hardware->Power on the left, what does it show under "Battery Information"?

You can copy and paste it in a post here.
 
Battery Information:

Battery Installed: Yes
First low level warning: No
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 3546
Remaining Capacity (mAh): 3478
Amperage (mA): -1922
Voltage (mV): 12060
Cycle Count: 193



Wow, the cycle charge is insane. The full charge capacity is 3546, shouldn't it be closer to 5400?
 
Mine:

Battery Installed: Yes
First low level warning: No
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 5197
Remaining Capacity (mAh): 3930
Amperage (mA): 2200
Voltage (mV): 12416
Cycle Count: 107

Yours seems a bit high - do you tend to run the battery fully down between charging it, and do you use it on battery almost constantly?
 
Battery Information:

Battery Installed: Yes
First low level warning: No
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 4894
Remaining Capacity (mAh): 3190
Amperage (mA): -1526
Voltage (mV): 11427
Cycle Count: 224
 
I use the battery quite a bit but nothing outrageous. I never run it down to completely zero. Any thoughts on if Apple would cover it?
 
Battery Installed: Yes
First low level warning: No
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 5074
Remaining Capacity (mAh): 2412
Amperage (mA): -2262
Voltage (mV): 10760
Cycle Count: 193

What would cause the Full Charge Capacity to jump from 3546 up to 5074?
 
Yes Call apple and/or bring it in. There seems to be a problem with these MBP batteries that pops up anywhere between 3-6 months of ownership. My MBP is at the shop right now waiting for a tech to tell me the battery is screwed so Apple will give me a new one.
 
I guess i never use my battery.

Battery Installed: Yes
First low level warning: No
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 5464
Remaining Capacity (mAh): 5464
Amperage (mA): 0
Voltage (mV): 12594
Cycle Count: 5
 
dornoforpyros said:
Yes Call apple and/or bring it in. There seems to be a problem with these MBP batteries that pops up anywhere between 3-6 months of ownership. My MBP is at the shop right now waiting for a tech to tell me the battery is screwed so Apple will give me a new one.
Click to expand...

i'm almost scared to buy one for college...they are blowing up, catching fire, lasting for an hour...could it get worse?
 
I think you see more people complaining rather than talking about the positives. Other than the battery problem that I'm having, and it's getting weirder by the minute (the computer died when the battery said more than 50% left), but it's been a really great computer. Don't be afraid to buy one.
 
zblaxberg said:
i'm almost scared to buy one for college...they are blowing up, catching fire, lasting for an hour...could it get worse?
Click to expand...

Well the vast majority aren't blowing up and catching fire. In fact I'm sure the vast majority of batteries are humming a long just fine. It just seems the most common problems seem to be battery expansion, and battery death, and both seem to be popping up at around the 6 month mark.
 
zblaxberg said:
i'm almost scared to buy one for college...they are blowing up, catching fire, lasting for an hour...could it get worse?
Click to expand...

STOP OVERREACTING!

I have a Macbook Pro (with Core 2 Duo) and it has worked like a dream since I've got it. If you have a problem with it, Apple will fix it, so don't be so worried about this stuff. Anything you buy has a risk of being defective. Guess what, you could get killed in a car accident, or be attacked by a wild animal, or have your house collapse on you. We take risks everyday, this is one of them......
 
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