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WTF, My 4 Day Old MBP 13" Battery Lost Capacity?

D

donster28

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 5, 2006
1,726
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Great White North
:confused:

I did a calibration once on day one, but now my battery has depleted it's total capacity from the origianl 5450 mah to 5320 mah (From 100% to 97%)! :mad:

What is happening, should I do another calibration or do I have a defective battery?

The info above is both consistent under the OSX info (About this this Mac) and Coconut Battery.

If the battery needs replacing, is it done in-store or am I supposed ship it?

Any suggestion is appreciated.
 
donster28 said:
:confused:

I did a calibration once on day one, but now my battery has depleted it's total capacity from the origianl 5450 mah to 5320 mah (From 100% to 97%)! :mad:

What is happening, should I do another calibration or do I have a defective battery?

The info above is both consistent under the OSX info (About this this Mac) and Coconut Battery.

If the battery needs replacing, is it done in-store or am I supposed ship it?

Any suggestion is appreciated.
Click to expand...

The computer is probably reading it wrong. I doubt you did the calibration the way you're supposed to do it, where you charge it to 100%, leave it at 100% for around 2 hours, deplete the battery and leave it depleted for around 5 hours. Then charge it up.
 
Defective is below 80%, not 97%. There's no point in obsessing over 3% after just a few days. Battery capacity can fluctuate depending on cycle depth and temperature. If by next month, you're at 70%, yes it's defective. Otherwise, you shouldn't lose sleep over it.
 
Thanks for the quick repsonse guys.

To add, I did a proper calibration as stated by Apple so I know this is not the problem.

I just rebooted the lappy and to my amazement, the battery capacity increased to 5402 (99%).

You're all right, the software is probably reading it wrong or the battery is adapting.

Thanks again. :)
 
Battery capacity is always in a state of flux. Mine fluctuates as much as 10% depending on current charge and whether or not I'm running on battery.
 
Better Battery Life Setting

Just another lame question but I was wondering if Apple eliminated the "Better Battery Life Setting" in Leopard. Where can I find this in OSX now?
 
Sure you have a MacBook? You should be able to change it at least in the Menu at the top of the Screen.
You can't change it when its a Desktop Model (iMac, Mac Pro etc..)
 
There's a drop down menu labelled "Optimization". You can select "Better Energy Savings", "Normal", "Better Performance", or have your own custom configuration.

You can also get to this Energy Saver menu by clicking on your battery/charge icon in the OSX top menu bar and clicking 'Energy Saver Preferences'.
 
Don't those settings only have an effect on the time until your screen and hard disks power down?
 
winninganthem said:
There's a drop down menu labelled "Optimization". You can select "Better Energy Savings", "Normal", "Better Performance", or have your own custom configuration.

You can also get to this Energy Saver menu by clicking on your battery/charge icon in the OSX top menu bar and clicking 'Energy Saver Preferences'.
Click to expand...

So sorry but mine does not have the drop down menu you mentioned. Is this in Leopard?
 
Joruus said:
Sure you have a MacBook? You should be able to change it at least in the Menu at the top of the Screen.
You can't change it when its a Desktop Model (iMac, Mac Pro etc..)
Click to expand...

yeah, he could totally have one of those battery power MacPros and not know it.. LOLOL
 
There may not be a drop down menu, but is there not an option for 'Energy Saver' in your System Preferences? Should look something like this:
 

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He's right, it's not there. Nor is it there in a 15" 1st gen unibody MBP. But what is there, in the 15", is the option for "better battery life," and "higher performance." When switched to higher performance, it turns on the dedicated GPU. When on better battery life, it runs on the integrated graphics. Because the 13" does not have a dedicated GPU, it doesn't give the option of what to do - it is always on better battery life. The option, though, is still there on the older MBP and MB - not unibody.
 

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KJdanReuben said:
He's right, it's not there. Nor is it there in a 15" 1st gen unibody MBP. But what is there, in the 15", is the option for "better battery life," and "higher performance." When switched to higher performance, it turns on the dedicated GPU. When on better battery life, it runs on the integrated graphics. Because the 13" does not have a dedicated GPU, it doesn't give the option of what to do - it is always on better battery life. The option, though, is still there on the older MBP and MB - not unibody.
Click to expand...

Ahhh....thanks. I can rest now. :)
 
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