[khanselman]

I've had my Macbook Pro (2.16ghz C2D, 2gb ram, 10.4.11) for around a year and a half, almost two years. Generally I've tried all the tips on keeping my battery well maintained - taking the battery out if I know I'm going to keep it plugged in after the 100% charge, using the battery down to ~20% before charging it and then charging it back to 100%, etc.

According to the istatpro widget, I have 250 cycles on the battery, it's health is only 66%, and at full charge will airport on, full brightness on screen, and just general web use I only get about 3hrs on it.

However, recently, I have been using it and notice the battery gets down to like 15-13% and before I get a chance to plug it in it dies. Also, I don't get the "computer is running on reserve battery" popup warning anymore before it just shuts off (not sleep, complete hard off). Any ideas/suggestions?

[moep]

Yes, try recalibrating your battery:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1490

If that doesn’t help it might be time for a new battery.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by khanselman 

I've had my Macbook Pro (2.16ghz C2D, 2gb ram, 10.4.11) for around a year and a half, almost two years. Generally I've tried all the tips on keeping my battery well maintained - taking the battery out if I know I'm going to keep it plugged in after the 100% charge, using the battery down to ~20% before charging it and then charging it back to 100%, etc.

Where'd you get those "tips"? That's almost the opposite of what you want to do with a LiPo battery.

[khanselman]

Mduell: my 7 years of IT work, past experiences, and reading led me to those "tips":

1. Never discharge battery to 0%. Let battery discharge to ~20% before recharging.

2. Run it on AC supply without battery if you use the laptop most of the time at home or a place where there is a continuous power supply. Keeping the battery in can ruin the battery.

3. If you use AC power most of the time, then store battery with 50% charge. At least once in a week use the laptop on battery power. (www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html)

If you can show me where I am wrong, I would love to know.

Moep: Thanks for the link. I tried this, however, like I said in my original post, it gets to about 13% and shuts off completely (no battery warning, no auto hibernate, etc) as if the battery is really past the 13% it says and is at 0, but because the computer believes it is at 13 doesn't give me the warning, etc. I've let the battery sit outside of the laptop for a couple of hours while I'm at work. I'll start it back up when I get home to see how it goes.

I also checked to make sure I had the most recent battery update from apple and rechecked my system preferences for energy saving and reset those.

[Simon]

If recalibrating doesn't help you can try an SMC reset as a last resort.

After that you can officially declare the battery toast and buy a new one.

[khanselman]

I just found this thread on the apple support: http://discussions.apple.com/thread....86200&tstart=0

It is a pretty big post about people who have the same problem, and apparently Apple has started replacing batteries because of it: http://www.apple.com/support/macbook...batteryupdate/

I guess I should at least check with Apple Genius to see if I can get it replaced...

[ibook_steve]

Though he didn't explain himself, mduell is correct. Adjustments to your tips should be:

1) Discharge to whatever you want unless you are calibrating. Why 20%? What's special about that?

2) Keeping the battery in when on AC will not ruin the battery. The machine is smart enough to trickle charge the battery as appropriate. This does no damage to the battery and does not count as a charge cycle. Also, some machines (at least for the old G4s; it may still be the case) operate at lower performance (operating frequency is reduced) if the machine is on AC with the battery removed.

3) That Apple web page is referring to if you are storing a battery separate from the computer and the computer is not to be used for like 6 months. Going back to #2 above, there's no reason to remove your battery if you are actively using the computer.

As has been discussed in these forums many times before, the batteries in Apple portable computers don't need to be babied. Just enjoy using your computer and don't worry so much about the battery.

My 93 cycle count late 2006 MBP (2.33 GHz) is having some of the problems listed on the replacement battery web page, but the Apple store says I don't have one of the magic serial numbers, so I don't get a free replacement battery. I'm probably going to buy one of those higher capacity FastMac batteries soon.

Steve

[moep]

Originally Posted by ibook_steve 

My 93 cycle count late 2006 MBP (2.33 GHz) is having some of the problems listed on the replacement battery web page, but the Apple store says I don't have one of the magic serial numbers, so I don't get a free replacement battery. I'm probably going to buy one of those higher capacity FastMac batteries soon.

Slightly OT: I had the same issue on my 17" late '06. Battery performance got worse and worse and I asked Apple for a replacement, no go. At one point the trackpad stopped working which was caused by the battery starting to grow/bloat. I stopped using it immediately, called Apple, mentioned the bloated battery and it was replaced without even asking me for a Serial Number. That was at 650 cycles, however.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by khanselman 

2. Run it on AC supply without battery if you use the laptop most of the time at home or a place where there is a continuous power supply. Keeping the battery in can ruin the battery.

There's no problem with leaving the battery in (the laptop will stop charging it and let it sit), and taking the battery out results in dramatically decreased performance (a design decision by Apple for reasons unknown).

Originally Posted by khanselman 

taking the battery out if I know I'm going to keep it plugged in after the 100% charge

Originally Posted by khanselman 

3. If you use AC power most of the time, then store battery with 50% charge.

Which one is it that you're advocating as caring for the battery?

[Simon]

Originally Posted by ibook_steve 

Also, some machines (at least for the old G4s; it may still be the case) operate at lower performance (operating frequency is reduced) if the machine is on AC with the battery removed.

Exactly. Just as for the G4s, this is also the case for MB(P)s. Removing the battery will severely reduce performance (shuts off a core, drops clock)

As has been discussed in these forums many times before, the batteries in Apple portable computers don't need to be babied. Just enjoy using your computer and don't worry so much about the battery.

I think this is pretty much the bottom line. And people need to start considering that batteries have a lifetime. They do not and were not meant to last as long as the computer. That's why batteries are explicitly exempt from Apple Care. I have come to accept the fact that my MB(P) batteries needs to be replaced after 18-24 months of use (my type of use, of course YMMV). Regular wear and tear.

There are exceptions and the symptoms are clearly listed on Apple's web pages. 80% of the capacity has to be retained during the first 300 cycles. If you're within your regular warranty period (not AC) and your battery fails to meet those specs, you can get a warranty replacement. Everything else is up to you to pay. Reglar wear and tear.

[dustrho]

I've been experiencing the same problem as everyone else here, and after speaking with Apple Support they are shipping me a new replacement battery. My MBP is one day out of warranty, and even though they said this isn't covered under warranty anymore they made an exception and are sending this to me for free. I would have been pretty upset if I had to pay $129 for a new battery, but I'm glad they're sending me a free one. Once I get the new battery, that will come with a 90-day warranty.

[Carla V.]

That happened to me at the first days with my MacBook, as they said, you should re-calibrate the battery. Mine went from shutting down and near 30% life to almost neat 0%