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NYGEO18 · Feb 4, 2005, 05:00 PM

I have owned my 12" powerbook for one year and 3 months. The battery's power has dropped off SIGNIFICANTLY, to the point where I cannot use it unplugged for more than 20 minutes after a full charge. I am very disappointed with this degradation in such a short time.
Does apple owe me a new battery? Is this even close to normal? Is it worth making an arguement?

GSixZero · Feb 4, 2005, 06:29 PM

Batteries get used up the same way your car uses tires, the more you use the battery, the more it gets spent, and the sooner you need to replace it.

Batteries will slowly decrease in capacity over their life time, and then will quickly decline towards the end, precisely what you've been noticing.

Does Apple owe you a new battery? No. Batteries are considered consumable, and aren't covered by applecare. Do you have Applecare? Defective batteries, ones that won't charge at all, may be covered during the first year, but spent battery's aren't.

PowerTower Fan · Feb 4, 2005, 06:35 PM

Unless you have Applecare, you're pretty much out of luck. Did you calibrate the battery regularly? If you did, this would have extended the life of the battery. Batteries only have a limited amount of charges, and if you use a battery a lot, it'll shorten its life.

GSixZero · Feb 4, 2005, 08:49 PM

Even with Applecare, you're probably out of luck.

From AppleCare Terms and Conditions
Section 2.e.(x) Limitations: The Plan does not cover consumable parts, such as batteries, unless damage has occurred due to a defect in materials and workmanship

Link · Feb 4, 2005, 08:54 PM

Wrong. The battery is defective, problem is it's been a year, and if he HAS used it an awful lot, well that's usual for apple's lye-on batteries.

jamiep · Feb 4, 2005, 08:54 PM

Buy a new battery, then bring back the busted one and say that it was DOA. Get another from Apple or the reseller and sell it on ebay. Problem solved.

Cadaver · Feb 5, 2005, 02:25 AM

Originally posted by jamiep:
Buy a new battery, then bring back the busted one and say that it was DOA. Get another from Apple or the reseller and sell it on ebay. Problem solved.

Crusoe · Feb 5, 2005, 06:20 AM

If it were under warranty they would probably replace it. Mine however was defective, it would go from 30% to 0 without time to sleep properly, so I waited till a few months before the warranty ran out and got it replaced.

ref the lying advice
... those who get free rides for a living will eventually get picked up by a serial killer.

bighead · Feb 5, 2005, 01:02 PM

Even under AppleCare, the warranty for a battery is one year. Consumable parts, and the battery is considered consumable, are not covered by AppleCare for more than one year (iBook or PowerBook). The iPod AppleCare is a different story, but not applicable in this case.

bbales · Feb 5, 2005, 02:44 PM

The previous poster is correct (and I went through this -- WITH AppleCare). Warranty period on the battery is one year.

Before deciding the battery is toast, however, I would reset the settings, so to speak. And of course, as soon as I started typing, every thought related to batteries flew right out of my head! I think it's resetting the power manager, or the energy manager, or something like that. Do a search on Apple's web site. Then you'll be sure you've done everything possible.

romeosc · Feb 5, 2005, 03:59 PM

Originally posted by jamiep:
Buy a new battery, then bring back the busted one and say that it was DOA. Get another from Apple or the reseller and sell it on ebay. Problem solved.

Batteries HAVE serial #s.

Why not just put a brick in box and return it..... same as theft!

You wonder why shoftlifting and bogus expenses like this ARE passed on to all purchasers!

meem · Feb 5, 2005, 05:19 PM

when did they change applecare policy? cuz I just got my 2.5 yr old tiBook battery replaced under applecare.

bearfilm · Feb 5, 2005, 07:09 PM

I called Apple about 1 week after my year anniversary to complain about my ten minutes of batttery time. <Background> - I had tried to treat this battery the "right" way by using the battery daily, not running it completely dead, except for once a month. I was really surprised at the drop in battery life, but figured that was one reason I purchased apple care to begin with. </Background> When I had finally called in to support I was told that batteries die, better get a new one. I finally did, because we all know a laptop without a battery, while still usable, SUCKS! I was just kind of pissed that this wasn't covered and not told that wehn I bought it.

NYGEO18 · Feb 5, 2005, 07:23 PM

Sounds like Im SOL. Oh well. Ill call applecare on monday and try to plead my case. BTW, I took superb care of my battery, pretty much to the letter of the kb info page about batteries.

bbales · Feb 5, 2005, 10:53 PM

I looked up the document for you -- it's resetting the Power Management Unit.

Here's the link to the support article battery

good luck. You might as well try this, as you really don't have anything to lose.

Detrius · Feb 6, 2005, 02:38 PM

The official word on battery warranties is one year. And, if the battery lasts longer than an hour on a charge, it's not considered defective.

So, to the person that just had a 2.5 year old battery replaced: this goes dramatically against Apple policy. This is odd.

markponcelet · Feb 6, 2005, 04:48 PM

Recently, there's been a lot of talk on Macintouch about the warranty-extending properties of using a Visa card.

Basically, any card with the Visa logo probably has a warranty extension benefit that will double your manufacturer's warranty if you purchase your compuer with that Visa. It's a reimbursement program, so you have to pay first and get a check later. And I hear that there is some proof that you have to provide. However, batteries are covered in this program.

Me, I plan on buying my computer with my Visa so that I get that warranty protection (for the batteries that will inevitably die) and buy Applecare as well so that I can expedite all other repairs and use Apple. (Because, let's face it: having Apple send you a box to return your powerbook for service and getting it all done for free is pretty darn convenient.)

So anyway, if you bought your powerbook with a Visa credit or debit card, find that card and call the number on the back to find out about that warranty protection. You very well might find a way to get that battery taken care of.

Mark

NYGEO18 · Feb 6, 2005, 07:35 PM

What are the drawbacks to resetting the PMU? What settings will I lose or have to reset? Is it a hassle at all?

tungtied07 · Feb 6, 2005, 09:03 PM

There aren't really drawbacks for resetting the PMU, you will need to set the date and time again, but if you set the correct settings in the Dates and Time Settings, the Automatic Clock Sync will set the correct time automatically if your connected to the internet.

Apple Doc:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449

Resetting the power manager also resets date and time settings. After the reset, on some iBooks and PowerBooks, the system clock is set to 00:00, 01 Jan 1904 for computers with Mac OS 9 or 00:00 (GMT), 01 Jan 1970 for computers with Mac OS X.

The Power Manager is an integrated circuit (computer chip) that is usually on the logic board of the PowerBook and iBook. As the name implies, it is responsible for power management of the computer. It controls backlighting, hard disk spin down, sleep and wake, some charging aspects, trackpad control, and some input/output as it relates to the computer sleeping.

Over time, the settings in the Power Manager may become unusable, which can result in operational anomalies with the computer. Examples include not turning on, not waking from sleep, not charging the battery, or not seeing the AC Adapter, among others.

Resetting the PMU is not intended for resolution of a stall or situation in which the computer is unresponsive. A PMU reset should not be necessary except as a last resort in cases where a hardware failure of the power management system is suspected. Performing a PMU reset returns the iBook and PowerBook hardware, including NVRAM, to default settings and forces the computer to shut down.

LadyBlue · Feb 9, 2005, 12:29 PM

One of my batteries died within 6 months of purchasing it. I calibrated it perfectly and all that jazz. I had called Applecare and even sent it off for repair (I didn't know the battery went dead).

They sent my pb back (with a new scratch or two), said that batteries die, go get a new one, and I was pissed.

So I went to my local AppleStore w/ genius bar and politely told my case to a genius. They were nice and took my side and gave me a new battery.

AssassyN · Feb 9, 2005, 04:44 PM

Hahaha, the buying/replacing idea is awesome. Shameful, but awesome.

tooki · Feb 9, 2005, 06:33 PM

Apple's official policy may be that batteries aren't covered, but I know from first-hand experience that their warranty instructions to the employees allow them to replace them in case of "unusual" failure. If you ask nicely, they will replace it, since you're not talking about a small loss in life, but essentially complete failure in a very unusually short amount of time.

tooki