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Macbook Pro battery capacity
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DeeKat
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Jun 8, 2007, 10:34 PM
 
I get about 3 hours at best with my Macbook Pro in regular use with the screen at half intensity. Battery setting are obviously set at the most energy saving one. I get a max charge capacity of 5376 mAh. My girlfriend's 12" Powerbook gets at least 4.5 hours WHF?

Is that normal? Are most of the MBP get the same autonomy? or I got a crappy one?
can you post what you get.


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mac128k-1984
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Jun 8, 2007, 10:36 PM
 
Did you calibrate the battery?
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DeeKat  (op)
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Jun 8, 2007, 10:37 PM
 
calibrate? Is it to late to do it?
     
AmericanPsych0
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Jun 9, 2007, 12:40 AM
 
Unfortunately, my 15" MBP (1.83 GHz CD) gets about that, too, on 5231 mAh. (That said, this is my third battery. My first did well, but I swapped it in the battery exchange program a few months back since it had over 100 cycles on it and it was free. The battery I got from that couldn't hold more than a third of a charge after a few months, and so I had that one replaced, too.)

And speaking of 12" PBs, I guess it's a good thing I can't remember the kind of battery life I got with mine before I sold it and grabbed this. Blech.

Originally Posted by DeeKat View Post
calibrate? Is it to late to do it?
Not at all. Here's how: Calibrating your computer's battery for best performance
When Vin Diesel pops a can of Pringles, the fun stops after about fifteen minutes.
     
onlyone-jc
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Jun 9, 2007, 04:41 AM
 
I think I got lucky with my MBP battery. If I run coconutBattery, it tells me that my 'Original Battery Capacity' was 5500mAh; but however that my 'Current Battery Capacity' is 6264mAh. After 50 cycles, its health has dropped to 99%, so that concerns me a little. But, It seems pretty good.

Try running coconutBattery, and see what it tells you. It tells you how old your Mac is as well, by reading how old the battery is.

onlyone-jc.
     
DeeKat  (op)
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Jun 9, 2007, 10:04 AM
 
Originally Posted by AmericanPsych0 View Post
Unfortunately, my 15" MBP (1.83 GHz CD) gets about that, too, on 5231 mAh. (That said, this is my third battery. My first did well, but I swapped it in the battery exchange program a few months back since it had over 100 cycles on it and it was free. The battery I got from that couldn't hold more than a third of a charge after a few months, and so I had that one replaced, too.)

And speaking of 12" PBs, I guess it's a good thing I can't remember the kind of battery life I got with mine before I sold it and grabbed this. Blech.


Not at all. Here's how: Calibrating your computer's battery for best performance
Well I ran coconutbatery and it tells me that my battery is at 96% of original load and that my MBP is 5 months old as in fact it's 2 months old! That sucks
I get a max charge of 5281 after 32 cycles.

I'll try recalibration to see if it helps in any way. And then I'll see if I can get a new one at my AppleStore but I doubt they will

[edit] oh and thank for the coconut tip onlyone!
     
onlyone-jc
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Jun 9, 2007, 10:12 AM
 
Don't worry about it saying that your MBP is 5 months old. It probably is, however it was just sitting on the shelf for 3 months before it got to you! At least you know it was made this year, and not last.

Good luck,
onlyone-jc.
     
iampivot
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Jun 9, 2007, 11:22 AM
 
My battery is down to 89% (4915mAh) after 195 cycles. How do you fully discharge the battery in order to recalibrate it? My mac always goes to sleep before the battery is completely empty.
     
DeeKat  (op)
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Jun 9, 2007, 12:32 PM
 
you can got in the energy saver preference pane and set it up so It doesn't go to sleep. it'll drain the battery dead.
     
AmericanPsych0
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Jun 9, 2007, 03:21 PM
 
Originally Posted by iampivot View Post
My battery is down to 89% (4915mAh) after 195 cycles. How do you fully discharge the battery in order to recalibrate it? My mac always goes to sleep before the battery is completely empty.
The Aple article I linked to says to let it sleep for "five hours or more".

And coconutBattery agrees with the Battery section of iStat Pro in that it's at 95% health after 27 cycles. =\
When Vin Diesel pops a can of Pringles, the fun stops after about fifteen minutes.
     
onlyone-jc
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Jun 10, 2007, 07:21 PM
 
My battery has now gone back up to 100% health, from 99%, and the maximum capacity has raised up to 6463mAh. I let it run down flat and left it off for several hours afterwards. So, I guess it re-calibrated itself.

Any luck with your battery, DeeKat?

onlyone-jc.
     
DeeKat  (op)
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Jun 11, 2007, 02:23 AM
 
onlyone - you did calibrate the MBP right out of the box, did you?
     
onlyone-jc
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Jun 11, 2007, 03:05 AM
 
...
( Last edited by onlyone-jc; Jun 11, 2007 at 05:05 PM. )
     
onlyone-jc
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Jun 11, 2007, 03:07 AM
 
...
( Last edited by onlyone-jc; Jun 11, 2007 at 05:05 PM. )
     
DeeKat  (op)
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Jun 11, 2007, 12:38 PM
 
I did 1 recalibration but I can't leave the MBP off for several hours since i'm in production right now and I need it. I've raise the battery's max change by a tiny bit, It was formely at 5376 mAh and it's now at 5401!!! Woohoo

I'm still amazed the you get 1000 mAh more change than me, that's a lot more! I wonder what is the average chage for MBP's batteries?
     
onlyone-jc
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Jun 11, 2007, 03:53 PM
 
Originally Posted by DeeKat View Post
I'm still amazed the you get 1000 mAh more change than me, that's a lot more! I wonder what is the average chage for MBP's batteries?
Well, according to coconutBattery, my original maximum battery capacity was 5500mAh. Yet, my battery manages to beat that by 1052mAh, in which standing at 6552mAh after 52 cycles. The System Profiler matches this, so it isn't a case of coconutBattery not reading it correctly. I guess I just got lucky?

onlyone-jc.
     
DeeKat  (op)
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Jun 11, 2007, 04:16 PM
 
onlyone - you did calibrate the MBP right out of the box, right?
     
onlyone-jc
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Jun 11, 2007, 05:04 PM
 
Originally Posted by DeeKat View Post
onlyone - you did calibrate the MBP right out of the box, right?
I sure did! I never switched the thing on until it was fully charged. Then, I used it on the battery until it drained right down and went in to a deep sleep. I then did a full recharge, thus completing the calibration. I did this a few more times over a few days to ensure proper calibration, and I now do it once a month. My maximum capacity has always been well in excess of 6000mAh.

onlyone-jc
     
iampivot
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Jun 11, 2007, 06:07 PM
 
Originally Posted by onlyone-jc View Post
I sure did! I never switched the thing on until it was fully charged. Then, I used it on the battery until it drained right down and went in to a deep sleep. I then did a full recharge, thus completing the calibration. I did this a few more times over a few days to ensure proper calibration, and I now do it once a month. My maximum capacity has always been well in excess of 6000mAh.
Do you maybe have one of the batteries that were recalled by Apple? I think they were more powerful but also a bit more dangerous. You can check the serial number of your battery at Apple's website.
     
onlyone-jc
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Jun 11, 2007, 07:40 PM
 
Nope. That only concerned batteries supplied in MacBook Pros a year ago, between February and May 2006.

Something else for you to try, would be this.

onlyone-jc.
     
marsbt
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Jul 12, 2007, 11:02 PM
 
I have done the Macbook Battery Update 1.2 and haven't got the battery to charge 100% since. It never goes beyond 99%. I have let it drain off while working and let it stay drained for about 24hrs and then charged it fully again. But it charged only till 99%.

Just yesterday I saw this page on Apple's website and got curious and did some searching on the web about it. I checked the Power status in System Profiler and to my surprise it said the Full Charge capacity was only 4600mAh. It used to be around 5400mAh till around Jan, Feb. The cycle count is only 70 as I don't use the laptop that much. And another weird thing I have noticed is that sometimes at low charge its charge capacity just jumps 7 or 8% down rather than gradual decrease.

Should I call up Apple for the MB+MBP battery update? Thanks all for your input.
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