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Replacement Macbook battery
psyck0
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hey all,
My macbook battery has crapped out after 2.5 years- it gets about 5 minutes of life. I was really not happy with the battery ever and this very short lifespan just reinforces that- my friends with PC laptops all have healthy batteries after 3 or even 4 years that still give them 2+ hours. As a result, I am NOT very enthused about buying a replacement from Apple. Do you know of anyone who makes a better battery?
My macbook battery has crapped out after 2.5 years- it gets about 5 minutes of life. I was really not happy with the battery ever and this very short lifespan just reinforces that- my friends with PC laptops all have healthy batteries after 3 or even 4 years that still give them 2+ hours. As a result, I am NOT very enthused about buying a replacement from Apple. Do you know of anyone who makes a better battery?
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Is your macbook under Applecare or any type of warranty still? Using third party batteries (which can offer more life than official versions) may violate the warranty.
Charge remaining (mAh): 3398
Fully charged: No
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 3398
Health Information:
Cycle count: 85
Condition: Check battery
I am fully aware that batteries degrade over time. My point is that my friends, who use their computers as much or more than I do (they often just leave them sitting on 24 hours a day) still have fairly healthy batteries, while mine has crapped out. I have heard online that Apple's batteries are generally crap, so I am looking for a better third-party one. Do any of you actually have any recommendations?
Fuck it, I'm going to call them tomorrow and raise hell. I just found an official statement saying that the battery capacity should be good to 80% after 300 cycles. Mine was pretty much dead as of last summer, but I didn't want to deal with it then.
I think I qualify under http://www.apple.com/support/macbook_macbookpro/batteryupdate/, so they'd better do it.
However, I would recommend trying to not "raise hell" right off the bat. Might not have as much success if you act like a dick from the get-go.
There are a few things to try to fix this:
1.) Calibrate your battery by charging it up all the way and using it until the computer goes into emergency sleep.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.4/en/mh2339.html
2.) Reset the SMC to ensure proper function of power management.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1411
3.) Find another magsafe cord from someone else and try to use it. It's possible your powerbrick is toast and not charging the battery.
4.) If all of the above fail to produce a satisfactory result, then your battery has really crapped out. Since it has only been 85 cycles, it IS defective and Apple WILL take it back, though you may have to be very assertive with the support staff. For reference, my Macbook Pro has been through 288 cycles, often trading off months on a desk with months on the road. I can get a good 3+ hours out of it. Call Apple and do not take no for an answer. Sure batteries are consumables, but you have come nowhere close to consuming yours and it's empty.
There is a known defect.
http://www.apple.com/support/macbook_macbookpro/batteryupdate/
My Dell battery that I was talking about had only a few hundred mAh when it was at the end of its life. It was crazy.
Huh. Mine's gone through 372 cycles in 43 months and it only holds 35%(1558 of the original 4400mAh) of it's original charge. I never get a low battery warning anymore because it dies instantly when the charge indicator in my menu hits roughly 30%. So suddenly, in fact, that the system doesn't even have time to save my system state to the PRAM and go to sleep. It just shuts off cold turkey.
It wouldn't be so annoying except that I became spoiled by being warned and having the luxury of the system saving all my data. I'm often caught with my pants down now, particularly with the charge indicator being so unreliable. I save religiously as soon as I hit 50% and shut down at 40% if I don't have access to a power outlet. I think I get less than an hour out of this thing now if I'm actually using it for anything other than word-processing.
You're not eligible for a return but you should totally go for this:
http://store.fastmac.com/product_info.php?products_id=3
For $99 you get 3+ hours of life again and a reliable indicator. Not a bad buy.
Lithium-ion ones cope fine with that.
It was the old nickel-cadmium ones that died horribly I believe.
Sadly no one (Apple or otherwise) actually includes intelligent power management options so that you can, say, run your system at full performance but maintain an ideal storage charge while plugged into an outlet. Then again, why would they? Replacement batteries are good business.
If you do just replace the battery yourself, you may wish to simply purchase the cells on their own and rebuild your own unit. It's not that hard, and generally the cheapest way to fix a battery. Doesn't take much know-how, google gave me functional instructions when I did that for my P4 lappy.
Running without a battery puts undue stress on the power supply for Macbooks. The laptops even clock down to ensure power consumption doesn't spike past 80 or 65 watts. I've seen more than one laptop HD bite it from getting unplugged without a battery.