# Macbook Battery and Capacity



## Phat Bastard (Jan 3, 2003)

I bought a Macbook three days ago. I immediately performed a battery calibration as instructed in the manual (fully charging up the battery, fully discharging it, letting it sleep for at least 5 hours, then fully charging it up again).

When I was discharging the battery, I was really impressed with the battery life--more than 4 hours with "Normal" settings in Energy Saver, WiFi on, Bluetooth off, screen at or near maximum brightness. The thing is, now that I've gone through the calibration process, the battery life maxes out at 2 hours 50 minutes with "Better Battery Life" in Energy Saver.

The thing is, I'm not 100% sure I fully discharged the battery, because I went to sleep leaving the Macbook on, doing a useless movie conversion just to kill the battery. In the middle of the night, I woke up and checked up on it and I couldn't awake the laptop with any keys, so I assumed it went into that "deep sleep" when the battery is dead.

As well, I used an application called coconutBattery to measure the current capacity and I got a reading of 5176 mAh, down from an original capacity of 5500 mAh.

So, whether you believe coconutBattery or not, I've lost a lot of battery capacity and it's pretty frustrating. Especially since I was getting such incredible battery life to start with.

Has anyone noticed anything similar? Could I have screwed the calibration up if I didn't fully discharged the battery? Will calibrating it again fix things, or should I take the Macbook in to get its battery replaced?

Thanks in advance!


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## yuwing (Aug 13, 2005)

maybe u already lost some of it when u got it.. i think when i got my ibook, it was at 99. I think ur over night dead battery killed some cells by the time u woke up and started recharging it. lithium batteries don't like being empty. 60% optimal. they don't like full all the time either but it beats empty. So by having it being empty for a few hours might have ruined it.  

i'm no battery technician, but that's all i know.


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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

Get it calibrated, this should've been done the very first time. Charge it all the way to full, run it down to empty, keep it like that for 6 hours, back to full, down to empty again, full, then use it normally. Recharge it as often as you can. Calibrate it once a month, and that should be good.


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## nutsngum (Jul 20, 2005)

Anyone have a suggestion about the battery if you plan on leaving your laptop plugged in for an extended period of time?


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## stillmot (Apr 8, 2005)

I've owned many ibooks and powerbooks over the years, some used and some new. I have never done any worrying about the batteries, I just let them do their job and never really had any problems. The current ibook I have gets great battery life even after regular use and a lack of the 'proper' treatment as mentioned above. Anybody else in the same boat as me, or have I just been lucky so far?


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## nutsngum (Jul 20, 2005)

stillmot said:


> I've owned many ibooks and powerbooks over the years, some used and some new. I have never done any worrying about the batteries, I just let them do their job and never really had any problems. The current ibook I have gets great battery life even after regular use and a lack of the 'proper' treatment as mentioned above. Anybody else in the same boat as me, or have I just been lucky so far?



When you use your laptop plugged in, do you leave the battery in?


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## gozer (Jan 15, 2002)

http://www.apple.com/ca/batteries/notebooks.html


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## Phat Bastard (Jan 3, 2003)

Thanks for all the replies, but most of you neglected to fully read my post. The first thing I did with the new Mac was calibrate the battery. I followed the instructions in the manual, which are also found at the apple.com batteries page.

I'm going to try and calibrate it again, hopefully the second round will fix it.


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## Pavmentsurfer (Jan 4, 2006)

Man, ive owned 5 Apple notebooks and I have NEVER done the proper battery calibration. I have also NEVER followed proper battery maintenance. I have always got great battery life. The last powerbook I had was just over 8 months old. I didnt properly calibrate the battery when I got it and I left it plugged in for days at a time, I also ran the batteries completely flat to the point where the sleep light didnt even work. When I sold it, I STILL got over 4 hours battery life. Same story with my 12 inch I Book. Abused the battery, didnt calibrate it and got over 4.5 hours battery life after a full year of useage... this is not to suggest you should neglect your battery. Im just saying you shouldent worry about it.

Here are a couple things to think about:
1. The calibration is MORE for the battery meter than it is for the actual battery life.
2. These batteries have no memory so it doesnt hurt them to charge from half or three quarters etc etc.
3. It IS good for these batteries to be cycled empty to full frequently. 
4. It is NOT good to leave them plugged in all the time... however I have had NO bad experienced with doing this for days, even up to a week at a time. 
5. These batteries NEED to be cycled several times before they attain their full capacity. I suggest using the computer unplugged, when you notice its full, plug it in, when its full unplug it and do this for a day or 2. Then, just use it normally. I would assume you bought a notebook because you take it places. If this IS the case and you do run it on battery power frequently just use it. The battery life will improve. 
6. Dont listen to your battery meter or the mAH of the battery to judge how good it is. Use the computer. If the battery doesnt get better in a week of normal useage take it back to the applestore and see what they say.

I DID completely read your original post and have based my comments on what you said. I am giving you advice based on my experiences, not on my deep knowledge of batteries. Though, I do understand how they work (im into electric RC planes). From what ive experienced with Apple notebooks, use the batteries and they will improve. Dont worry so much about them.
Pavmentsurfer


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## AdamS (Jun 7, 2005)

Another thing to consider is that I think coconutBattery isn't yet compatible with the MacBook. I think the reading you're seeing (5500 mA original capacity) is for the MBP, but I could be wrong...


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## Bryan49ers (May 21, 2005)

when calibrating for the first time, should I run down the initial charge before charging back all the way to the top? The guide just says "charge battery to full" or something like that... it gives no indication of at what percentage I should begin charging...


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## Pavmentsurfer (Jan 4, 2006)

that doesnt matter really. The last 2 Mac notebooks I bought new (a 12 inch I book and 15 inch High Rez Powerbook) i just used them from the day they were new. I didnt ever intentionally calibrate them. Eventually they were completely discharged and recharged but I didnt ever do it intentionally. And, the batteries lasted, on both for over 4 hours and the battery meter was almost always accurate. 

I think your worrying about this way too much. Just use the computer. The battery will NOT be negatively affected if you did or didnt fully charge before discharge, discharge too long, not %100 properly follow the calibration instructions. Its just not going to matter in the long run. Just use the computer. The battery life WILL get better over time. 

Pavmentsurfer


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