The battery life of all Apple products is important to us the users and Apple has started to address this issue. But regarding my MacBook Pro 15 inch (Late 2011) for starters does anyone know what the remaining cycle life of 31% (686 of 1000) means? Does it stop functioning??
I had to replace the battery in my MacBook Air some years ago, but macOS warned me about that. I didn’t know to check cycle numbers, but it was pretty clear it needed to be replace even before I got the warnings since battery life was abysmal. My suspicion is that you’ll know when you should send it in for a new battery regardless of what the cycle life is.
Not an option for me Adam as it’s over 5 years old and Apple don’t support it!
I regard Macs as the Rolls Royces of the computer world and think that WE should be able to keep them going just like the cars. What do you think?
ATB. Joe
You can still get it serviced in California, interestingly, since California requires service to go for 7 years.
And it doesn’t look all that hard to do yourself.
I’ll book a flight Adam but I’ll have to be quick as mine is an early 2011!
I get confused 'cause my spare 15 inch MBP is a LATE 2011:)
Third party batteries are available, such as the one from NewerTech:
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/BAP15MBU78W/
I don’t see the 15" on ifixit, but OWC has a video of how to install it They claim the skill level is ‘straightforward’.
https://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/macbookpro_15_unibody_early11/
Dina at iFixit sent me this:
“We do sell replacement batteries for Macbook Pro 15” Unibody Late 2011:
MacBook Pro 15" Unibody (Early 2011/Late 2011/Mid 2012) Replacement Battery
If this is not the model for your device, you can follow the link below to correctly identify your Macbook:
https://www.ifixit.com/Info/ID-your-Mac
At the end you will have a list of product which are compatible with your Macbook.
You can use the same item code at the iFixit EU Store (e.g. IF123-123 = EU123123)".
Yeah it looks pretty simple so I’ll buy one but as nobody has told me what the Cycle Life figure of 1000 represents I won’t fit it till mine does something weird when it tops 1000 cycles. It seems to be increasing about 25 a week but as all my previous Techtools logs got wiped with its last major update I can only say that its current state of 691 cycles has taken since early 2011 (364 weeks) is about two a week so I’ve no idea when the 1000 will arise, but I’ll be ready!
Apple explains cycles here:
Basically, a cycle happens when the battery is discharged the equivalent of 100%, even if that happens in multiple sessions with charging in between. Since your cycles are increasing rapidly, that would indicate that 100% of your battery life isn’t very much.
nobody has told me
what the Cycle Life figure of 1000 represents
A battery cycle is one empty-full-empty. But it doesn’t have to happen as 0 to 100 to 0. If you go from 50% to 100% to 50% twice, that’s still one cycle. Battery specs will generally say how many total cycles they can survive under ideal conditions. 1000 seems a little optimistic, but ‘maximum’ specs often are.
Of course, no one has ideal conditions. In general, lithium batteries ‘like’ to be kept at about 40%, and prefer to be exercised regularly. If you frequently let the battery run down to zero then charge it 100%, that will reduce the total cycles it can do. So will plugging it in so it’s constantly at 100% for months on end. Lithium batteries ‘like’ to do at least one cycle a month, preferably kept between something like 25% to 75% rather than 0 to 100. Temperature can also affect life, cool being better than hot.
But with an ideal life of 1000 cycles there’s plenty of slop and no point in worrying too much about it. I have a 2009 macbook pro that has been treated poorly by not being used at all for months (battery at zero) alternating with being kept constantly plugged in for months, plus spending summers in a fairly hot room (80-98F). It’s battery is still holding for 4-5 hours, down from about 6 hours when I got it.
My battery is at 82% capacity but the MBP has recently stopped charging even when it’s plugged in and won’t start recharging, very similar to my iPhone 6S that’s dead for 15 minutes when it runs out and I plug it into mains!
make sure your power cord is intact (in my view, Apple has chintzy power cords, I’ve had multiple failures) and that it is seated correctly in the MBP without obstruction (dust, pet hair, etc.)
I think there may be a bad controller board - sounds like mine & i ended up with new mbp
I too have had “powdering” power cables on my PowerBooks:(( I’ve always looked after my MagSafe power supply and connector Seth, but thanks. Here’s what Apple say on the subject:
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT203207
I too thought that it might be the controller board David which is why I’ve now got a spare MBP.
BUT since I updated to Mac OSX 10.13.5 I’ve not had the strange behaviour of my MagSafe AND my MBP is MUCH faster! It’s removed my MemoryKeeper so I don’t worry about the apparent lack of memory which I know affects performance. IF it’s working well don’t worry is now my motto and I could never find where my 16GB was going to!
I think that Apple have got memory management right in this OS X release.
I’m not sure about the iOS on my phone but I hope that they do so in the next update, which at the current rate of update releases can’t be far away! Currently as Battery Health is Beta implies that a better release is around the corner. Yes I’m aware of the saga of this which is why I started this thread.
Re: “Regarding my iPhone I’ve updated its iOS regularly BUT my Battery State is frozen at 84% which I DO NOT believe!”
It’s not your battery state (which goes up and down as you charge/use your battery). It’s your battery health, which should start at 100% for a fresh battery and decay very gradually over the life of the battery. Over time, use makes your battery’s “health” go down, and nothing actually improves it; the “health” measure is based on the state of the internal chemical components of the battery.
It would be a bad and unexpected thing if the assessment of your battery’s “health” were to be changing significantly in a short window of time. If other software is reporting such changes, then that software is probably not accurately reporting the condition of the battery.
Dave
Sorry Dave I used the word State instead of Health!
My iPhone iOS’s Battery Health (Beta) is ALWAYS 86%!!!
As that figure NEVER changes I don’t believe it and I started this thread about not just Apple’s batteries but what they are doing to “fix” the problems. Well this “fix” is suspiciously like a lie. Before Apple brought out iOS’s Battery Health (Beta) they agreed that the capacity (Health) of my battery was so low that I could travel nearly 300 miles (round trip) to a Genius Bar appointment for them to replace the battery for the knock down price of £25. I was early for my appointment and waited the two hours for my appointment and witnessed two other owners of 6Ss have their battery exchanged AFTER the “Geniuses” had identified their batteries as being at fault. Come my appointment they didn’t have a battery for me despite my being PROMISED that one would be waiting for me BEFORE I booked my appointment!!
Apple’s customer care was legendary but sadly they are approaching ALL the others who have castrated their CS programs and leave us “flapping in the wind”.
As I’ve said before Apple’s devices are charged at the level of a Rolls Royce car, there are business is buying and selling these wonderful examples of superb engineering, some of which are 100 years old!!!
There is NO reason why an electronic device has to be any different. The increasing complexity of the latest release of Apples devices are wonderful BUT generally are aspirational, just as Rolls Royces are, and the older versions are (or would be if engineering redundancies and tricks were avoided) perfectly capable devices for the functions that they were designed for.
The world is only just now getting clued up to plastic waste in the Oceans that I saw nearly 40 years ago and have been trying to avoid adding to this burden ever since. Disposable engineering is an insult to our intelligence and the planet, IMHO.
As I’ve said before Apple’s devices are charged at the level of a Rolls Royce car, there are business is buying and selling these wonderful examples of superb engineering, some of which are 100 years old!!!
One of the biggest reasons why Apple began making their own chips is because Intel hasn’t been building chips that are advanced enough. I’ve read that Apple has been sniffing around for talent and materials to develop their own batteries, though this is rumored to be for cars.
Since Apple is going full speed ahead in AR and VR, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re also thinking about making batteries for Macs and iOS devices too. The battery problems they’ve been having recently could be an incentive to double down on their efforts.
There is NO reason why an electronic device has to be any different. The increasing complexity of the latest release of Apples devices are wonderful BUT generally are aspirational, just as Rolls Royces are, and the older versions are (or would be if engineering redundancies and tricks were avoided) perfectly capable devices for the functions that they were designed for.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they’re already cozying up to Rolls Royce about aspirational robo cars. They had a bunch of snazzy jewelry and fashion companies design bands for the unveiling of Watch.
Marilyn
RR & Apple are natural bed fellows, for sure, sadly I can’t afford the ticket price either so I’m forced to keep my 2011 kit running as well as I can!
My latest battery issue is that whilst displaying 100% it’s icon was RED. When I disconnected my MagSafe I got a warning that my battery state was 1% and about to shut down my MBP!!! I checked with the little button on the left and indeed my battery was all but dead!
My latest version of TechTools Pro (v10.0.1) now checks the state of my iPhone as well as my MBP and it was firstly 76% and then 77% a week later NOT 86% so I say again I don’t trust the iOS version; it’s just Apple throwing sand in our eyes!
This is typically caused by a bad battery. Clicking on the battery icon should display your battery health. I would look into it.
It should not change. Or it should only change slightly over many months. If the Battery health number is changing, that indicates a failing battery. My battery health has ben 94% for the last two months on an iPhone 7 Plus.