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A closer look at Apple's advanced notebook battery tech - Page 5

post #161 of 167
1/15/09 at 1:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism View Post

It's not based on how many times you charge it, it's based on how many complete cycle counts you have. You can check System Profiler under Power to see the Cycle Count and condition of for your battery.

Quote:
Originally Posted by System Profiler

Health Information:
Cycle countt636
ConditiontGood

That good? I actually forgot that I had a replacement battery a few months after I bought it because there was a problem with it. So with that in mind, it's probably had about 700-800 days of use. It seems to be working about as well as it always has. 17" MacBook battery, watch out
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post #162 of 167
1/15/09 at 1:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jowie74 View Post

That good? I actually forgot that I had a replacement battery a few months after I bought it because there was a problem with it. So with that in mind, it's probably had about 700-800 days of use. It seems to be working about as well as it always has. 17" MacBook battery, watch out

If you install coconutBattery you can also see the original mAh capacity and the current maximum mAh capacity.

From the data you supplied you have shown that a properly used and maintained battery can last a very long time.
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post #163 of 167
1/15/09 at 2:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism View Post

If you install coconutBattery you can also see the original mAh capacity and the current maximum mAh capacity.

okay - try and explain this one!
[CENTER][/CENTER]
My battery is working better now than when it was first used??
Quote:
From the data you supplied you have shown that a properly used and maintained battery can last a very long time.

Seems like I'm lucky! I've not really been doing anything different... I think. I guess it may help that it's not my only machine, some people may be travelling with theirs a lot and charging it maybe twice a day. I don't tend to charge my MacBook until it goes dead, or I go to bed... Whichever comes first!

So do most people have to replace their batteries after about a year? I'd have been gutted to have to replace a battery after such a short period of time. This is my first and only laptop, so I don't know any different.
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post #164 of 167
1/15/09 at 2:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jowie74 View Post

okay - try and explain this one!
<image>
My battery is working better now than when it was first used??

I think the original is the rating for the battery as all my pre-unibody MacBooks have listed a 5020 mAh (the new unibody MBs list a 4100 mAh). I have had several batteries that were rated as better, as well, though I don't think they were that high, especially after such a long cycle count.

Quote:
So do most people have to replace their batteries after about a year? I'd have been gutted to have to replace a battery after such a short period of time. This is my first and only laptop, so I don't know any different.

No, they don't, but many on this forum bitch about the need to replace batteries despite very few have ever needed to do it except in older phones and PCs that needed a hard reboot.

As an aside, I'm all for Apple's new approach to non-user removable batteries, despite being someone who typically has 2 spare notebook batteries.

PS: The currently installed 3 month old, 37 cycle count battery for unibody MB is at 3996 mAh. I'm not sure what it was originally, but I'm guessing that it was probably below the 4100 mAh mark to have gone down so much in 37 cycles.
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post #165 of 167
1/15/09 at 2:42pm
Well from my personal experience FWIW, having a non-user-replaceable battery would not bother me at all. The only time I've needed to repair my battery I needed to take it to the Apple Store anyway.

So does the new 4100mAh not last as long then? Does it mean the battery doesn't last as long per charge, or does it just have less cycles? Or does it not mean any of these things? Are smaller numbers worse or better?
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post #166 of 167
1/15/09 at 2:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jowie74 View Post

So does the new 4100mAh not last as long then? Does it mean the battery doesn't last as long per charge, or does it just have less cycles? Or does it not mean any of these things? Are smaller numbers worse or better?

Smaller is worse for duration. The larger the battery capacity in mAh the longer the duration of use per charge. These MBs don't last as long, but since the components are more efficient in their power usage the difference, the ~900 mAh difference from the 5020 mAh doesn't equate to a 18% reduction is usage. The time is quite minimal, but I think that it's clear that Apple will go integrated with the rest of their notebook line shortly.
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post #167 of 167
1/15/09 at 3:04pm
Thanks for the interesting lesson!
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