What is the normal MBP Battery capacity?

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Level 9

78,109 points

What is the normal MBP Battery capacity?

I have an approx. 1 month old MBP; the first battery was just replaced by Apple. I received the new battery on Friday and let it charge fully. On Friday evening, I turned on the MBP and saw that the battery showed "original capacity 5500, current capacity 5391 (fully charged)". I thought that a bit strange, so I decided to calibrate it following Apple's instructions. On Saturday, after fully charging it again, it showed "current capacity 5301". So, now the capacity is worse - ?

Before calling Apple, I'd like to know if it's normal to have a 5% capacity reduction within about 24 hours - at that rate, the battery will be dead shortly.

I'd appreciate any input/experiences with battery capacity.

20" G5 iMac 2.1 GHz, 15" 2.2GHz MBP 2GB RAM (10.4.10), Mac OS X (10.4.6), 1.5 GB RAM, LaCie d2 DVDRW, 2 LaCie ext HD

Posted on Dec 17, 2007 2:49 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

neuroanatomist

Level 8

48,999 points

Dec 17, 2007 2:57 PM in response to babowa

It's normal, because the 5500 mAh original capacity is the nominal capacity of a new battery, not the exact original capacity of your battery. New ones vary from ~5300 to ~5700. So, just keep an eye on it, and if the health drops below 80% of nominal new capacity (i.e. 4400 mAh) before you hit 300 cycles, call AppleCare (again!).

Hope this helps...

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Answer 2

babowa Author

Level 9

78,109 points

Dec 17, 2007 9:26 PM in response to neuroanatomist

Thank you for your insight; never having had a laptop before, this battery capacity issue is a bit baffling.

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Answer 3

Feb 5, 2008 2:07 PM in response to babowa

I'm having a similar issue. I just bought a macbook pro 2 weeks ago. I noticed that the battery health was 99% but the status said the battery is fully charged. The next day it said 98%. Today it reads 96% battery health. This entire time, I have not taken out the charger. I have only recharged the battery twice the entire time that I have owned this machine. My old macbook which has been recharged about 200 times, still reads 100% battery health. There is something definitely wrong here....

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Answer 4

babowa Author

Level 9

78,109 points

Feb 5, 2008 3:47 PM in response to macintoshforlife

My battery has been doing fine; it will lose 1 - 2% per day. Just keep an eye on yours (keep notes) and call Apple if you think it's going down too fast.

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Answer 5

Feb 5, 2008 4:31 PM in response to babowa

I'm sure your right, but my macbook, which is about a year old, has not lost any charge. The battery health is still 100%. It seems odd for the MBP to lose 4% after 3 weeks....

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Answer 6

babowa Author

Level 9

78,109 points

Feb 5, 2008 4:51 PM in response to macintoshforlife

Well, I don't know if this would have anything to do with it, but I've noticed a general decline in quality of many products, probably having to do with the manufacturers trying to come out with less expensive, and, at the same time, new and/or improved features, etc, etc. trying to entice you to buy new.....

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Answer 7

Feb 5, 2008 6:20 PM in response to babowa

FIGURED IT OUT! My battery level reached 95% and the battery status said, "the battery is not charging"
I looked it up on apple support and found this very useful section in the Macbook Pro User's Guide:

"If the battery icon in the Finder menu bar is set to show the percentage of charge, you might sometimes notice that the battery does not attain a full 100 percent charge when the power adapter is attached. This is normal behavior; battery life is maximized if charging is not continuously cycled on and off when the battery’s charge capacity is between 95 and 100 percent. When the battery level eventually drops below 95 percent, it will charge all the way to 100 percent."

This fits with my problem. This macbook pro has been literally plugged in for well over a week!
So much for the "apple products are losing their quality" 🙂

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Answer 8

babowa Author

Level 9

78,109 points

Feb 5, 2008 10:02 PM in response to macintoshforlife

I didn't say Apple products - I meant that in a very general way 🙂.

Glad you figured it out and I learned something new...

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