MacBook battery health...

Battery also acting weird. I have a 2 year old macbook that indicates 100% charged, green light indication on charging cord, but I know that the battery is not fully charged, and has less than an 30 minutes of life when disconnected. 187 charging cycles currently but think I have an imminent battery failure pending...

Battery Information:

Model Information:
Serial Number: DP-ASMB013-34bd-7f08
Manufacturer: DP
Device name: ASMB013
Pack Lot Code: 0001
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 0102
Hardware Revision: 0300
Cell Revision: 0100
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 65336
Fully charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 65336
Health Information:
Cycle count: 187
Condition: Good
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): -999
Voltage (mV): 9934

System Power Settings:

AC Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Automatic Restart On Power Loss: No
Wake On AC Change: No
Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes
Wake On LAN: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
Battery Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 2
Wake On AC Change: No
Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
Reduce Brightness: Yes

Hardware Configuration:

UPS Installed: No

AC Charger Information:

Connected: Yes
Charging: No

Yours sounds crazy! How could your full charge capacity be 65336 mAh? It looks like your amperage numbers are screwy. How can it be a negative number?

Here's my Battery Information for an 18-month old Macbook:

Model Information:
Serial Number: DP-ASMB016-36c1-c40b
Manufacturer: DP
Device name: ASMB016
Pack Lot Code: 0002
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 102a
Hardware Revision: 0500
Cell Revision: 0102
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 1193
Fully charged: No
Charging: Yes
Full charge capacity (mAh): 4941
Health Information:
Cycle count: 399
Condition: Good
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 2788
Voltage (mV): 11694

Hardware Configuration:

UPS Installed: No


All the other Battery Information results I've seen have a full charge capacity of around 5000 mAh. I'd say contact apple about that, or just get a new one.

My mistake. I learned amperage, or current, is negative when you are using the battery and not plugged in. But yours says that it's full, with 65000+ mAh, and plugged in. It shouldn't have negative amperage when plugged in if it's in use.

My battery will now say 100% charged, but then when I unplug, it only last about 5 minutes before going to sleep. About a minute later, the computer turns off. Now, the battery won't even charge. It just has an "X" over it, even after being plugged in for 2 hours.

Thanks. Back to zero amps, unable to charge, and only able to operate with cord plugged in. Think I'm cooked and will be asking Santa for a new battery for Christmas.

Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 65336
Fully charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 65336
Health Information:
Cycle count: 187
Condition: Good
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 0
Voltage (mV): 10159

Wow, those are some pretty crazy system profiler logs from all of you. A couple of things:

1.) FCC / Full Charge Capacity on the typical MacBook battery should be between 4650-4900 mAh. That's on a brand new battery, the number varies from battery to battery but that's a rough estimate.

2.) RCC / Remaining Charge Capacity will vary when the machine is in use and not plugged into power. That number, even when the battery is fully charged and showing 100% will almost always be 10-100 mAh lower than the FCC. It's never a good idea to run the battery completely dead (to 0) on a consistent basis.

3. CCC / Charge Cycle Count will start at 1 (on a brand new battery) and can go up from there. A charge cycle occurs when the battery has depleted and then been recharged by 100%. So based on the frequency you use your machine (charging and discharging) your CCC will vary. I've seen 3 year old machines with 40 CCCs and 9 month old machines with 250.

Apple does offer coverage on batteries if the machine is within the one-year limited warranty and the battery is considered failed/defective, not consumed. Apple also offers coverage on batteries within the scope of AppleCare's Protection Plan, again if the battery is considered failed/defective, not consumed.

For several of the above posters, your system profiler logs on your battery seem to be incredibly out of whack and I'd recommend either contacting Apple for some assistance or visiting your local Apple Store to have your battery checked out.

Out of curiosity, how does mine look? It's not plugged in at the moment

Battery Information:

Model Information:
Serial Number: DP-ASMB013-34ba-27c7
Manufacturer: DP
Device name: ASMB013
Pack Lot Code: 0001
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 0102
Hardware Revision: 0300
Cell Revision: 0100
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 835
Fully charged: No
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 1851
Health Information:
Cycle count: 263
Condition: Check battery
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): -1584
Voltage (mV): 10148

I got my MacBook right when it came out in 2006. I understand it's old, the battery dies in just over an hour. Sometimes it just shuts off without warning, I tried setting the SMC but it still happens

Hi DJM027,

Your battery's full charge capacity is extremely low, it's only at 1851. That's not entirely normal/expected given the cycle count on the battery.

Did you purchase Applecare for the MacBook? If so, I recommend contacting Apple (877-APL-CARE) and identify with them what options are available.

Yes I have AppleCare. I'm going to make an appointment online for the Genius Bar. (I'm going to make one, but do they have walk in option for Genius Bar?)

All Genius Bars require that you make an appointment to be seen by a technician. However, almost all the stores have something called a "stand by" queue. This queue is designed to accommodate walk-in customers without an appointment that require immediate service/support. Just like standby at an airport, you're waiting with the hope that someone doesn't show up for their appointment and you can take their spot.

From my personal experience... if you can make an appointment (even if it means waiting an extra day or two) then make one. I once had to wait on standby at a store, for 4 hours, and just ended up checking in my machine for repair.

My Macbook had the same problem. It is 2 years old and the battery was down to less than one hour of charge (sometimes only 20 mins). It reported 1500mAh on full and 230 cycles. It had "Check Battery" under condition. I spoke to Apple Care (I took the 3 years) and they agreed to replace it under warranty. I got a case number, made an appointment at the Genius bar the following day, and had it replaced.

You should look at this link: http://www.apple.com/support/macbook_macbookpro/batteryupdate/ where Apple discuss a battery problem where they are giving an extended warranty. The sypmptoms they list are:

+*Affected batteries will have one or more of the following symptoms*:+

+Battery is not recognized causing an “X” to appear in the battery icon in the Finder menu bar.+
+Battery will not charge when computer is plugged into AC power.+
+Battery exhibits low charge capacity/runtime when using a fully charged battery with a battery cycle count (as shown in System Profiler) of less than 300.+
+Battery pack is visibly deformed.+

I was most impressed with Apple and think they gave excellent service, the machine is now back to nearly 4 hours on a full charge.

I took my MacBook in the the guy at the Genius bar ran a test and it was in the quadrant that it was drained and exhausted so I ended up getting a new battery under my Apple Care. I was very relieved.

I got it back today and I was kinda in a rush when I was there.

Since I have my laptop most of the time hooked up to an external monitor would it be a good idea to remove the battery? Most of the time 95% of the time it's hooked up to it.

I don't think removing the battery is ever a good idea. It requires the battery to provide enough power to the computer so when it is removed it down-clocks down the CPU. Plus, apparently it can damage the computer.

djm027,

The MacBook is capable of running without the battery connector, however a design feature of the machine is to run the processor at 50% performance without the presence of the battery. I am not aware (through any confirmed testing) that running the machine without a battery will cause damage to the unit.

My personal recommendation is to leave the battery plugged into the machine, even if it sits on your desk while being connected to A/C power.