what is the cycle count SUPPOSED to be?

The cycle count is a measure of your battery usage. There is no "supposed to be" number. The more you use your battery, your more you will rack up cycles. A full cycle is basically from a fully charged battery to a fully discharged battery then to a fully charged battery again. Any percentage (or partial) discharge/charge cycle counts as a partial cycle. For example... if your battery is full and you let it discharge to about 50% and then recharge it to full, this will count as 1/2 cycle. You would need to do this twice to count as one cycle. Likewise, if you discharged your battery from full to 90% (10% used) and then recharged it, this would be 1/10th of a cycle. You would need to do this ten times to equal one cycle.

So it all depends on how you use your battery. Provided your signature is correct and you are using 10.4.11 (or that was the original version of your OS X version) and you are using your original battery... your cycle count seems to be fairly low (which is a good thing). That would indicate that you primarily use your machine plugged in. Of course it could also mean that you just use your computer very very seldom.

JoeyR wrote:
The cycle count is a measure of your battery usage. There is no "supposed to be" number. The more you use your battery, your more you will rack up cycles. A full cycle is basically from a fully charged battery to a fully discharged battery then to a fully charged battery again. Any percentage (or partial) discharge/charge cycle counts as a partial cycle. For example... if your battery is full and you let it discharge to about 50% and then recharge it to full, this will count as 1/2 cycle. You would need to do this twice to count as one cycle. Likewise, if you discharged your battery from full to 90% (10% used) and then recharged it, this would be 1/10th of a cycle. You would need to do this ten times to equal one cycle.

I'd also note that a "cycle" will change over time as the battery inevitably loses capacity.

y pw wrote:
I'd also note that a "cycle" will change over time as the battery inevitably loses capacity.

Semantics, perhaps, but a cycle is a cycle and will always be a cycle. As Apple states, +"A charge cycle means using all of the battery’s power..."+ It doesn't matter if a battery has a current maximum capacity of 10000 mAh or 185 mAh - a cycle means using all of that power, however much there is (though not necessarily all at once).

Now, if you mean the time it takes to cycle a battery, certainly that will change, as will the amount of charge used in a cycle.

itsmesunny wrote:
my question is what i wrote.

what is the cycle count SUPPOSED to be?

At the time you posted your specs, the cycle count was SUPPOSED to be 46. Soon, it will be 47. Then 48.

If you are asking for guidance on how frequently you should cycle your battery, I recommend 1-2 cycles per week.

You should probably contact Apple. Your data and the sudden shutdown would seem to indicate a failing battery. A cycle count of 46 is low. You can expect to get very good performance up to about 300 cycles... and then, generally, a gradual loss after that. However, that does not mean that a battery can not suffer from faults not related to your cycle count. Only Apple will be able to let you know if your battery qualifies for a free replacement.

Ah.. .sorry... didn't know what "mini battery logger" was... so I thought maybe it somehow looked at the serial number for the battery and told you it qualifies for a replacement. So you've had the replacement battery for about a year and a half now then. No harm in giving them a call. At this point, your initial battery and free replacement would seem to have lasted a reasonable period of time (even though the replacement seems to have failed)... It may just be time for a new battery.

neuroanatomist wrote:

y pw wrote:
I'd also note that a "cycle" will change over time as the battery inevitably loses capacity.

Semantics, perhaps, but a cycle is a cycle and will always be a cycle. As Apple states, +"A charge cycle means using all of the battery’s power..."+ It doesn't matter if a battery has a current maximum capacity of 10000 mAh or 185 mAh - a cycle means using all of that power, however much there is (though not necessarily all at once).

Now, if you mean the time it takes to cycle a battery, certainly that will change, as will the amount of charge used in a cycle.

That's what I was getting at - that a "cycle" isn't a set amount of charge being used and recharged. It changes depending on the current health of the battery.

So what exactly is your question?

It's not supposed to be anything other than the number of times the battery's been cycled...which the system profiler app already tells you.