Average Life of MacBook Battery?

Question

Average Life of MacBook Battery?

Anyone know what the average life is of the A1185 battery? My MacBook is about 3-4 years old, and I have not replaced the battery, but am now having some problems.

What will happen is that before the battery runs completely out, and I am on battery power, the computer will just turn off and shut down completely. There's no telling when. The most recent time was when the battery indicator still said there was a 85% charge on it. The time before that it got down to 90% before it did the same thing.

Seeing as how my MacBook (which I love) is 3-4 years old, I'm thinking it's time for a new battery. Any other thoughts?

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Jun 1, 2010 3:26 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Kappy

Level 10

361,753 points

Jun 1, 2010 3:51 PM in response to Michael C Payne

Approximately 500 cycles, more or less. If the battery is not used most of the time then eventually it will stop holding a charge after two or three years.

Apple stipulates that a normally used battery should retain about 80% of full charge capacity up to 300 cycles.

See the following:

About Batteries in Modern Apple Laptops

Apple - Batteries - Notebooks
Extending the Life of Your Laptop Battery
Apple - Batteries
Determining Battery Cycle Count
Calibrating your computer's battery for best performance
MacBook and MacBook Pro- Mac reduces processor speed when battery is removed while operating from an A-C adaptor
Battery University

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Answer 2

Jun 1, 2010 6:22 PM in response to Michael C Payne

As a follow up, here is the battery info:

Battery Installed: Yes
First low level warning: No
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 3842
Remaining Capacity (mAh): 3749
Amperage (mA): -1470
Voltage (mV): 12036
Cycle Count: 104

AC Charger Information:

Connected: Yes
Charging: No

If it makes a difference, the charge states 98% as we speak (9:22 pm Eastern Time), on June 1, 2010.

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