Battery capacity

What I have noticed is that the charge capacity stops going down so quickly after a while. When I got mine, its had 104% of charge capacity and after 56 charge cycles, I am at 94%-4402 MaH

Just wanted to keep others interested in this issue updated. I found that by letting the battery run down to about 60-70% instead of 20-30%, and then recharging actually raised the Full Charge Capacity. Over the last few days it has increased from what it was (see my above post) to 6543. It seemed every time I did a charge and recharge, the capacity increased. I don't know if it is because I don't let the machine run all the way down to 20-30% before recharging, but hope this info is useful for other people.

The guidelines from Apple and other sources relating to these battery types suggests that deeper discharge/recharge cycles is not good for the battery and that better battery performance comes from more frequent partial discharging/recharging. That would be consistent with your recent experience.

Remember,

When iStat reports a default "design capacity", it is NOT the original capacity of YOUR battery (unless we have a rare coincidence). It only represents the "book" specified maximum capability for the model of your battery. It's a good idea to reset the "design capacity" to the original capacity of your system batter when first installing iStat. That way, all measurements are using the capacity capability of YOUR system as the starting benchmark.

Batteries can't ever be made so that every battery has an identical capacity when new. In fact, some batteries will actually gain capacity and some will lose capacity right from the start, depending on a myriad of factors, including use habits, manufactured capacity (not design capacity), temperature, charging habits, environmental factors, etc, etc.

Indeed, this does not in anyway preclude a defect. These batteries are supposed to retain an expected performance level within a prescribed range. You particular battery could be performing inside or outside of that range. But with the information we have here in this thread, to make a determination is strictly speculative, almost guessing.

If you suspect a problem, you should take it in to a an Authorized Service center, such as a n Apple Genius Bar to have it more completely evaluated.

So if my battery, after 537 cycles (I've had it three years almost) has a capacity of 3912 when the capacity it was rated at when I bought it was 5500... I'm pretty far off the mark!!

and now the Service battery has just started up!

I'll keep you updated how the Genius bar visit tomorrow goes....

abakehouse wrote:

So if my battery, after 537 cycles (I've had it three years almost) has a capacity of 3912 when the capacity it was rated at when I bought it was 5500... I'm pretty far off the mark!!

and now the Service battery has just started up!

I'll keep you updated how the Genius bar visit tomorrow goes....

Maybe, maybe not. (as far as being reasonable). But yes, it is far below what it should be in a maintained situation.

You say three years old. I don't recall exactly, but I am pretty sure that MBA's of that vintage predate the current battery life expectancy specifications. It may be that a three year old battery with 537 cycles on THAT PARTICULAR model, may not be too outside the norm. No matter what though, I would get it replaced. Previous generation MBA's have had some battery swelling issues that Apple explained as user error, for not replacing the battery when it showed reason to do so.

Serial Number: D8622820639DGDLBQ

Manufacturer: SMP

Device Name: bq20z451

Pack Lot Code: 0

PCB Lot Code: 0

Firmware Version: 406

Hardware Revision: 2

Cell Revision: 158

Charge Information:

Charge Remaining (mAh): 2301

Fully Charged: No

Charging: Yes

Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 6495

Health Information:

Cycle Count: 494

Condition: Normal

Battery Installed: Yes

Amperage (mA): 3129

Voltage (mV): 11671

My Cycle count is exceptionally high by the battery capacity is about 95%. Will this impact my battery life?