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Battery useful life on MacBook Pro?

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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 09:01 AM
  #1  
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Battery useful life on MacBook Pro?

I've had mine for about a year and a half and the damn battery won't hold a charge anymore. It sucks! One of the advantages to having a laptop is being able to go anywhere with it, and having to plug the damn thing in everywhere is a pain in the ass!

Anyone else have a MBP experience this? Haven't looked into what a replacement batt cost and really don't want to cause I know I won't be happy.

F You Steve
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 09:15 AM
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I had to replace my HP battery within two years.
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 09:43 AM
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I thought I read an article or something somewhere this weekend that was talking about the fact that LI batteries these days are all facing this 2 year max issue. I don't recall if it was the way the batteries were made to save costs, thus killing long life expectancy, etc.

FWIW, I am on my second battery (3rd party) for my MBP and it's already showing wear. Coming up to four years on the laptop. ugh
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 09:45 AM
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One of Apple's own battery firmware updates effectively ruined the battery on my first gen MBP.
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 09:54 AM
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My MBP is about 3 years old. It's the 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 17 inch model. I've only had my battery replaced once and it was because it swelled up (literally expanded). Before that happened even at its age, it lasted at least 2 hours or longer. I took it to the Apple store and they replaced it for free due to a "known issue." I've had the new battery for at least 6 months so I can't compare but my original battery could get me through almost two movies or 3-4 hours of internet use.
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 10:27 AM
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Originally Posted by stlswagger
My MBP is about 3 years old. It's the 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 17 inch model. I've only had my battery replaced once and it was because it swelled up (literally expanded). Before that happened even at its age, it lasted at least 2 hours or longer. I took it to the Apple store and they replaced it for free due to a "known issue." I've had the new battery for at least 6 months so I can't compare but my original battery could get me through almost two movies or 3-4 hours of internet use.
Same thing happened to my two year old MBP battery and this was the replacement battery for the original which was recalled. The battery would hold a charge for less than an hour before it finally swelled up and popped out of it's casing one day.
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 10:53 AM
  #7  
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I replaced my battery last December, and it's already complete shite. It lasted about 1.5 hours yesterday while I was traveling. The sad thing is, it's hardly been used. My laptop is almost always plugged in. :thumbsdow
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 10:56 AM
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The plug in part is the problem, that's what happened with my HP laptop. Was always plugged in
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 12:21 PM
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I've had my 15" MacBook Pro for 3 years and haven't had a problem with the battery whatsoever yet. I hope that continues

I have some friends that have had to replace their batteries or even the power supply cord a few times in their regular MacBooks though.
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 01:01 PM
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my 15" mbp is about 18 months old. battery life is getting shorter. About $130 for a new one I think.
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 01:16 PM
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It's an expensive replacement. Hope mine holds out. My MBP seems to have a problem with getting RIDICULOUSLY hot above the keyboard.
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 01:17 PM
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Originally Posted by EuRTSX
It's an expensive replacement. Hope mine holds out. My MBP seems to have a problem with getting RIDICULOUSLY hot above the keyboard.
Mine does the same
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 01:31 PM
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Originally Posted by EuRTSX
It's an expensive replacement. Hope mine holds out. My MBP seems to have a problem with getting RIDICULOUSLY hot above the keyboard.
I understand that's normal. Mine is the same although not to the point that I wouldn't be able to hold my hand there.
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 01:40 PM
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It's okay. I use my MBP whenever I'm in the freezer.

No complaints.
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 02:37 PM
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My current MBP is 2yrs old and has gone through 2 batteries. One I got covered by Apple, I doubt this one will be though. The biggest thing with batteries now-a-days is that they must be used in order to remain efficient. If left plugged in all the time, they stagnate.
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 03:26 PM
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Just a random question as I'm looking to buy a MBP soon... Is it possible to run the computer connected to the wall outlet without a battery?
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 03:27 PM
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Yeah I had my power supply replaced too. Think that was shortly after my battery was replaced. Glad it was free too. My original power supply was chewed in half by my dog when she was a puppy. Problem could be always leaving it plugged in. I try to keep mine unplugged when its fully charged and then I'll use it off the cord until it's low and plug it in again.
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 03:44 PM
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Originally Posted by v6cord2k5
Just a random question as I'm looking to buy a MBP soon... Is it possible to run the computer connected to the wall outlet without a battery?
I believe all of the current Macbook and Macbook Pro machines all have non-removable batteries so I don't think its' possible any longer to run A/C-only. The only exception may be the bottom of the line "white Macbook." I want to say that one still has a removable battery.
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 04:37 PM
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^ Not sure since the new Macbook is unibody, unless that doesn't make a difference
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 05:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Billiam
I believe all of the current Macbook and Macbook Pro machines all have non-removable batteries so I don't think its' possible any longer to run A/C-only. The only exception may be the bottom of the line "white Macbook." I want to say that one still has a removable battery.
I completely forgot about the unibody design... Ugh.

I wish they had a switch to flip between charging the battery and powering the laptop with the power supply.
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 06:57 PM
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I've only had my 13" Macbook Pro since June and have had no problems. I always try to use my battery then plug in only when I need to. Here's good information from Apple about maintaining your Lithium Ion battery:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1490

I haven't tried doing it yet though.
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 08:56 PM
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My MacBook will be 2 years old next month and I still get a good 3 hours out of it, even with the WiFi running. Turn the WiFi off and I can squeeze 5 hours out of it.
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 09:40 PM
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What is the cycle count on the battery?
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 10:21 PM
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batteries last maybe 2 years now.

Big question for laptop users...do you leave your laptop on charge all the time? That actually contributes to the life cutting characteristics of your battery.

Dont ALWAYS have it plugged into the power source.
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 10:46 PM
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That has been mentioned a few time in here. I found out for myself, thankfully work laptop.
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 10:54 PM
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I've got a Macbook Pro too. They told me about once a month or two to let the battery run down completely. Then let it sit for 30 minutes, so it completely runs down. Then let it charge completely back up. It's supposed to extend the life of the battery.
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Old Nov 16, 2009 | 11:12 PM
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Yep, my MBP's battery BLOWS. And it has no idea how much charge it has.. sometimes it says 50% and it'll spontaneously shut down 10 minutes later. Other times it says 15%, then jumps back up to 60 :/
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Old Nov 17, 2009 | 03:44 AM
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Originally Posted by Shalooby
I've had mine for about a year and a half and the damn battery won't hold a charge anymore. It sucks! One of the advantages to having a laptop is being able to go anywhere with it, and having to plug the damn thing in everywhere is a pain in the ass!

Anyone else have a MBP experience this? Haven't looked into what a replacement batt cost and really don't want to cause I know I won't be happy.

F You Steve
I don't know if they still are, but at one point the batteries were made by Sony. We all know how reliable Sony batteries are.

Anyway, there was a batch of batteries that were known to be bad and Apple was replacing batteries if yours fell into that batch and/or time period of when those batteries were provided with Macbook Pro's.

I guess I had that style defective battery ever since I got my macbook pro in november of 2007. I never had a chance to get the battery swapped, but I finally went in a few months ago and the guy at the genius bar gave me a new one, no questions asked.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/31/a...ecall-program/
http://www.apple.com/support/macbook...batteryupdate/

Those are the only links I could find about it.
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