The past few days, my MacBook’s battery has conked out before the 10 minute warning has shown up. It’s very frustrating, not only because I lose all the webpages I have open (I use Camino, not Firefox), but I also then have to restart the system. It’s annoying.
I’ve tried to be a good owner of battery-run electronics. I always use my MacBook, iPod and Cell phone until the juice runs out, and then charge ‘em back up. It’s supposed to be better that way; doing a full charge-discharge sequence.
So, I decided to calculate how many times I’ve fully charged the MacBook to see if the battery’s lifetime is over. My iPod’s almost two years old and it still holds around 10 hours. Here’s the breakdown: 3 charges per day since about April = 3×200= 600 charges. Note what Apple’s notebook battery page says:
Battery Lifespan
A properly maintained Apple notebook battery is designed to retain up to 80% of its original capacity after 300 full charge and discharge cycles. You may choose to replace your battery when it no longer holds sufficient charge to meet your needs.
Yes, I’ve charged it two times that amount in under a year. Can you tell it’s my primary machine? I don’t think I’ll add a new battery to my Christmas wishlist just yet though; I found another page that recommended a different discharge techinque. We’ll see if it works out.
