MacBook Pro. BATTERY LIFE???? HELP

[T Mack]

My MacBook Pro is about 16 month's old now...
Seems like my battery life just fell off the map......
A full charge is only lasting 30 minutes or so.....
Is this normal???????
Is it time for me to buy a new battery??????
what is the average life of he batteries????

Thanks Riche

 

[rpphoto]

Apple guarantees the batteries for 300 recharge cycles, so if you charge it every day it may be gone. You should try resetting the power manager, then fully drain and fully recharge the battery. http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303319
You can see lots of details about your battery if you go to About this Mac>More Info>Hardware>Power; the cycle count will show how many times you've charged your battery. Even if you're covered by warranty, the battery won't be covered if it's over 300 cycles. Here's my data I just copied as an example:

Battery Information:

Model Information:
Serial Number: Sony-ASMB012-370d-cf98
Manufacturer: Sony
Device name: ASMB012
Pack Lot Code: 0003
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 102a
Hardware Revision: 0500
Cell Revision: 0303
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 4733
Fully charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 4733
Health Information:
Cycle count: 211
Battery health: Good
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 149
Voltage (mV): 12580

Once they do go, they seem to go fast. My wife's battery just died, but her 14 month old MacBook is shared with my two teenage kids so it's probably being used 18 hours a day, and recharged constantly.
Also, I've heard that it's hard on the battery to leave it in if you're running on AC current most of the time; supposedly, all the little micro charges will burn up the battery and shorten its life.

 

[T Mack]

HERE IS MINE: There are a few differences in mine and yours..... full charge capacity is small.. ??? how can i change any of this to make batery life better??

Battery Information:

Battery Installed: Yes
First low level warning: No
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 2382
Remaining Capacity (mAh): 1942
Amperage (mA): -1262
Voltage (mV): 11844
Cycle Count: 169

AC Charger Information:

Connected: No
Charging: No

Hardware Configuration:

UPS Installed: No

 

[rpphoto]

Have you tried resetting the power manager yet? Sounds like the battery has a memory problem, so I would try that first. Also, if you have an extended warranty, Apple should exchange the battery at no charge since you have less than 300 charges.

 

[T Mack]

dumb question....?

How do i reset my power manager?

Thanks Richard...

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

dumb question....?

How do i reset my power manager?

Thanks Richard...

Resetting an Apple portable's System Management Controller (SMC)

This article refers to Apple's Intel-based portables manufactured February 2006 or later. The System Management Controller is an integrated circuit (computer chip) that is on the logic board of the computer. As the name implies, it is responsible for power management of the computer. It controls backlighting, hard disk spin down, sleep and wake, some charging aspects, trackpad control, and some input/output as it relates to the computer sleeping.

 

[rpphoto]

Thanks Spawn Dooley!

 

[T Mack]

Well i did it.... should i look for anything??? better battery life??? Thanks Spawn

 

[rpphoto]

From what I've heard, you should now deplete your battery, and then let it fully charge again.

 

[plass129]

The article says it resets the NVRAM, does this contain anything that I should be worried about losing?

 

[rpphoto]

The article says it resets the NVRAM, does this contain anything that I should be worried about losing?

You might have to reset your date and time; none of your files will disappear.

 

[joe40]

Have you tried resetting the power manager yet? Sounds like the battery has a memory problem, so I would try that first. Also, if you have an extended warranty, Apple should exchange the battery at no charge since you have less than 300 charges.

Where did you get the (less than 300 charges apple will replace info from?)
I just called Apple. I have Apple Care. I have a 2nd set of batteries, my first pair was replaced during the Sony fiasco. This pair has about 200 - 260 cycles. One battery ios good for 1 hour with display on very low. The other battery is good for 2 hours +. Apple told me they will not replace it and that it is within spec since the charge capacity is 4400. Of course the capacity dips down to 3000 very soon after unplugging from the ac adapter, and it barely lasts an hour. They refused to replace it. I have a MacBook Pro 15 inch 2.16 ghz

 

[rpphoto]

Where did you get the (less than 300 charges apple will replace info from?)
I just called Apple. I have Apple Care. I have a 2nd set of batteries, my first pair was replaced during the Sony fiasco. This pair has about 200 - 260 cycles. One battery ios good for 1 hour with display on very low. The other battery is good for 2 hours +. Apple told me they will not replace it and that it is within spec since the charge capacity is 4400. Of course the capacity dips down to 3000 very soon after unplugging from the ac adapter, and it barely lasts an hour. They refused to replace it. I have a MacBook Pro 15 inch 2.16 ghz

That's information I received from an Apple Genius at an Apple Store in Denver, CO.
He confirmed the information with another Apple Genius guy.

 

[Industrial Helix]

I'm having this same problem with my macbook pro, I'm at 156 cycles.

I'm going to try the depower trick and see if it does anything. if not, how do I go about getting a new battery?

 

[Ric]

Hi there,

Apple store or another reputable company for your laptop battery !

You can try Applecare, but I would be quite surprised if they give you another battery...but it's worth a try.

If not I'm afraid you'll have to buy one.

regards

Ric

 

[T Mack]

Well i just bought me a new battery finally!!!! My macbook pro is almost 3 years old now.. The battery was only lasting a half of an hour or so...

My question is this...
Do i need to do anything besides putting new battery in laptop and charging? Or do i need to reset anything?? Thank Rich

 

[[email protected]]

Lasts about 10 mins!

Battery Information:

Battery Installed: Yes
First low level warning: No
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 998
Remaining Capacity (mAh): 998
Amperage (mA): 75
Voltage (mV): 12570
Cycle Count: 221

AC Charger Information:

Connected: Yes
Charging: No

Hardware Configuration:

UPS Installed: No

What happened to the guy who did the memory reset?

 

[[email protected]]

sorry........resets the hardware power management functions?

 

[T Mack]

I just bought a new battery it now lasts 3 hours...

 

[[email protected]]

How much?