Has your MacBook drained quickly or has become very slow in recent weeks? Then it may be time to replace the battery. There is a way to check if this is actually necessary.
Depending on the MacBook model you have, the battery of a laptop will last a certain number of years. After those years you will notice that you have to hang your laptop on the charger more and more. In addition, your MacBook may become slower. Fortunately, you don’t have to run straight to the store to buy a new one. A new battery can work wonders.
Charging cycles
How long a battery lasts depends on the maximum number of charge cycles of the device. A charge cycle occurs when the battery’s power is completely used up. That is not quite the same as charging once. Apple explains it like this:
“For example, you can use half the battery charge in a day and then fully charge it. Doing the same the next day counts as one charge cycle, not two. So it can take a few days for the battery to go through a full charge cycle.”
Each cycle therefore usually consists of several charges. Depending on the MacBook model, your laptop will last several cycles before the battery needs to be replaced. Has the maximum number of charge cycles been reached? Then the charging capacity will continue to decrease, which you will soon notice that your laptop is emptying faster and faster. However, according to Apple, a battery can retain 80% of its original charge capacity when the maximum number of cycles is reached. So it can take a while before you really start to suffer from the lower charging capacity.
Check
However, it is good to know how many charging cycles your MacBook has already had. You can see this by holding down the Option key and clicking the Apple menu. Choose here System Information and then for Nutrition in the part Hardware. The current number of cycles is listed under Battery Information. In this window you will also find information about the condition of your battery. Is there anything other than Normal, then it’s probably time to contact Apple.
Now that you know how many charge cycles your MacBook has already gone through, it’s time to see the maximum number of charge cycles your Mac model supports. Apple loves here a list especially for almost all MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models. Charge cycles range from 300 for the MacBook Air to 500 for the 2008 MacBook Pro and 1000 for the majority of MacBooks.
Time for a new battery? Then contact Apple. Changing the battery yourself is not possible with Apple products.
.