Comments on: Check Battery Cycle Count on a Mac

By: Tamir

Tamir — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 06:47:43 +0000

I purchased a new mac and it already had 3 cycles listed on the battery information is this normal?

By: Ashley

Ashley — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 22:53:36 +0000

Daft question , but the cycle count goes up , right?

By: John

John — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 20:15:54 +0000

I found out recently that keeping an older MBP laptop (2.16GHz) plugged in all the time is NOT a good idea. My battery (the older, removable kind) basically burst, which the Apple tech said was typical of leaving it plugged in all the time. He said the charging cuts off when it gets to 100%, the when the battery charge drops at all (like to 99%) the charging starts up again. You wind up with a continuous cycle that rapidly increases the charge-cycle count, and it apparently causes this expansion in the battery that forces the battery case open. Not sure whether this still applies to the newer models with the integrated batteries (I hope not), but I’m trying to be much more careful now about not plugging it in until it drops down below 20%.

By: James

James — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 10:58:23 +0000

I have a 17″ MacBook Pro purchased in June 2008, it registers 180 cycles and 89% battery health, I think that means my battery is doing quite well, right? Cheers

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:13:55 +0000

Agreed, it is better to keep it plugged it all the time and if you have access to the A/C outlet that is. If you are outside and there is no A/C where you are then it is fine to use on battery. If you have it plugged in all the time then it is recommended that you calibrate the accuracy readings once a month and to keep the particles inside moving.

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:11:33 +0000

That depends, older MBP will have 300 cycles or more but not 1000. Yes, newer MBP (early 2011) models can have up to 1000 charge cycles before it can hold up to 80% capacity.

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:09:06 +0000

Draining the battery from 100% to 0% every time will stress out the battery and is not good for the battery health. Lithium ion batteries do not have a memory and it can be charged at anytime regardless of where the battery % is. Draining it completely all the time will damage the battery and will have shorter battery life because your cycle count will go up faster.

I suggest you use it on battery few hours a day and then have it plugged in. Don’t drain it every time. Only completely drain it when necessary, such as once every 30 charge cycles, or once a month.

By: Sam

Sam — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 05:24:44 +0000

Just wanted to say that most of the time it’s better to keep your laptop plugged in, if possible. If your computer is under warranty and you experience trouble with the battery, the first thing the technicians check is the cycle count. If it’s over 300, they just say the battery is used, if it is under 300, then it’s defective. They run more tests to decide if they will cover the battery for free.

Source: Much frustration from Apple Geniuses and Apple Care support line.

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 18:04:36 +0000

Wow, excellent catch that is a big difference. Updated.

By: Blake

Blake — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 17:33:05 +0000

Nevermind I found it on an older post to this website

By: Blake

Blake — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 17:24:22 +0000

Great app thanks allot!

Off Topic:
I recently did a time machine restore on my MacBook from a backup from my iMac but now in my MacBook’s finder window its say my iMac instead of my MacBook. Does anyone know how to change that? Thanks.

By: Edwin

Edwin — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 17:03:37 +0000

Keeping the battery active is what you want, ideally you will let the battery drain and refill a bit every day.

Cycle count alone is not really an indicator of battery health, but if cycle count is low AND battery capacity is low, then you can determine a problem. For example, I had a battery that only held 50% of a charge after 120 cycles, clearly a defective battery, and Apple replaced it immediately.

By: Alan D.

Alan D. — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:50:20 +0000

It depends on the type of battery; there are a number of different chemicals used in rechargeable batteries – I don’t remember which is which, but Lithium Ion is one, Nickel Cadmium is another, and there are others.

NiCad (I believe) has a “memory effect” – after a while, if you keep discharging it to the same point, it “forgets” that it can discharge further.

LiIon (if I remember correctly) does not; you want to “keep the electrons flowing” by not keeping it plugged in all the time, but dropping down to “0 capacity” is relatively bad.

I’m sure if you look up ‘rechargeable battery types’ on google or wikipedia you’ll learn more…

By: must

must — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:24:43 +0000

“80% of original capacity after 300 cycles.”
That should be 1000 cycles.

“The built-in battery of your MacBook, MacBook Pro or MacBook Air is designed to deliver up to 1000 full charge and discharge cycles before it reaches 80 percent of its original capacity. ”

source: http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

By: Wing

Wing — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 13:25:44 +0000

The same feature exists in iStat Pro. Except the current watt usage.