Hah. The last iPhone I had whose battery lasted more than 4 years was the original iPhone. Every iPhone or iPod Touch I've owned since then has lasted maybe two. (This is not true for all Apple products, though; I have an original iPad Mini that is still on its original battery, and I haven't had a MacBook battery fail since the polycarbonate days.)
The reason phone batteries fail is heat. You have a hot CPU and a battery that heats up when it charges or discharges, enclosed in a tiny little package, an
Hmm... No battery swelling in your MacBook? My MacBook Pro is deep into it's second swelling now.
Theoretical solution: What if the battery was only charged 80% unless I requested a full charge before going on the road? Surely the computer isn't too stupid to notice that I rarely went mobile.
(Unless the real goal is to pressure me to buy a fresh, sexier box. Don't hold your breath, Apple.)
Disclaimer of sorts. I was quite gratified when Apple did replace the first battery under warranty. And yet overall I am
Hmm... No battery swelling in your MacBook? My MacBook Pro is deep into it's second swelling now.
Theoretical solution: What if the battery was only charged 80% unless I requested a full charge before going on the road? Surely the computer isn't too stupid to notice that I rarely went mobile.
(Unless the real goal is to pressure me to buy a fresh, sexier box. Don't hold your breath, Apple.)
Disclaimer of sorts. I was quite gratified when Apple did replace the first battery under warranty. And yet overall I am quite dissatisfied with the amount of service I've gotten from the machine. A lot of that is because they broke the dictation with "upgrades" that weren't.
My 2012 Macbook Pro (still on original battery) sits on charge pretty-much 24/7/365. Battery capacity still at 92%. Battery life abut 7 hours. Not bad for 5 years old...
Mine's a couple of years younger, perhaps one of the first retina displays, but I really wonder why your battery hasn't swollen. The charge capacity seems okay, but they warned me that once the swelling reaches a certain point it will start messing with the track pad from underneath... That was in response to my question about safety, to which their fuzzy answer seemed to be that it wouldn't explode or catch fire.
Mine's a couple of years younger, perhaps one of the first retina displays, but I really wonder why your battery hasn't swollen. The charge capacity seems okay, but they warned me that once the swelling reaches a certain point it will start messing with the track pad from underneath... That was in response to my question about safety, to which their fuzzy answer seemed to be that it wouldn't explode or catch fire.
2013 was the start of the Retina MBPs. Mine is the last non-Retina model.
I replaced the battery in a friend's 2009 13" MBP that had swollen and was affecting the trackpad. He kept his on charge pretty much 24/7/365, too.
When I changed the battery, I admonished him to let his battery deep-discharge about once a month, as Apple recommends. I try to do that with mine, too.
Thanks and I wish I had known about the deep discharge thing before it was too late. You say that Apple recommends it, but to the best of my recollection, it was never mentioned in any of my many discussions with Apple people.
However, if that is the best solution approach, then I thing Apple can and should make it obvious to the owners. If they can't implement the deep discharge within the hardware itself, then they could send reminders to the owners (along with instructions for the deep discharge). The mos
Thanks and I wish I had known about the deep discharge thing before it was too late. You say that Apple recommends it, but to the best of my recollection, it was never mentioned in any of my many discussions with Apple people.
However, if that is the best solution approach, then I thing Apple can and should make it obvious to the owners. If they can't implement the deep discharge within the hardware itself, then they could send reminders to the owners (along with instructions for the deep discharge). The most convenient approach would seem to be kind of mixed, with the machine telling me when it's planning to do its next deep discharge and recharge, with an option to reschedule if it clashes with my schedule.
That's odd that the tech support people didn't mention it. It at least used to be in a "how to maximize your battery life" (not the actual title) Apple Support document, and also as a "Days since last complete charge-cycle" (again, not the actual name) "counter" in iOS Settings. Let me see if I can find those references, BRB...
Interestingly, the recommendation for monthly deep-cycling the battery seems to have been removed from the most recent version of the "maximizing your battery's health" article; but s
Hmm... Well I hope it's because they decided that deep cycling doesn't really help rather than that Apple decided long lifespans of MacBook Pros is a problem for future sales. Swollen batteries is not a positive reason to buy another. Especially when you've made it extremely difficult to replace the batteries and impossible to run the machine without batteries (which is my normal usage style for notebook computers).
And yes, I would feel better if I felt I had gotten good value from the machine. As a result
Hmm... Well I hope it's because they decided that deep cycling doesn't really help rather than that Apple decided long lifespans of MacBook Pros is a problem for future sales. Swollen batteries is not a positive reason to buy another. Especially when you've made it extremely difficult to replace the batteries and impossible to run the machine without batteries (which is my normal usage style for notebook computers).
And yes, I would feel better if I felt I had gotten good value from the machine. As a result of my experiences, I have already decided not to buy another Apple anything. I would even discourage my employer from buying an Apple product on my behalf.
Actually, I went back and looked, and Apple no longer recommends doing any Deep Cycling of their Li-ion batteries. So, that may explain why Apple's Tech Support didn't recommend it to the OP.
What about the 80% charge approach? Have you heard or seen anything along those lines? The most "solid" evidence I got there were claims that Tesla deliberately charges their batteries less than 80% so that they'll last longer.
There's also the hope that new wrinkles will improve the lifespan of the batteries, though that obviously doesn't help those of us with wrinkled old devices.
"Oh what wouldn't I give to be spat at in the face..."
-- a prisoner in "Life of Brian"
Hmm... I wonder what phone he forgot... (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:5, Interesting)
Hah. The last iPhone I had whose battery lasted more than 4 years was the original iPhone. Every iPhone or iPod Touch I've owned since then has lasted maybe two. (This is not true for all Apple products, though; I have an original iPad Mini that is still on its original battery, and I haven't had a MacBook battery fail since the polycarbonate days.)
The reason phone batteries fail is heat. You have a hot CPU and a battery that heats up when it charges or discharges, enclosed in a tiny little package, an
Re: (Score:2)
Hmm... No battery swelling in your MacBook? My MacBook Pro is deep into it's second swelling now.
Theoretical solution: What if the battery was only charged 80% unless I requested a full charge before going on the road? Surely the computer isn't too stupid to notice that I rarely went mobile.
(Unless the real goal is to pressure me to buy a fresh, sexier box. Don't hold your breath, Apple.)
Disclaimer of sorts. I was quite gratified when Apple did replace the first battery under warranty. And yet overall I am
Re: (Score:2)
Hmm... No battery swelling in your MacBook? My MacBook Pro is deep into it's second swelling now.
Theoretical solution: What if the battery was only charged 80% unless I requested a full charge before going on the road? Surely the computer isn't too stupid to notice that I rarely went mobile.
(Unless the real goal is to pressure me to buy a fresh, sexier box. Don't hold your breath, Apple.)
Disclaimer of sorts. I was quite gratified when Apple did replace the first battery under warranty. And yet overall I am quite dissatisfied with the amount of service I've gotten from the machine. A lot of that is because they broke the dictation with "upgrades" that weren't.
Apple only trickle-charges above 80%.
https://www.apple.com/batterie... [apple.com]
My 2012 Macbook Pro (still on original battery) sits on charge pretty-much 24/7/365. Battery capacity still at 92%. Battery life abut 7 hours. Not bad for 5 years old...
Re: (Score:2)
Mine's a couple of years younger, perhaps one of the first retina displays, but I really wonder why your battery hasn't swollen. The charge capacity seems okay, but they warned me that once the swelling reaches a certain point it will start messing with the track pad from underneath... That was in response to my question about safety, to which their fuzzy answer seemed to be that it wouldn't explode or catch fire.
Re: (Score:2)
Mine's a couple of years younger, perhaps one of the first retina displays, but I really wonder why your battery hasn't swollen. The charge capacity seems okay, but they warned me that once the swelling reaches a certain point it will start messing with the track pad from underneath... That was in response to my question about safety, to which their fuzzy answer seemed to be that it wouldn't explode or catch fire.
2013 was the start of the Retina MBPs. Mine is the last non-Retina model.
I replaced the battery in a friend's 2009 13" MBP that had swollen and was affecting the trackpad. He kept his on charge pretty much 24/7/365, too.
When I changed the battery, I admonished him to let his battery deep-discharge about once a month, as Apple recommends. I try to do that with mine, too.
Maybe that is what keeps swelling at bay. IDK.
Re: (Score:2)
Thanks and I wish I had known about the deep discharge thing before it was too late. You say that Apple recommends it, but to the best of my recollection, it was never mentioned in any of my many discussions with Apple people.
However, if that is the best solution approach, then I thing Apple can and should make it obvious to the owners. If they can't implement the deep discharge within the hardware itself, then they could send reminders to the owners (along with instructions for the deep discharge). The mos
Re: (Score:2)
Thanks and I wish I had known about the deep discharge thing before it was too late. You say that Apple recommends it, but to the best of my recollection, it was never mentioned in any of my many discussions with Apple people.
However, if that is the best solution approach, then I thing Apple can and should make it obvious to the owners. If they can't implement the deep discharge within the hardware itself, then they could send reminders to the owners (along with instructions for the deep discharge). The most convenient approach would seem to be kind of mixed, with the machine telling me when it's planning to do its next deep discharge and recharge, with an option to reschedule if it clashes with my schedule.
That's odd that the tech support people didn't mention it. It at least used to be in a "how to maximize your battery life" (not the actual title) Apple Support document, and also as a "Days since last complete charge-cycle" (again, not the actual name) "counter" in iOS Settings. Let me see if I can find those references, BRB...
Interestingly, the recommendation for monthly deep-cycling the battery seems to have been removed from the most recent version of the "maximizing your battery's health" article; but s
Re: (Score:2)
Hmm... Well I hope it's because they decided that deep cycling doesn't really help rather than that Apple decided long lifespans of MacBook Pros is a problem for future sales. Swollen batteries is not a positive reason to buy another. Especially when you've made it extremely difficult to replace the batteries and impossible to run the machine without batteries (which is my normal usage style for notebook computers).
And yes, I would feel better if I felt I had gotten good value from the machine. As a result
Re:Hmm... I wonder what phone he forgot... (Score:2)
Hmm... Well I hope it's because they decided that deep cycling doesn't really help rather than that Apple decided long lifespans of MacBook Pros is a problem for future sales. Swollen batteries is not a positive reason to buy another. Especially when you've made it extremely difficult to replace the batteries and impossible to run the machine without batteries (which is my normal usage style for notebook computers).
And yes, I would feel better if I felt I had gotten good value from the machine. As a result of my experiences, I have already decided not to buy another Apple anything. I would even discourage my employer from buying an Apple product on my behalf.
Actually, I went back and looked, and Apple no longer recommends doing any Deep Cycling of their Li-ion batteries. So, that may explain why Apple's Tech Support didn't recommend it to the OP.
Re: (Score:2)
What about the 80% charge approach? Have you heard or seen anything along those lines? The most "solid" evidence I got there were claims that Tesla deliberately charges their batteries less than 80% so that they'll last longer.
There's also the hope that new wrinkles will improve the lifespan of the batteries, though that obviously doesn't help those of us with wrinkled old devices.