How to measure battery health?

My 1-year-old iPad 2 seems to hold significantly less charge than it did when it was new. I know that Apple has a 50% health threshold for warranty service, but is there any way I can see that number without a journey to an Apple Store.

I was prepared to say that the app recommended above wouldn't do the job but after looking .... maybe it will, in the way it approaches things, but I don't think you really need it.
The only way to really know the state of your battery's health is through how it performs in normal use, which is the only spec that is provided by Apple. The test you go through is a multi-stage one, as follows:
Run your battery all the way down, in normal use, all the way until the iPad shuts itself down.
Now re-calibrate your battery metering by plugging it into a known good charging source, for which read the Power Adapter which came with it, and charge it all the way up to 100%. It will take a few minutes before you see and hear your iPad come back to life.
Once it reaches 100%, leave it overnight. The next day, just use it like you normally do, do whatever it is that you normally do; but keep on doing it until the battery goes flat and shuts it down agaion. Make note of how long this took. The average user should expect about ten hours of use out if it, on wifi, less on cellular, depending on how heavy your video loadng is.
The recalibrating needs to be done every month or so to ensure that the metering (the percentage that you read) remains fairly accurate. If you fail to do that, eventually it will no longer be.
If you get less time before it shuts down, try it again. If you consistently get much less time than you should, then you definitely have a battery capacity issue and need to start talking to Apple.

Similar Messages

How to increase battery HEALTH

i checked my battery health after installing istat pro today, and it said my battery health was currently at 46%. how can i bring that back up if that's even possible?

The MacBook Power and Battery forum is a better place to ask about this:
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1169

How to check battery health..

My battery seems to be having issues.. How do I check the general health of the battery?

I'm in a similar position. I was told about a widget you can download for the dashboard called istat nano.
It gives you a health percentage of the battery as well as other diagnostic details about the mac. The only thing I'm unsure about is how accurate the information it gives you is.

How to increase your battery health - anyone with similar experiences?

this is my very own self made instruction of "how to increase your battery health"
it is the procedure how i have done it serverall times on my powerbook g4 12".
my stats: 374 cycles, health 86% (3790 of 4400mAh)
age of my mac: 57month (battery bit newer)
**if you to try this: it is on your own risk!**
**this may not be suitable for mac newbies**
**be sure to read this twice before you do it once!**
you will need:
-a pocket lamp or comparable light (to see anything on your sreen when it is dark --> light from the back through apple logo)
-coconutbattery (coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery) or comparable programm to track your battery information in realtime
-activity monitor
-cool enviroment (to ensure your fans don't have to work that much)
-some time and patience
the intructions:
step1: load your mac until the orange light turns green
step2: disconnect the power adapter
step3: use your mac until 15-25% battery life (track this information in your menu bar)
step4: slow down your activities. the order of the following actions depend on your usage of your mac:
__close programms that use lots of cpu/gpu to ensure the fans slow down to 0rpm (!!)
__turn off everything that needs battery power: airport / bluetooth / speakers / etc.
__eject dvd or cd
__close all programms with important data
__eject idisk / .dmg files in your finder (this is not only a matter of data security)
__dissonnected from peripherals such as ethernet / internet / mouse / keyboard
__use lower brightness level
__open activity monitor to ensure that your hard drive activity is very low, may be you need to close more active programms, close activity monitor when hard drive activity is very low
__open system preferences >> energy saver preferences >> choose longest battery life
when your are ready with those actions go on and ensure you are able to connect to power adapter with your mac quickly (be able to charge - don't do it yet!)
step5: be patient. now it should take some time until your battery level goes down to 3-5%
now there should be no programm running.
do not open any programm now!
do not have a look at your dashboard!
now your mac should be really quiet:
-no fans (0rpm!)
-nearly no hard drive activity!!
-->> if this not the case break go on with step 11&12, try again in a week or two
-->> if you are ready go on with step6
step6: open coconutbattery und use the lowest brightness level
play with your trackpad to ensure your screensaver won't start. waste time until you are at 1-2% battery life.
step7: take your lamp and spot through the transperent apple logo, position your coconut battery window somehow that you can see the current battery charge und the maxium battery charge in the spot of your lamp through the apple logo.
step8: go from the lowest brightness level to the level under the lowest brightness level (a dark screen)
step9: watch your current battery charge carefully und keep on playing with your trackpad to ensure your screensaver won't start.
step10: there is kind of battery buffer made of approximately 1% (once when my "current battery charge" was 3624mAh and this kind of buffer was at 36mAh)
to empty this kind of battery buffer takes much longer as you might expect!
when your current battery charge turns under this kind of battery buffer, your maximum battery charge should change. hopefully it is higher or stays the same. when it is lower now: i'm sorry - i have warned you. may be you have to go through this 'how to' more carefully!?
step11: plug in your power adapter before the battery is cero!
step12: load until the orange light turns green
step13: if it was helpful do not repeat it more than once a week, better once a month
-->webcal://www.apple.com/batteries/images/notebook_icalreminder.ics
(via: http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html)
anyone with similar experiences about increasing battery health!?
(yes, i'm sorry for my poor english, i've tried my best)

Me too! My battery lasts for 10 minutes. It is awful and I am on my 4th power adapter since they keep breaking too.
From coconut battery: Maximum battery charge 310mah, original 4400, age of mac 45 months, 140 cycles.
From system profile:
Battery Installed: Yes
First low level warning: No
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 310
Remaining Capacity (mAh): 213
Amperage (mA): -1205
Voltage (mV): 11557
Cycle Count: 140
I went to an apple authorized retailer and they said nothing I can do if it is out of warranty.. is this true?

How to turn on Optimized Battery Health Mode

I recently bought a G505 laptop and a popup window tells me I should use the "Optimized Battery Health Mode".
However, nowhere on the popup does it tell me how to do this.
I have searched online and also with the Lenovo Solution Center and find there are all kinds of battery modes
that are spoken of and various ways to access them. However, I cannot find "Optimized Battery Health Mode" anywhere!
I see "Balanced Mode" and "Power Saver Mode" but no "Optimized Battery Health Mode" anywhere.
If I go to the Lenovo Solution center, I cannot find battery settings anywhere under the system tab.
Can anyone tel me how to get my G505 laptop into "Optimized Battery Health Mode"?
Many thanks!

I finally figured it out. If anyone else needs to do this here how I did it.
1) Right click on the battery icon on toolbar, then choose power options
2) From here click on "Change Plan Settings"
3) From here click "Change Advanced Power Settings"
4) This opens up a small window, choose the "Lenovo Energy Management" tab on top
5) Click the "Enable Lenovo Energy Management" button
6) This opens up yet another window with the option for "optimized Battery Health"
Wow, they sure don't make it easy do they?

The battery of my iPhone 5 easily discharges even if not in use. This started 11 months after purchase. The unit passed the Apple Battery Health Test Protocol but the performance showed otherwise. What is the problem and how do I solve it?

The battery of my iPhone 5 easily discharges even when not in use. The unit was tested by Apple and passed the Battery Health Test although the performance showed otherwise. The battery deterioration started 11 months after purchase and is not covered by Apple warranty. What is the problem of the iPhone5 and would appreciate suggestions on how to address this problem. By the way, I have a 2 year old iphone 4S with a battery performance as good as when it was bought two years ago.

Hi there Dan Laven,
You may find the information in the article below helpful.
iPhone and iPod touch: Charging the battery
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1476
About battery life and the battery
Battery life and number of charge cycles vary by use and settings. Find more information about batteries for iPhone and iPod.
Find information on how long the battery is expected to last between charges.
Rechargeable batteries have a limited number of charge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced.
-Griff W.

Having serious issues with battery health, how could it be?

hello,
newbie to this forum but not to apple devices.
my big brother gave me his MacBook Air about 2 months ago. he bought it in august of 2009. when i got it, it ran Windows 7 (dont ask me why that what he wanted). i did update to the system and installed snow leopard etc...
after install the iStat pro i noticed that the battery is in good condition, 93%. i thought he ruined the battery cause he always plugs his laptops/netbooks to a power source.
i dont understand why but in the first month i had 90%-92% health, and in the past few weeks it went down to 88%-90% and a few days ago it was 86%. today i went to school and when i opened my mac the battery health os on 84%!
i really dont understand why.
i follow the instructions and wait until the battery is empty, recharge to 100% and again waiting... etc... there is no overuse and when im home i usually work on my stationary computer.
the computer overall is in great shape, i dont understand the problem maybe one of you guys can help a brother out...
thanks in advance!!!

hello,
newbie also to this forum, does anyone can confirm that when the battery gets older, the maximum load percentage will decrease so that 100% capacity will never be reached anymore?
Tks.
Erick

What EXACTLY does battery health indicate?

So my MBP 1st gen currently has about 48% battery health. But what does it measure? I know health itself seems to be a measure of how fast the battery drains, but what is this based on? It was like 85% a few days ago, now though, even shutting down doesn't reset that.
Any help would be awesome!

A brand new Li battery can store a certain amount of current. For a 15" MBP battery, the nominal value for the maximum amount of current it can hold is 5500 mAh (individual batteries will vary). Over time, the max amount of charge a battery can hold (full charge capacity) drops. Your "health" is the full charge capacity of your battery divided by the full charge capacity of a new battery. You can see your full charge capacity in Utilities > System Profiler > Power.
So, 50% health is a full charge capacity of ~2250 mAh. Less charge in the battery means less run time. Apple states that a battery should maintain 80% of it's capacity for 300 cycles. So, if your battery has less than 4400 mAh full charge capacity, and less than 300 cycles on it, call Apple for a replacement. Read this for details of the warranty extension to two years for these known battery problems:
http://www.apple.com/support/macbook_macbookpro/batteryupdate/
Hope this helps...

Battery health decreased rapidly after charging problems.

Hy a few weeks ago the health of my mid 2010 MacBook Pro was still 79% which is normal since it has more than 1000 cycles.
Then following incident happened:
My battery was almost discharged, 30% or so, so I connected it to the AC power. After a while I wanted to see how much it was charged but the indicator in the corner still indicated the same 30% or so, only when I disconnected it it changed to something in the 80% range. I used my computer for a while like that and I noticed that the battery indicator was not chaning. Only when I connected or disconnected the AC power did it update.
I decided to reboot the machine and this solved the problem. I recently noticed however that my battery health now dropped to 63% which seems very much in a short period of time.
I know that normally charger will deliver less current to the battery when it is near 80% in order to prevent overcharging and maintain battery life as much as possible. I wonder however if the drastic decrease could be because of the power management thinking that the battery was only partly charged and thus delivering to much current to an almost full battery? If this is the case do you think that Apple would intervene for the costs of a new battery? I know I would have had to replace it sooner rather than later but this does change a lot I think. My computer is not in warranty anymore and I don't want to pay 49€ for one intervention. There are also no official Apple stores in Belgium and the authorised resellers really don't offer the same service.

sweex,
since your battery has over 1000 cycles and has 79% of its original full charge capacity remaining, Apple considers your battery “consumed”; they will not intervene for the cost of a new battery. It’s entirely your decision when to replace your battery, but irregular charging results are to be expected for as long as you use your present battery.
If no Apple-authorized service center in Belgium offers the option of changing the battery, then you should let Apple know so that they can find an organization who will do so. I don’t know where you are in Belgium, but this search around Brussels shows seven different Apple-authorized service centers which all claim to service Macs, and the one in Aalst is noted as being a Premium service center.

Best Battery Health not working in Windows 7 after Windows 8 installation

Hello everybody, I'm having an annoying problem with my G475.
It came with Windows 7 installed, and the option "Best Battery Health" was working fine.
Then I upgraded to Windows 8 (fresh install) and installed the Energy Management drivers.
Since "Best Battery Health" wasn't working on Windows 8, I installed back Windows 7 (fresh install).
But now, the option "Best Battery Health" is not working anymore!
It stays checked in the software, but the battery keeps charging until 100 percent.
I did the "Battery Gauge Reset". It finished and the problem persisted.
I also tried to change settings in safe mode, didn't work.
Please help!

hi kauptman,
Welcome to the Lenovo Community.
Just want to verify, have you also installed the following in order:
1. Intel Chipset Driver
2. AMD Matrix Storage Manager Driver v1.2.1.210
2. Lenovo Energy Management v6.0.1.5
If the apps listed above are already installed, I recommend you:
1. Drain the battery (use the computer until it prompts you that the battery is low)
2. Change your power plan settings to Power Saver / High Performance and re-test if battery stops charging at 90% or 95%.
If the problem still persist, I recommend you restore the unit by using the Lenovo Recovery Disc. If the recovery partition is still intact, click here on how to create a facotory restore dics.
Hope this helps.
Did someone help you today? Press the star on the left to thank them with a Kudo!
If you find a post helpful and it answers your question, please mark it as an "Accepted Solution"! This will help the rest of the Community with similar issues identify the verified solution and benefit from it.
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Cycle 23 but Battery Health 95%

cycle 23 cut Battery Health 95%
Battery Problem ????

How old is your Mac? 1-2-3 years old?
Batteries go bad even if the charge cycle count is low. They only last so long whether they are used or not. The last longer being used on a regular basis but not abused. Using them all the time and or leaving it connected to AC all the time will shorten it life span.
Use it but don't abuse it.
Message was edited by: Shootist007

Battery Health and ways to bring it up again?

I've had my MacbookPro for a little over two months now and 31 cycles on it. However, I have already lost 7% battery health, leaving me at only 93%. I'm pretty sure that this is not good, and that the loss shouldn't be this rapid.
I'm sure it has something to do with the way I use the computer. I leave it on quite often, which I know isn't a good thing, but had no idea that it would drain the battery like this. In some cases the computer is on for days at a time. I've gotten into a routine where each morning I turn it off for the bus ride to school, where I use it throughout the day. The night before it remains on so that I can quickly check things in the morning.
I currently use my MacbookPro as a semi-desktop. I have it hooked up to an external monitor, and use a wireless mighty mouse and wired keyboard, which is primarily the reason it's on for such long stretches.
Now that you have some background as to what I do with the computer I'd like to know if there is any way to replenish the battery health, or if that 7% is lost for good.
I've read up on this calibrating of the battery business, and I'm going to try it this weekend (can't during the week because I need it fully charged for school each day).
What exactly does this do? Does it actually replenish the battery health or just determine it's actual current percentage?
I'm using the widget iStat Pro as my monitor of battery health.
If any other information is required, I'd be happy to provide it.
Thank you.

dnovelta:
use the battery frequently and lightly for best longevity. Apple states "An ideal use would be a commuter who uses her MacBook Pro on the train, then plugs it in at the office to charge."
Read these:
http://www.apple.com/batteries/
http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html
Hope this helps...
Courcoul:
Full Charge Capacity (which is what the specific battery clocked at the factory when first tested).
Just a minor correction, but can be significant. Full charge capacity is not "what the specific battery clocked at the factory", it's a nominal value, i.e. a general property of the battery type, not that specific battery. Specific batteries have a range of full charge capacities (when new). In fact, it's not even measured, it's calculated - for the 15", it's a 60 Watt-hour battery (from the specs), and it runs at 10.8 V (printed right on the battery). Thus, with a basic formula (W = V x A), an algebraic rearrangement, and some simple math, 60 Wh / 10.8 V = 5.555 Ah = 5555 mAh (~5500 mAh, which iStat uses as the denominator for "health", although I have read that under Leopard iStat uses 5600 mAh, just a rounding difference). My 17" with a 68 Wh battery calculates to 6296 mAh, ~6300 mAh - my replacement battery actually started with ~6800 mAh in System Profiler.
Just FYI...

MacBook Pro 13'' late 2011 battery health problem!!! HELP!!!

I have a MacBook Pro 13'' late 2011.
It's this normal? How do I increase my battery health?
Can I change my battery?

When did you buy it?
Do you run it down to near zero % before recharging? Which is a bad thing to do.
Do you charge it to 100% before you take it off the charger?
Do you always disconnect the charger once it reaches 100% even if you are right next to an AC outlet. Which is a bad idea.
Batteries only last so long. Over use it and it will go bad sooner.

MacBook Pro battery health?

I have and early 2011 13" MacBook Pro. The other day, the "service battery" warning came up, so I took it to the Apple Store. The "Genius" there told me that because I do not let my battery die every time I use my laptop, I am mistreating the battery and therefore the battery cannot be replaced on Apple Care. At the time, I had about 295 charge cycles on my almost 2 year old laptop. When I told the tech I didn't know this because I was never told I had to let it die every time I used it, and that they should inform you of that, he snarkily responded "well, when you buy a car they don't teach you how to drive it".
The man told me to let my computer completely die, and then let my laptop completely charge without using it for several days to "retrain" it, and that AppleCare can only replace a battery that's "in the red". When I got home from the Apple Store, the warning light was gone despite me not touching my laptop at all.
I did some research and the Apple website, first of all, said it would replace a defective battery if it shows diminished capacity or it's failed, not just failed. I also noted that these batteries are rated for 1000 charge cycles. Also, I saw that the Apple website recommended fully discharging your battery once a month for optimal capacity, not after every use. This is what I already do.
At the AppleStore, when the tech was running his software I noted that my battery health was about 80.5%. I installed a battery monitoring application from the App Store called Battery Guard and it is telling me I currently have battery health of 78% and 300 charge cycles, so it seems to me that by allowing my computer to discharge/recharge, my battery health is declining.
Does anyone have experience with this, or advice about what I should do? I'm considering going back to the Apple Store and confronting them with my new knowledge that I got straight from the apple website.

racazu wrote:
The "Genius" there told me that because I do not let my battery die every time I use my laptop
That's the worst advice someone can give you. You don't have to let your computer run out of battery or you will damage more the battery. Instead, I recommend to make full cycles (discharge the battery, put it to charge when you consider necessary and charge it fully).
Unibody Macs batteries are designed to have 80% of their capacity after 1000 charges. Read > http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html Something happens with your battery, so take the computer to an Apple Store or reseller to have the battery replaced, more when OS X is telling you that your battery has to be replaced

HT3782 What does it mean "Battery Health" Check battery in the battery menu bar?

What does it mean "Battery Health" Check battery in the battery menu bar?

Check the full status by going to the apple in the left side of the menu bar, About This Mac, More Info, System Report, Hardware, Power and see what it says about the Cycle count, Battery Condition, Battery Capacisty, charge remaining.
Condition should be Normal or there is a problem
Ratio of charge remaining to cpacity should be close, round off, to the reported battery charge percentage.
Cycle count tells how many charge cycles the battery has been through, typical lifetime cycle count for a current generation battery is 1,000 cycles.

How to measure battery health?

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