Macbook battery - Condition: Replace Soon

The Black Oil

This message appeared on my 4 year old Macbook this morning. I presume this means that the battery is on its way out and this is the right one the replace it. CompuB said it would be around 150 for a new one, perhaps online will work out cheaper, please point me in another direction if you think there's somewhere better than amazon that I should look into.

I charged it to full in the library and the message was still there, but when I got home I don't see the message now - I'd imagine I should still be wary, though, and get it replaced. The cycle count's at around 500 and in 'power' under 'About this Mac' it says it's normal. However, given the message this morning I could turn it on in the library tomorrow and the error might appear again. Coconut battery didn't show anything strange, though I don't know much about it.

The hard drive failed at Christmas, now the battery. I presume this is largely age, wear and tear and just how these things go and not symptoms that that machine itself may present bigger problems soon. I hope not, anyway.

Talisman

Previously I found Amazon to be very expensive and the current CamelCamelCamel.com price graph confirms that the current price is just below the peak Amazon price for the item.

Check out these suppliers:
The Bookyard (UK)
Mac Upgrade (Belgium)

The Black Oil

http://macupgrade.eu/catalog/battery-macbook-13-white-p-592.html

This seems to be the one.

'This NewerTech NuPower battery is compatible with...'

Does this mean it's not an official Apple one? Does it matter once it's not a 20 euro knock off?

Edit, 3 month warranty at the Bookyard, out of stock anyway.
http://www.thebookyard.com/product.php?manufacturers_id=6&products_id=1806

The Black Oil

http://www.battery-supplier.co.uk/goods.php?id=8950

Does this look OK, including the company?

mumof2

Black Oil wrote: »

This message appeared on my 4 year old Macbook this morning. I presume this means that the battery is on its way out and this is the right one the replace it. CompuB said it would be around 150 for a new one, perhaps online will work out cheaper, please point me in another direction if you think there's somewhere better than amazon that I should look into.

I charged it to full in the library and the message was still there, but when I got home I don't see the message now - I'd imagine I should still be wary, though, and get it replaced. The cycle count's at around 500 and in 'power' under 'About this Mac' it says it's normal. However, given the message this morning I could turn it on in the library tomorrow and the error might appear again. Coconut battery didn't show anything strange, though I don't know much about it.

The hard drive failed at Christmas, now the battery. I presume this is largely age, wear and tear and just how these things go and not symptoms that that machine itself may present bigger problems soon. I hope not, anyway.

I wouldn't have thought that after four years you'd be getting problems with a Macbook????? Battery needs replacing ok - but HD failure??

Im saving for a 15" macBook pro and for the money im putting into it I should hope it lasts at least 10 years without anything failing.......Or is that asking too much of Apple:D

On the other hand, I had read that batteries tend to need replacing every two years, so if the OP got 4 years out of it, thats good;)

PhilipMarlowe

mumof2 wrote: »

I wouldn't have thought that after four years you'd be getting problems with a Macbook????? Battery needs replacing ok - but HD failure??

Im saving for a 15" macBook pro and for the money im putting into it I should hope it lasts at least 10 years without anything failing.......Or is that asking too much of Apple:D

On the other hand, I had read that batteries tend to need replacing every two years, so if the OP got 4 years out of it, thats good;)

A HDD is still just a HDD regardless of what type of machine it is in and anyway, Apple don't manufacture the disks...

This video shows a little of the mechanical operation of a HDD (with the cover removed) so you can almost 'taste' the propensity for failure at some point down the line... That said, you can see drives lasting 10+ years but don't make assumptions just because it's in an Apple machine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eMWG3fwiEU

The Black Oil

Yep, hard drives do what hard drives do. I had to replace the family PC one before. Mind you, my dad's computer is a 13 year old Dell and its HD still works.

The Black Oil

I haven't seen that same message since my first post, which isn't long, I know. Does that mean the battery's OK?

Gordon

PhilipMarlowe wrote: »

This video shows a little of the mechanical operation of a HDD (with the cover removed) so you can almost 'taste' the propensity for failure at some point down the line...

Fuppin' eck!

Didn't realise it did that much movement! That explains the mad sounds you hear! How on earth does it manage to know where it is when the drive is spinning so fast?

DotOrg

Black Oil wrote: »

This message appeared on my 4 year old Macbook this morning. I presume this means that the battery is on its way out and

it means the batteries capacity is below it's optimum, probably at about 75% of it's original capacity.

but still perfectly useable if you're happy to have to charge it more often

download this little app:
http://www.coconut-flavour.com/
and it'll show you in an easy to read way, what capacity your battery is at, how many times you've charged it etc

raytaxi

I got that message and battery went flat, now it's holding charge so wondering whats going on weather battery or more serious. My macbook is 2.1 63 months old going well.

The Black Oil

Um, is the design capacity normal? How about the rest?