Macbook Pro Replace Battery

[dburanich]

I have a mid 2015 MacBook Pro 15 inch with retina display.
At some point in time there will be a need for me to have the battery replaced.
The battery health is currently at 84% and still runs like a champ.
A local shop that replaced our iPhone batteries with genuine Apple batteries quoted me a price of $125 to replace the MacBook Pro battery.
Granted many more phone batteries get replaced than MacBook batteries.
Apple charges $199 at the current time.
I am leaning toward Apple when the time comes.
When I was on the Apple site I saw a recommendation that you enable file vault before bringing your machine in.
This is a new one on me.
I currently use Time Machine and Super Duper concurrently.
When I do a Time Machine backup I do a Super Duper backup as well.
Do I really need file vault and when should I make it a priority to have the battery replaced?

 

[Walter Rowe]

Enabling FileVault insures no one at Apple can get to your files. Probably recommending it for your own protection. You can disable it afterwards if you choose. Replacing the battery should only take a matter of minutes once they have your system in hand.

 

[Deleted member 4116]

Not with the 2015 retina's...holy crap
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+15-Inch+Retina+Display+Mid+2015+Battery+Replacement/89284

Normally i'd do it myself but the amount of work to do this, $125 is absolutely worth it. Even $199.

 

[dburanich]

Yes!!!
I think it will definitely be going to Apple for this along with the question "how many of these has your technician done before"
Should I have it done now or wait until the battery health gets worse?

 

[Clix Pix]

A while ago when Apple had that recall for 15" 2015 MBPs and their batteries, mine was one of the affected machines so she came home with a new battery and first thing I noticed, though, was some scratches and such on my screen that hadn't been there previously. Uh-oh..... so back to Texas she went for a new screen replacement as well. By the time that was done she looked like a brand-new machine! That came in handy when I later sold her to a friend when I was getting my 15" 2018 MBP.

 

[dburanich]

A while ago when Apple had that recall for 15" 2015 MBPs and their batteries, mine was one of the affected machines so she came home with a new battery and first thing I noticed, though, was some scratches and such on my screen that hadn't been there previously. Uh-oh..... so back to Texas she went for a new screen replacement as well. By the time that was done she looked like a brand-new machine! That came in handy when I later sold her to a friend when I was getting my 15" 2018 MBP.

I remember seeing your posts on that Connie.
If I were take it to Apple I would definitely not leave it but wait for it.
If that's not possible I would go to the 3rd party.

 

[Clix Pix]

At the time they were doing that battery recall, all the machines were being sent to Houston or Dallas -- somewhere in Texas -- for the battery replacements. I don't know if now store Genius Bars are able to take care of a battery swap within a day or two locally and are no longer sending them out to the repair depot, but that would be something to check on. Back then with the recall there were a lot of machines to do, so local genius bars wouldn't have been able to handle that kind of workload within a short time frame. Yes, I think that the screen damage was probably due to the machines all being stacked up on top of each other for shipping, both going to the repair depot and returning from it. Fortunately, at the time that my machine was initially being evaluated for the battery recall, the guy at the Genius Bar who was helping me and I both looked over the entire machine very thoroughly and he documented what he noticed; neither of us saw any damage on my screen at all. When she returned home from Houston that first time, though -- wow! After her second visit she looked lovely and pristine again, thank goodness. I was not the only one to whom this happened, and it was covered by Apple, as it was clearly caused by something in transit or during the actual battery replacement at the busy repair depot.

 

[Palouse]

Our nearest Apple stores are 2 hours north, 6 hours south, or 6 hours west. I've used our local authorized service center (a truly locally owned business) twice—fast, efficient, affordable and friendly). They also did some minor work on my iPhone. So when my early 2012 13" MBP bit the dust I bought my new 16" MBP from them. Academic discount, free transfer of data from my dying machine, and discount on apple care and any accessories. Price out the door was the same as Adorama, which was the cheapest I could find—and minus the 5-day wait.

BTW, my old MBP had battery health down near 50 or lower!

 

[dburanich]

Our nearest Apple stores are 2 hours north, 6 hours south, or 6 hours west. I've used our local authorized service center (a truly locally owned business) twice—fast, efficient, affordable and friendly). They also did some minor work on my iPhone. So when my early 2012 13" MBP bit the dust I bought my new 16" MBP from them. Academic discount, free transfer of data from my dying machine, and discount on apple care and any accessories. Price out the door was the same as Adorama, which was the cheapest I could find—and minus the 5-day wait.

BTW, my old MBP had battery health down near 50 or lower!

With the Battery Health at 84% a full charge indicated it will last for 6.5 hours.
Not too bad.
Only 160 battery cycles on it.
If I remember right they are supposed to go to about 1000.

 

[Pa]

With the Battery Health at 84% a full charge indicated it will last for 6.5 hours.
Not too bad.
Only 160 battery cycles on it.
If I remember right they are supposed to go to about 1000.

Where do you get that information? I don't find it on my 2018 13" MacBook Pro.

 

[dburanich]

Where do you get that information? I don't find it on my 2018 13" MacBook Pro.

I use an app called Battery Health 2.
It's in the app store.
I got it when it was free.
It's .99 cents now.
Or you can get some good information by doing the following:

1. Hold the Option key and click the Apple  menu. Choose System Information.
2. Under the Hardware section of the System Information window, select Power. The current cycle count is listed under the Battery Information section.

From what I have read the cycle count does not calculate by how many times you put it on the charger. If you charge your battery 4 times when it has 75% left the 4 times only counts as one cycle count.

 

[Deleted member 4116]

Or use coconutBattery...it's free.

On my 2012 MBP, 6900mAh capacity, current full charge capacity is 5891mAh. 1,328 cycles, battery health still good at 85%. I can go about 4-5 hours with decent use before it needs to be charged. I feel like you should have more battery life if you've only done 160 cycles, unless you keep it constantly plugged in which is a big no-no.

 

[dburanich]

Or use coconutBattery...it's free.

On my 2012 MBP, 6900mAh capacity, current full charge capacity is 5891mAh. 1,328 cycles, battery health still good at 85%. I can go about 4-5 hours with decent use before it needs to be charged. I feel like you should have more battery life if you've only done 160 cycles, unless you keep it constantly plugged in which is a big no-no.

1328 cycles and 85% battery health is amazing. They say 1,000 cycles should be it.
I only have the charger on when I'm not confident I have enough battery left to do what I want or when installing updates. I have read a few articles on re-calibrating the battery by draining the battery 100% and when it shuts down leave it off for at least 5 hours and then charge 100%. I haven't tried it in anticipation of hearing from someone who has had success in doing it.

 

[Clix Pix]

Isn't Apple's new battery control program or whatever it is called supposed to be helpful in maintaining good battery health? I think the idea is that the program slows down or halts charging for a bit, then resumes it as necessary. I have to admit I haven't paid all that much attention to it one way or another, but a couple of times I did notice that the battery indicator was noting that it was at 95 percent or some such even though the machine was plugged in at the time and had been for a while. Whatever....

 

[dburanich]

Isn't Apple's new battery control program or whatever it is called supposed to be helpful in maintaining good battery health? I think the idea is that the program slows down or halts charging for a bit, then resumes it as necessary. I have to admit I haven't paid all that much attention to it one way or another, but a couple of times I did notice that the battery indicator was noting that it was at 95 percent or some such even though the machine was plugged in at the time and had been for a while. Whatever....

From what I've been reading it seem like Battery Health Management is only available on new Macs with Thunderbolt 3 ports. It is supposed to be accessed by going to System Preferences/Energy Saver

 

[Clix Pix]

Ah, right -- my machine, a 2018, has the Thunderbolt 3 ports and the battery health thingy. The 2015 MBP wouldn't have that, now that I think about it......

 

[ahinesdesign]

I use a 2015 15” MBP. Had the battery replaced about 2 years ago after a small water spill killed the battery circuitry (or so I was told that was what happened). At any rate, I chose to use a local authorized repair center since the battery replacement procedure is quite involved and has the potential for causing damage if you don’t get it right. The replacement battery isn’t as good as the original, even if the capacity is supposed to be the same.

I use an app to throttle the processor when on battery only, especially when needing to have a few hours of run time while using battery-draining apps. It does make a big difference; without throttling, Lightroom can deplete a full battery in less than 45 minutes.

A larger problem with the 2015 15” MBP is the nVidia graphics driver issue with the last two OS releases. One of these days I may roll back to an OS with driver support as it was a much faster and more efficient machine when operating as designed...

 

[ahinesdesign]

Forgot to add – mid-80% battery health is not a reason for imminent replacement unless the battery life is simply insufficient. Under heavy use, a new battery might not be that much of an improvement, anyway.

If the battery is swelling, getting abnormally hot, leaking, etc, then replacing ASAP would be recommended!

 

[Pa]

Or you can get some good information by doing the following:

1. Hold the Option key and click the Apple  menu. Choose System Information.
2. Under the Hardware section of the System Information window, select Power. The current cycle count is listed under the Battery Information section.

From what I have read the cycle count does not calculate by how many times you put it on the charger. If you charge your battery 4 times when it has 75% left the 4 times only counts as one cycle count.

Thanks. I find:

Charge Information:
Charge Remaining (mAh): 4713
Fully Charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 4774
Health Information:
Cycle Count: 228
Condition: Normal