Is your MacBook Pro getting old? You may notice that it’s slower than before, and you’ll definitely notice that the MacBook Pro battery life isn’t as long as it once was. Here’s how to check if you need a new MacBook or a new MacBook Pro battery.
You might think your old MacBook Pro is just getting old when you discover that the battery can only last an hour or two on a full charge, and you’re absolutely right, but don’t assume that the entire laptop suffers from it. Poor performance because, depending on the model, it may require a new battery that can be replaced fairly easily at an Apple Store or other computer store.
Just because the battery has reached the end of its life doesn’t mean you should buy a new MacBook Pro. Older MacBook and MacBook Pro models can continue to run macOS High Sierra and will run macOS Mojave later this year. They also have a better keyboard than the newer models and if you upgrade the RAM and add an SSD it has a lot of life left.
If you think your MacBook Pro battery has reached the end of its life. You can check if you need a replacement without opening your laptop or doing anything complicated.
Check Charge Cycles
The easiest way to check if you need a new MacBook Pro battery is to see how many charge cycles the battery has gone through.
One charge cycle uses up all of the battery power and then fully charges it. Every journey from empty to full is a cycle. It is also cumulative. So if you use 50% of your battery one day, fully charge it and then use 50% and charge it the next day, which counts as one cycle.
Batteries only last a certain number of cycles before they start to fail and eventually fail to hold a charge.
Open Apple’s support websitelists what the cycle count is for their MacBook, so most recent MacBook Pro and nearly all MacBook Air models have a cycle count of 1,000. This means that the battery can go through 1,000 cycles before finally being expected to die and die – some last longer and some not so much, but 1,000 is a rough estimate.
To check how many cycles your MacBook’s battery has gone through so far, follow these simple steps:
Go to the Apple logo in the menu bar in the upper left corner of the screen and click the icon.
Then click on it.
Select Power in the left sidebar. This will bring up various information about your MacBook’s battery, including capacity and some other general information you don’t really need to know. Scroll down a bit until you see it. You will find it below.
I’m at 116 cycles on my 2016 MacBook Pro, which means I have a long way to go until I need a new MacBook Pro battery. In the example above, you can see a cycle count of over 700; this means it still has a lot of lifespan, but a new battery may be needed after a while.
For you, this number may be lower or higher depending on whether you use your MacBook or MacBook Pro. If it’s approaching the 1000 mark, take a closer look at your battery as it may need replacing soon.
How Much Does a New MacBook Pro Battery Cost?
If your MacBook is out of warranty when you need to replace the battery (which it likely will), Apple can replace it for $129 to $199, depending on the model.
In most cases, you’re better off getting an original replacement through Apple or a trusted third-party repair shop. On older models, which are easier to maintain, you can do this yourself.
These prices are a bit high, but that’s what you’ll pay if you get it done directly from Apple. Of course, that’s not the only option though. If you’re looking to save some money on replacing your MacBook’s battery, this is a great place to buy replacement batteries. Other World ComputersSelling batteries for older MacBooks up to 2011. You can get one for the 2008-2009 MacBook Air for as little as $79.
However, most replacement batteries can be purchased for around $100. Unfortunately, newer MacBook models are a bit more nailed down than older ones, which means you probably shouldn’t be doing battery replacement on a newer MacBook or MacBook Pro yourself, so let Apple do that for you, but older ones If you have a model, replacement should be pretty painless.
And if you need a tutorial on how to replace the battery in your MacBook, iFixit It’s a great resource you can trust, with guides for almost all MacBook models. they also sell tools to help you open your MacBook Pro.
