Apple Service - Top Notch

M

Maniac

Elite
So a new battery is in the macbook air. The laptop is only two years old but started complaining about its battery. Went into Apple at Trafford Centre. No hassle. In fact I need to send a glowing report to the genius guy's manager because he bent over backwards. I took the laptop in, they wanted to keep it for a few days as they had lots on. I explained it was my only work laptop etc and he said leave it with him. I came home for some lunch and halfway through a sandwich the guy called to tell me he'd rushed it through for me and it was ready, so I went back and I'm now home with a shiny new battery. Marvellous service.
 
Interesting, as on a Macbook they did not want to know as the battery was outside the warranty terms (laptop has 3 years warranty and battery died after 2.5 years).
 
I was a little annoyed though as I bought the laptop for my daughter with 3 years warranty for making sure that I would not have a headache of supporting it during the Uni time. Keyboard was replaced, no problem earlier and the same for the screen that had some issues. Just the battery was not covered meaning I had to buy one as they would not replace it either.
 
:thumbsup:

Out of interest how many cycles had it done?

My old Macbook had over 2000 and the battery was only rated for 5-600. It depends how you charge it, should let it run up and all the way down not in-between keeps the battery in better health. But sure the new MBs with non user replaceable batteries have a clever management system to keep them healthy.
 
Was indeed a little surprised that the battery was not replaceable. Was hardly difficult to swap, but getting a new battery was a bigger challenge.
 
Swappable in the 'Air', you replace the entire bottom shell of the laptop. Cycle count was 186. Super low, and hence why at 2 years old the battery wasn't great any more. Need to use more battery and less mains all the time was what I was told, which I knew but never had the issue before.
 
tomscott said:
Out of interest how many cycles had it done?

My old Macbook had over 2000 and the battery was only rated for 5-600. It depends how you charge it, should let it run up and all the way down not in-between keeps the battery in better health.
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Sorry Tom, that sort of charging regime was only valid for very old Ni-Cd type batteries, newer types such as NiMh and any Lithium-based battery Li-Po, Li-ion etc. will last longer if only given short discharge cycles i.e. recharge little and often

NiMh batteries
You'll get more cycles by charging your NiMH's when they're only partially depleted rather than fully depleted. (Battery University) But since you can typically charge NiMH's hundreds of times, it's probably not worth worrying about, and you can just charge whenever you like. Even Cadex, who makes battery test equipment and therefore knows a lot about batteries, says that it's hard to formulate more specific advice for charging. They do recommend draining down to 1.0V once every 3 months.
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Lithium-based batteries
Similar to a mechanical device that wears out faster with heavy use, so also does the depth of discharge (DoD) determine the cycle count. The shorter the discharge (low DoD), the longer the battery will last. If at all possible, avoid full discharges and charge the battery more often between uses. Partial discharge on Li-ion is fine; there is no memory and the battery does not need periodic full discharge cycles to prolong life, other than to calibrate the fuel gauge on a smart battery once in a while.
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Maniac said:
Apple's own advice;

http://www.apple.com/uk/batteries/notebooks.html
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In other words, they don't really give any over and above use it, charge it and store it like this when you're not using it :lol:

They find it difficult to give anything other than the most generic advice in case someone follows it and has problems - pretty much the same as most other laptop manufacturers really

Remember Apple don't manufacture batteries, they, along with other laptop manufacturers, buy them in - they may be made to their specified shape and capacity but the battery cells themselves are generic so the charging/discharging regime needed is actually independent of the laptop manufacturer
 
I've experienced fantastic service at Leicester highcross's apple store and Manchester Arndale's store.

Birmingham bullring on the other hand....shocking service I received.

I am anti apple now though as I don't think their current offerings offer any innovation over what else is around and they charge a ridiculous premium for storage upgrades on the handsets.
 
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