Although I've had my MacBook Pro since my birthday last April, I've never really used the battery. I might use it for a minute or two while I'm carrying the thing from the outlet in one room to the outlet in another room, but that's about it. But in the last month or so, I noticed that if I had it unplugged for more than 3–5 minutes, it would just die, with no warning. One minute I'd have a full charge, worth a good few hours anyhow, then nothing.
So I made my first-ever appointment for the Genius Bar at my local Apple store. I arrived at the prescribed time and fired up my MacBook for my assigned Genius. I was convinced that it wouldn't misbehave for him (like the car that refuses to make that clanging noise when you bring it to the mechanic), but sure enough, after a few minutes, it died. My Genius put a new battery in it and—lo and behold!—no problem. I asked whether it was likely that it had been a dud battery from the start, and I just didn't know because I never really gave it a chance, and he said probably. He was really nice and helpful, and he didn't even charge me! (Get it, he didn't charge me! It's battery humor. How often do you get to pull a joke like that?)
Are you here all week?
Posted by: Loren | March 25, 2007 at 05:42 PM
Yes, try the veal!
Posted by: Karen | March 25, 2007 at 06:05 PM
I'm positive that that pun was a negative.
Posted by: Mark | March 26, 2007 at 06:41 AM
My Mom's Mac laptop had that problem and she was told that we need to work unplugged once a week or so until the battery fully drains. This trains the battery to do its thing. Or something like that. Same concept as leaving your cordless phone off the charger for long periods of time rather than hanging it back up after every call.
Posted by: Stephanie | March 28, 2007 at 03:15 PM
I don't think that's the case anymore. Older batteries required that, but the new breed can live without it. Cordless phones, too!
Posted by: Karen | March 28, 2007 at 05:47 PM