Pitfalls of purchasing a used (Mac) laptop

Don't get me wrong -- I love my laptop (mostly). I'm currently using a 15" Core 2 Duo Macbook Pro, which I purchased used in May of 2010, at which point it was approximately 2 years old.

Prior to purchasing this laptop, I was using a 13" Macbook:

The new laptop is a step up from the old one in just about every way imaginable:

• Faster processor
• Bigger monitor (Though I've since decided that 15" is the limit of practicality. A 17" laptop is just too much. Not to mention the extra weight, no fun for a commuter like myself)
• Bigger and faster hard drive
• Dvd burner (the Macbook would only burn cd's)
• About twice the ram

For me, the one thing that's fallen short of my expectations is the battery. Effectively, I've found that the battery life is approximately the same as I had with my Macbook, but that's because I wasn't aware of the biggest pitfall of purchasing a used Mac laptop: the batteries are a known issue for customers -- but apparently Apple refuses to admit it. Threads in Apple's support forums tend to live a short lifespan of multiple customer complaints about decreased capacity after a few years or around 200 load cycles, before ultimately being silently deleted.

What it boils down to is that the batteries used in these laptops tend to lose their maximum capacity. My model is rated to charge up to 5600 mAh, and its current maximum charge is approximately 2093 mAh, at least as described by Coconut Battery. I've run multiple battery calibrations, and never seem to get any better perceived battery life, and never notice any improvement in Coconut Battery either.

The important section of the above image is the middle one: Current capacity vs. Design Capacity. With my capacity what it is, I'm able to work unplugged, with brightness turned way down, wifi and bluetooth disabled, sound muted, and peripherals disconnected, for about 90 minutes, depending on what I'm doing.

When I purchased this laptop I wanted to do my due diligence and make sure I wasn't buying a lemon. I tested to verify that...

• Wifi works
• Ethernet works
• DVD burner works
• Bluetooth works
• Trackpad works
• Webcam works
• Built in Microphone works
• Headphone & Microphone jacks work
• Keyboard works ("Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs")
• USB ports work
• DVI port works

What didn't I check? Battery capacity. And I wish I had known to, because I might have changed my mind or offered less money to cover the purchase of a replacement battery. So this is my warning to you. If you're buying a used Macbook or Macbook Pro, check the battery capacity. Coconut Battery is free and easy to use. Don't make the same mistake I did, or budget to purchase a replacement battery.

in Apple Posted 2011-04-08 07:45

12 responses:

WilGeno 2011-04-08 9:51 AM #

I have the same MacBookPro. I bought mine new just over three years ago. I've had to replace the battery every year. Each time AppleCare replaced the battery at no cost. As far as I know Sony made these batteries. A new one cost $129. A few places sell them for $10 - $20 less.

Dennis 2011-04-08 9:52 AM #

Thanks for the heads up on calibrating batteries. I haven't done this at all yet and I bought my MBP in July 2010. Will be interesting to see what the results are.

Dennis 2011-04-08 10:02 AM #

Hmmm. Current max capacity is 5473, down from the design capacity of 5770. I still get about 5-6 hours or normal usage.

Guess I need to run the calibration cycle and see if this will bump back up.

My MPB doesn't have a user replaceable battery so I guess in a couple of years it will have to go on a trip to Apple.

Thanks again for the tip!

Jordan 2011-04-08 10:09 AM #

My current battery capacity is 1844 mAh
My original battery capacity is 5200 mAh
My current battery charge is 5069 mAh

I wouldn't necessarily judge your battery by what coconut says. How long does it last on a charge?

Adam 2011-04-08 10:27 AM #

Jordan, as I mention in the post, if I take every measure to decrease battery usage (dim the screen, turn off wifi & bluetooth, mute sound, unplug usb devices, etc) I can usually get about 60-90 minutes out of it. A typical example would be a day working on a CF project on the train; which means I'm running ColdFusion, MySQL, Apache, Chrome or Firefox, and CFBuilder.

For what it's worth, coconut is currently reporting my capacity as 1803 mAh, with a full charge (current charge 1803, max charge 1803, current capacity 1803, design capacity 5600).

Coconut is not an end-all-be-all, and can only provide some form of rough estimation... for sure. But that doesn't mean there is no problem at all.

Adam 2011-04-08 10:29 AM #

WilGeno, since I purchased my MBP used AppleCare was not an option. I did have AppleCare on my 13" MB, but never had occasion to use it. I'm hoping to get a replacement battery soon.

Jordan 2011-04-08 10:43 AM #

Oh I'm not saying there's no problem. I missed the part about the 90 minutes. Just wanted to make sure your actual battery life was poopy since I've had unreliable numbers from coconut before.

Take it to the Apple store. Depending on who you get, you might get hooked up. They replaced my entire laptop chassis out of warranty for free one time. They don't get those high customer service rankings for nothing.

Dennis 2011-04-08 11:39 AM #

Guessing Jordan's current charge of 5069 mAh against a capacity of only 1844 mAh is a mistake entering the details or Coconut gave some misleading results.

Jordan 2011-04-08 11:47 AM #

It's just coconut being weird. My laptop is from '06 but my battery is less than a year old. It's obviously calculating based on something more than just a battery test. I get over 5 hours on that battery too so the current charge isn't wrong.

Dennis 2011-04-08 11:54 AM #

From the instructions on calibrating the battery:

-When you see the low battery warning, save your work and close all applications.
Keep your computer turned on until it goes to sleep.
-After your computer goes to sleep, turn it off or allow it to sleep for five hours or longer.

So after the battery is nearly dead and it's gone to sleep, how do I turn it off? Wouldn't the power button just try to wake it back up again?

Adam 2011-04-08 11:59 AM #

I just let it sleep -- it says that is fine. I guess if you really wanted to power it off, you could try pulling the battery, or hold down the power key.

Dennis 2011-04-09 7:16 AM #

Was a bid surprised to see that my battery has lot about 6% of it's original capacity. Maybe it's because I've never gone through this process before. Wow. But glad to know this for sure!

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