🔋 Understanding MacBook Battery Health
The MacBook battery is one part of the Apple laptop that you want to check when buying a used MacBook Pro or MacBook Air. Besides the SSD or hard drive, this is one of the few parts that can break due to "wear and tear". But how exactly can you check battery health?
🔧 What is a Charge Cycle?
A charge cycle refers to the process of fully charging and then discharging a battery. A complete charge cycle occurs when the sum of all partial charges reaches 100% of battery capacity. It's a measure of how many times a battery has been charged from 0% to 100% and then discharged again.
Since most people don't discharge their MacBook Pro/Air from 100% to 0%, but rather partially like from 100% to 55%, the question is how to achieve a complete charge cycle.
With such partial discharges, the percentages are simply added up and each time you reach 100%, the number of charge cycles increases by 1.
💡 Practical Example:
- Discharge from 100% to 75% (then charge) = 25%
- Discharge from 100% to 27% (then charge) = 73%
- Discharge from 100% to 58% (then charge) = 42%
Result: That's a total of 140% discharge, so we have about 1.4 charge cycles on the battery counter.
🔍 Check Battery Cycles and Battery Health
Read MacBook Battery Cycles - Step-by-Step Guide
To read the battery cycles and battery health (Maximum Capacity) on MacBook Pro or Air, there's a simple way through Finder in macOS (works in macOS Sequoia, Sonoma, Ventura and Monterey):
- Open System Settings (via Apple menu or Spotlight)
- Select "General" (in the sidebar)
- Select "About" (right side)
- Click "System Report" (at the bottom of the About section)
- Expand "Hardware" on the left side
- Under "Hardware" select "Power"
- Here you'll find the important values:
- "Cycle Count"
- "Condition"
- "Maximum Capacity"
🔧 What Does "Maximum Capacity" Mean?
The "maximum capacity" value indicates how much capacity the installed battery still has compared to a new battery. This value decreases over time for every battery. For a new MacBook, this value is 100%.
🔧 Evaluating Battery Health
The battery health assessment can be found in the "Condition" section. "Good" is the standard here. From about 80% capacity, a different rating will be displayed.
Important: MacBooks typically handle 800 to 1000 charge cycles without problems. After that, you might reach a range where the battery doesn't last long and a MacBook battery replacement could be interesting.
Properly Evaluating MacBook Battery Cycles and Battery Health
Normally you would say that a high number of charge cycles is bad and a low number is good. In practice, it's not quite that simple. The reason is that it's also harmful for batteries to be kept at 100% (fully charged) for long periods.
This happens when people use their MacBook Pro/Air almost exclusively at home at their desk and it's plugged in all the time. So after a year you might have 10 charge cycles, but the battery has still lost a lot of "battery health".
✅ Apple's "Optimized Battery Charging" Since 2020
Since 2020, Apple has built a feature called "optimized battery charging" into macOS that addresses exactly this problem. macOS recognizes when the MacBook is plugged in most of the time and then keeps the battery at about 80% charge, which is a good range for battery life.
⚠️ When Buying Used
When buying used, you should always ask the seller for a screenshot showing all three values:
- Cycle Count
- Condition
- Maximum Capacity
Only with this can you really tell the actual state of the battery. If the maximum capacity is only 80% or below, a battery replacement is due soon. Keep this in mind during price negotiations.
✅ Service and Further Information
Battery Replacement at Sadaghian
If you have a MacBook Pro or Air that needs a battery replacement, please contact us. We offer MacBook battery replacement including thorough cleaning of your MacBook.
- High-quality replacement batteries for all MacBook models
- Installation by experienced technicians
- Thorough cleaning of the entire MacBook
- Warranty on all work performed
- Fast processing - usually within 1-2 business days
We can replace batteries on both old and new MacBook models (including M1, M2, M3) so you can work mobile with the devices for a long time again. Current prices for battery replacement can be found in our price overview.
Contact us for free consultation:
Conclusion: Check Battery Health Regularly
Regular checking of MacBook battery health is important to recognize in time when a battery replacement is required. With the method described, you can quickly and easily retrieve all important information about your MacBook battery.
If your MacBook has other problems, remember: A repair at Sadaghian is often easier and cheaper than you think. We repair MacBooks of all generations - from classic Intel models to the latest Apple Silicon MacBooks.