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My MacBook Pro is a great machine, it’s the best notebook computer I’ve ever owned. In fact it’s the best computer I’ve ever owned. Period.

But since the day I bought it, in February 2007, it’s had an appetite for batteries. The battery life is very short. And by that I don’t mean the time between charges, I mean the battery has a short lifespan.

The first battery lasted 2 months before failing completely. If I unplugged the mains cable the machine would completely cut out within seconds. I took it to the Genius Bar at the Oxford Street Apple Store and they swapped the battery out, no problem. 2 months later (June) I was back for another. By January 2008 it was apparent I needed another and even though the machine was under warranty for another month, I bought a battery (which gave me another 12 months of battery warranty). Well this week the health (maximum capacity) started flicking between the 85% it had slowly worked itself down to, and an obviously faulty 65% which was accompanied by the message “not charging”. As the Apple Stores were not accepting Genius Bar appointments on iPhone launch day I made one for this afternoon at the Bluewater branch. As ever the staff swapped the battery out with no quibble whatsoever.

But I had to ask, as this was my 5th battery in less than 18 months, is there a problem with with either the MacBook Pro or the batteries? They denied it, but I’m not convinced…

Filed under: Computing
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