I’ve owned many MacBooks Pros trust me when the batteries go your MacBooks performance will suffer. You will be shocked how your MacBooks improve after a battery replacement it isn’t that expensive for Apple to replace one! Let me explain.
Is It Worth Replacing the MacBook Pro Battery?
It is worth replacing the MacBook Pro battery. The average battery cycle for a MacBook battery before replacement is 1000 charge cycles. Paying $199 for a MacBook service or replacing an older MacBooks battery is great to make your MacBook perform like new without buying another machine.
As per support.apple.com, the battery of the Mac notebook goes through 1000 charge cycles when a battery gets charged from 0-100% this is one charge cycle it doesn’t necessarily mean in a single charge if instance if you used half of your notebook’s battery today and recharged it completely.
If you do the same the next day it would be considered as one charge cycle, not two it can take days to complete a charge cycle depending on how you use your MacBook.
Note that your battery has a limited amount of charge cycles before its performance will start to diminish. So, although you can still use your battery even if it reaches its maximum cycle count, you might start noticing a reduction in your battery life.
Keep reading to know how to check your MacBooks cycle count, and if it’s better to replace the battery or buy another MacBook.
Do you know that by draining your MacBook battery, you can keep it healthy? I have a dedicated guide on how often you should empty your MacBook battery which I highly recommend you to check for further reference to see it’s based on Apple’s official guidelines for battery health.
When Should I Replace My MacBook Pro Battery?
After 1000 charge cycles a MacBook Pros battery performance will start to diminish requiring replacement to function optimally which generally takes 5 years. A MacBook Pro battery is designed to retain up to 80% of its original charge capacity at 1000 complete charge cycles.
See Apples official guidelines on their lithium-ion battery on their website
How to check MacBook Pro cycle count
- Click on the Apple logo at the top left of the screen.
- Next, click on “About This Mac”
- Go to the System Report
- Select the Power button
- Look up the number of charge cycles in this list.
You will see my MacBooks cycle count is ‘131’ with a maximum capacity of 100% and the battery health condition is ‘normal’ if your MacBook battery health is similar you likely don’t need to replace your battery.
I’ve had my MacBook Air M1 for around a year which correlates with you not needing to replace your MacBook battery Pro for at least 5 years.
If your battery health is not ‘normal’ this is a bad sign
| Battery Condition: | Meaning: |
| Normal | Everything is fine with your battery. |
| Service recommended | Doesn’t necessarily mean that something is wrong, but your battery might hold less charge than it once used to do. |
- If it shows 100%: It is performing just like when it used to be brand new.
- If it shows 80%: It explains how much original charge your battery can hold. For instance, if you fully charge your battery, you would only get eight instead of a ten.
Since you are having battery issues, it is also likely that you might have the old versions of macOS. And in that case, the process to find the battery health is slightly different:
- You need first to hold the option key.
- Then you have to click the battery percentage icon in the menu bar at the top right side of your screen to view the battery health.
By doing that, you will see either one of these four statuses for your Mac’s battery condition:
| Normal | No battery replacement is needed. |
| Replace Soon | The battery holds less charge compared to when it was new. |
| Replace Now | The battery has significantly less charge compared to its original capacity. |
| Service Battery | A fault is detected in the battery by the system. |
So understanding all the statuses, you would get the idea about when you should exactly replace the battery.
Cycle count limits can vary depending upon your Mac model. To get more help, you can either check the tech specs page or visit the identify your MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro pages, depending on your Mac device.
After you are sure about which Mac model you have, now you can check the cycle count limit for your computer’s battery from this support.apple.com page want to maximize your battery health? See my complete guide on keeping your battery healthy & happy in my article.
Is It Better to Replace the Battery or Buy a New MacBook
If the MacBook is sold it is better to buy a new MacBook rather than replace a battery. If the MacBook is a newer model with the battery not working well is it better to pay $199 for an Apple service to replace the battery.
It depends on your budget you can see the price of a replacement battery for older MacBooks on Amazon here or on iFixit for around $79.99
If your MacBook won’t turn on it turns off suddenly and has a ‘service battery’ warning or won’t hold a charge then replacing the battery likely will make your MacBook run good as new.
Although if you have an ancient MacBook from 2012-2015 I highly recommend buying a new MacBook. The M1 MacBook Air is by FAR the best laptop I’ve owned it’s stylish, powerful with a battery lasting 14:41 hours! Get it for a bargain on Amazon.
If you are set on replacing your MacBooks battery I recommend you read my detailed guide about is it worth it to replace a Macbook Pro battery with information about the repair costs.
Does Replacing the MacBook Battery Make It Faster?
As a general rule, replacing the MacBook battery can significantly improve performance. However, if the MacBook battery is defective, the CPU will likely throttle down to a lower speed, thus causing it to slow down. It is best to replace the battery if you want to retain the MacBook’s normal performance.
You might think of using your Mac with a removed battery, but it won’t be that beneficial, and instead, it will make the situation worse.
So it would help if you considered replacing the battery. And you should replace your Macbook battery not just to improve performance but also in the following conditions:
- If you receive a battery service warning.
- If your device shuts down unexpectedly.
- If your battery gives a very low run time.
- If you are experiencing overheating even while you are doing small tasks.
Now I highly recommend you check out my article about whether a dead battery will slow down your MacBook Pro to know more about it.