How many battery cycles is normal for a MacBook, by age
What a charge cycle is, how many cycles a MacBook battery is rated for, and how many a year of normal use adds. Ours: 619.
What is a battery charge cycle?
One cycle is using 100 percent of the battery's capacity, in any number of pieces. Using half today and half tomorrow is one cycle, not two.
How many cycles does a MacBook battery last?
Current MacBook batteries are designed to keep up to 80 percent of their capacity at 1,000 cycles. The Mac keeps working past that; it just runs out sooner.
How many cycles per year is normal?
It depends on how much you run on battery: a desk Mac on a charger may add under 100 a year, a laptop used daily on battery 200 to 300. Check yours with:
system_profiler SPPowerDataType | grep "Cycle Count"For what the percentage means, see how to check battery health.
Common questions
Is 500 cycles a lot for a MacBook?
No. Batteries are rated for 1,000 cycles to about 80 percent capacity, so 500 is roughly halfway.
What happens after 1000 cycles?
The battery keeps working with less capacity. Replace it when runtime no longer fits your day or Service Recommended appears.