Hey,
A few days ago I sent some emails to an AppleCenter about my deffective battery. Heres how it goes

Part 1 (ME)

Hey Joel,
I have found some information about my iBooks battery using a program called Coconut Battery.
Using it I found that my battery status was:

20 months old
251 load cycles
Current Max Capacity 771 mAh (17%)
And when I brought my mac it would hold 4400 mAh (100%)

I compared this to my dads Powerbook G4 12 inch:
42 Months old
217 Load cycles
Current Max capacity 2883 mAh
Used to hold 4200 mAh

I have noticed that my battery only holds 30min of power! So I end up lagging around a charger to all my classes.
Are the PB batteries different to the iBooks or is their something wrong with my battery?

Thanks,
Simo

Part 2 (Apple Center)

Hi Simo,

I'd love to have a look at this program. Where did you find it?

With regards to the battery on your iBook, it would seem that you've had a disappointing result. Especially when you read on Apple's battery information page (http://www.apple.com/au/batteries/notebooks.html) that "A properly maintained PowerBook or iBook battery is designed to retain up to 80% of its original capacity after 300 full charge and discharge cycles. You may choose to replace your battery when it no longer holds sufficient charge to meet your needs."

We know from experience that Apple's coverage of laptop batteries under warranty lasts for 12 months from the initial date of purchase. The customer care department at Apple may very well be able to grant special coverage to those that have had a particularly bad run with battery life but I don't know of anybody having contacted customer care about this issue in the past. I don't think many people are as diligent about their computer's performance as you.

If you'd like for us to run your battery through its paces in our service department to give you a performance report we'd be happy to oblige. Let me know if I can help in that way.

A new battery costs $199 through retail.

Regards,
Joel

Do you think this is coverd by AppleCare? And is this a Defective iBook Battery?

Thanks,
Simo

its specifically not covered by applecare since i am experiencing a more extreme version of the same problem with my powerbook. my battery has lasted a year and 20 days and no it will not be replaced. i am down to 1.5 hrs use and going fast. in the past 7 days i have lost 20% of the original capacity of the batteryand now down to 60% with only around 115 cycles. it is not defective, its just how long they last. personally i think you have been lucky cos i had read a lot on this issue recently and it seems many people do not have it last 2 years even. so yeah i was at an actual apple store and the guy flat out said yeah you will have to buy a new battery.

My iBook's battery is around the same as yours Simo and mine has exactly the same problem. Only chance is to buy a cheaper one through somewhere like eBay.

supermans: that's interesting, because I have a 12" PB (867MHz - 3yrs old) and have had the battery replaced heaps of times (currently got one that's about 2 months old (from warrantee)). That powerbook was purchased with the education discount, back when they provided 3yr warranties. I just thought that that 3yr warrantee was the same as ?care, but, by the looks of things, it isn't. Was your battery physically damaged in any way (other than scratches)? because they might have not replaced it because of the damage, I know somebody who had that happen, the battery wasn't staying in (problem with the clip thing that holds the battery - contained on the battery), and they wouldn't replace it because the battery was damaged.

just my 2c
- Ben

no my battery is fine. they are only under warranty for a year. so if you have each one replaced within that year then you are all good. if you wait longer than a year you are screwed. they are definitely not covered with applecare for any longer.