My MBA mid-2013 usually lasts for about 6 hours; it's been used for almost 4 years now. I use Chrome for internet browsing, mostly Facebook, Reddit and go over to other websites from these two websites. No other streaming or song playing or any other app runs that continuously syncs over the Internet.
I do use a number of extensions on Chrome – adblocker, lastpass, Evernote, hover zoom+.
My questions is, is 5-6 hours a normal battery life for 4-year old mid-2013 MBA with these settings or is is it time for me change the battery?
Best Answer
A 17% drop in capacity over 4 years is not an issue. Batteries have a useful life of 3 to 5 years depending on cycle count; if you get 1000 cycles, you've gotten the full life out of it.
The key here is the number of cycles. It's important to note that it's not what you do, but how many times you charge the battery. It doesn't care that you're reading reddit, browsing with Chrome, or rendering video. What matters is how often your battery is drained and recharged.
Note: A cycle is one complete drain and recharge. If you drain only 5% and then recharge, it's only a 5% of one cycle; you have to do that 20 more times to to equal one whole charge cycle.
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