To check the battery health of your MacBook Air, you need to navigate to System Settings > Battery, and look at the right panel to see “Battery Health.”
Hello, my name is Ty, and I have been supporting MacBook users for over two years. For the past year, I have exclusively used a MacBook Air, so I am more than familiar with the ins and outs of it.
This post will show you how you can check your device’s battery health. I will also go into the different health statuses of your MacBook Air and what they mean.
Let’s get into this!
Contents
Key Takeaways
- You can check your battery health through system settings.
- Keeping tabs on your battery health is important; it is good to see what status you are at and take the appropriate steps.
- Once your battery starts to degrade, you can get your MacBook Air serviced at an Apple Store, Geek Squad, or a trusted local laptop repair shop.
Check the Battery Health of your MacBook Air
To check your MacBook Air’s battery health:
Step 1: Navigate to your system settings. You can do this by either clicking the cog wheel or by going to the apple logo on the top left of your screen and selecting “System Settings.”
Step 2: Once there, navigate to “Battery” on the left pane. From there, you can see your battery levels, your usage, and most importantly, your Battery Health.
If you see “normal,” like the picture above, you have nothing to worry about! If you click on the small circled I, it will give you an in-depth look at your battery’s Condition and Max Capacity.
Normal means precisely what you’d think, but what if you want to know more? You can also see your battery’s maximum capacity. The lower the percentage gets, the less time you will be able to get out of your battery in between charges.
If your battery says “Service Recommended,” it means that it is no longer functioning at an average level; it may be in your best interest to get a battery replacement soon.
Battery Replacement for Your MacBook Air
Once your device recommends service, does that mean you have to replace your battery immediately? Luckily, it does not. You should be fine in most cases for quite a while, especially if you bring your charger with you.
The Service Recommended status only appears once your MacBook Air’s battery has stopped functioning “like new.” Your device will still function day-to-day with little to no issues. But over time, you may notice your device does not last long on a full charge.
It may even get to the point where you can’t use your MacBook Air unless it is constantly plugged in. This is when you should decide to get your MacBook Air serviced.
There are a few options when it comes to getting your battery serviced. You can take it to an Apple Store, Geek Squad, or other 3rd Party Laptop repair shops near you to get the service done. You can also take it upon yourself to do the battery swap.
Apple Store
If you want to do this as simply as possible, you can make an appointment at an Apple Store, bring it in, and have it serviced. You come back in a few days, and your serviced MacBook Air should be as good as new! All you have to do is pay the service fee.
You can get an estimate of how much the service will cost on Apple’s repair page.
Third-Party Repair Shops
Another option is using a third-party computer repair shop that works on Apple computers. You can quickly check online for 3rd party repair shops that are in or near your city. Call them and let them know the service you are looking for to get an estimate on the cost of the service and the part.
Some 3rd party repair shops may even require you to purchase the part and bring it in.
Replace the Battery Yourself
This is for more intermediate people, as it will take some care and caution, but if you don’t want to pay the service fee, you can simply do the service yourself. That’s right– YOU can swap the battery out.
Look up your MacBook Air’s model number, followed by Battery, and you can see how much the part will cost. Most come with a tool kit with the screwdrivers required to get into the device.
A trustworthy website to use for this would be this.
You can look up how to replace your MacBook Air’s battery on YouTube and follow along. While it is not novice-friendly, with some care and time, you can replace it with no issue. Take necessary precautions like grounding yourself and ensuring the device is powered off before proceeding with any repairs.
Grounding yourself is essential when working on any repairs within a device; you don’t want a random static shock from your fingertip to short any of the internals of your MacBook Air. Some easy ways to ground yourself include wearing an anti-static bracelet and an anti-static mat.
While it is much more dangerous since you will be going in and doing the replacement, it will be more cost-effective than servicing it through Apple or other means.
FAQs
Here are some other questions you might want to know about MacBook Air battery health.
Are MacBook Air Batteries Worth Servicing?
Servicing a MacBook Air’s battery is much more cost-effective than purchasing a new one outright. It is very much worth servicing unless your MacBook Air is 7+ years old. This outdated device may be due for an overall upgrade.
How many battery cycles does a MacBook Air have?
Newer MacBook Airs get about 1,000 battery cycles before performance diminishes.
Final Thoughts
Checking the battery health of your MacBook Air is simple and a good thing to get into the habit of so you can keep tabs on your device’s current state.
Having a better understanding of the current health of your device will help you keep up to date with it and ensure that a failing battery doesn’t blindside you.
