Use this guide when your laptop no longer lasts through a lecture, train journey or working day, or before deciding whether to replace it. Have the laptop, its charger and an hour of normal use ahead to compare results.
Step by step
Check the battery's real health
On a Mac open System Settings, Battery and look at Battery Health (click the information button for maximum capacity and condition). On Windows open Command Prompt and type powercfg /batteryreport, then open the report file it saves and compare Full Charge Capacity with Design Capacity. If the full charge is well below the design figure or the laptop warns the battery needs service, settings alone will not fix it, so note it for a battery replacement.
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