Short answer: it depends on the health percentage next to it. If you want one number anyway, get nervous above 800.
Apple designs Mac notebook batteries to hold about 80% of their original capacity after roughly 1000 charge cycles. Batteries don’t die at 1001. They keep holding a bit less each month, until one day you notice you’re hunting for a socket by lunchtime.
A cycle isn’t a plug-in. It’s one full discharge of the battery’s capacity, however you get there. Use 40% today, charge it, use 60% tomorrow: that’s one cycle. Which is why the count on a three-year-old machine is often lower than people expect.
A rough guide, from what comes across our bench:
- Under 100 cycles: barely used. Often a machine that lived on a desk, plugged in.
- 100 to 400: a normal working life. Battery life close to new.
- 400 to 800: well used. Fine for most people, but you’ll notice it on a long train ride.
- Over 800: still works. Plan for a battery swap as a cost you’ll eventually pay.
Cycles alone don’t tell you enough
We’d rather you looked at battery health, the percentage of original capacity that’s left. A machine can have 60 cycles and 88% health because it spent three years in a cupboard. Lithium batteries lose capacity from age as well as use. Another can have 400 cycles and 92% because it was used daily and never cooked in a hot bag.
Look at both, then look at the age. One thing to watch for: a very low cycle count on an old machine almost always means the battery was replaced. That’s good news, but the seller should say so. If they don’t, ask.
Where we draw our lines
We grade cosmetics, not batteries. But every grade has a battery floor under it: Excellent is 90% or better, Good is 85% or better, Fair is 80% or better. Every machine passes the same 52-point checklist whatever its grade. A Fair machine looks used. It doesn’t work less well.
Questions we get
Is 500 cycles a lot?
For a laptop someone used every day for two or three years, it’s about average. With health above 85% we’d buy it.
The cycle count is low, so the battery must be fine?
Not necessarily. Check the health percentage. A low count on an old machine can mean it sat unused, and batteries don’t like that either.
Can the battery be replaced later?
Yes, on every model we sell. Cost depends on the machine. Above 800 cycles it’s worth knowing that number before you buy.