MacBook Air Battery Cycle Count

The option to purchase your school issued MacBook presents an interesting opportunity and raises some questions. One question asked by several teachers focused on their MacBook's remaining battery life. Battery life can be an important buy out consideration.

The school issued MacBook Airs have a maximum cycle count of 1000, meaning they can be completely discharged and recharged 1000 times before being 'consumed'. A consumed battery doesn't mean a broken battery; it means you're likely to experience poor performance and reduced capacity. A battery cycle count of 500 on this particular MacBook model might roughly equate to a half consumed battery. You can dive into the battery life details at https://support.apple.com/en-us/ht201585.

The embedded video shows you how to check your device's battery cycle count. I hope it provides insight and helps you make an informed decision on the buy out option.

iPads vs. Chromebooks

One morning last March, I had the chance to work with Dan Gloria's grade eight class. We looked at Adobe Spark as a tool to build a video based book report. Students used a mix of iPads and Chromebooks to tackle their reports.

I wondered out loud in front of students, "Why are some of you using iPads and some using Chromebooks?" "Is your iPad broken?" "Is your iPad's battery dead?" The junior high's preferred one to one device is the iPad. Why did most students opt for a Chromebook?

I was so surprised by my classroom observations that I issued a survey to learn more. Along with gender and grade questions, the survey asked,

The results were surprising.

Regardless of gender or grade, Chromebooks seem to be the "Go-To" device, with 58 % of respondents preferring Chromebooks.

Twenty two percent of respondents are, apparently, comfortable with either device.

I found the results to be fascinating, but I also want to know more. Is the type of school work being asked of students a determining factor in their answers? Probably. When I get bored, I'll try to answer that question. Stay tuned...

The entire data set including student comments and interactive charts is available here.