What battery do I use for my rechargeable Texas Instruments Graphing Calculator?

The need for rechargeable batteries

Texas Instruments' Graphing Calculators have evolved over the years to be rechargeable and have a backlit screen. With these feature improvements, regular AAA batteries were no longer going to cut it. TI switched to using rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.

The Two Types

There are two types Texas Instruments Rechargeable Graphing Calculator Batteries.

One rechargeable battery with a wire (or pigtail) and one rechargeable battery without the wire (or pigtail).

The timeline of TI's rechargeable batteries?

The battery with the wire was released along with the Ti-Nspire CX, the Ti-Nspire CX CAS, and the Ti-84 Plus C Silver Edition in the early 2010s. We made a nifty little timeline that you can look at below to help illustrate this. 

Newer versions of the Ti-Nspire CX and Ti-Nspire CX CAS were released in late 2014 / early 2015 that used a newer battery design that no longer had the wire (or pigtail).

In the first half of 2015, the Ti-84 Plus C Silver Edition was discontinued and the Ti-84 Plus CE was announced. The Ti-84 Plus CE was the first TI handheld released to exclusively use the newer battery design (without the wire). 

In 2019, Texas Instruments released the Ti-Nspire CX II and the Ti-Nspire CX II CAS. Both of these models use the same battery without the wire, just like the Ti-84 Plus CE. 

What battery does my calculator need?

Ti-84 Plus C Silver Edition

All Ti-84 Plus C Silver Edition use the rechargeable battery WITH the wire.

Ti-84 Plus CE

All Ti-84 Plus CE calculators use the rechargeable battery WITHOUT the wire.

Ti-Nspire CX

Half of the Ti-Nspire CX use the rechargeable battery with the wire, and half use the rechargeable battery without the wire. Use the images below to help identify which battery your calculator uses.

Ti-Nspire CX CAS

Half of the Ti-Nspire CX CAS use the rechargeable battery with the wire, and half use the rechargeable battery without the wire. Use the image below to help identify which battery your calculator uses.

Ti-Nspire CX II

All Ti-Nspire CX II graphing calculators use the rechargeable battery WITHOUT the wire.

Ti-Nspire CX II CAS

All Ti-Nspire CX II CAS graphing calculators use the rechargeable battery WITHOUT the wire.