Methods and apparatuses are provided for calibrating a vacuum component of a phacoemulsification system at different elevations. The design comprises running a vacuum component to be calibrated at an elevation； determining a maximum vacuum pressure available at the elevation； determining a range of vacuum pressure available from running the vacuum component at the elevation； calibrating the vacuum component based at least in part on a the maximum vacuum pressure available and the range of vacuum pressure available. The design also comprises a to be calibrated vacuum component； a pressure delivery device； an altimeter configured to determine the elevation of the vacuum component； component reading hardware configured to read at least one measured value from the pressure sensing components of the vacuum component when exposed to at least one pressure value from the pressure delivery device； and a computer configured to correlate a plurality of measured values to the elevation.
