Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Best way to store Macbook Pro for ~1 year

thejadedmonkey

thejadedmonkey

macrumors G3
Original poster
Hi all. I'm considering a temporary upgrade to a newer MBP, and would be putting my current MBP (4 years old this month) away, for about a year. The battery still gets me around 3 hours, which, for this model is close to 100%.

While the computer won't be used much, it will occasionally be used in the guest room.

What's the best way to store this laptop battery for a year? Do I just leave it plugged in, on a desk, or do I take the battery out and sit on a shelf, partially discharged, and let it drain over time?
 
The way to maximize the cell life in a lithium ion battery is to store it between 40-60%; as for the physical storage of the computer, I back up my data and put it in a plastic back (and tie it). I've "archived" a Thinkpad for almost 2 years and right now the battery is still at 100%+ battery health.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. I'll definitely just let it sit at 40% on my desk, for all eternity... or a year or so!
 
The Apple article says to store the battery at 50% charge. I assume they are talking about a battery removed from the MBP, but what about the user non-removable batteries? I have a late 2010 MBP (2.8GHz i7) and find that the charge decays at about 1% per day when shut off. This is to be expected, as some circuitry is still energized when the MBP is powered off. A lithium battery at 50% charge out of circuit will retain that charge level for months.
 
thejadedmonkey said:
Thanks for the advice guys. I'll definitely just let it sit at 40% on my desk, for all eternity... or a year or so!
Click to expand...
That sounds great. Just make sure you remove the battery from the laptop or you'll have some partial drainage.

If you can find the time, a charge and discharge cycle once a month would do nothing but good. Just make sure you get the battery back to 50% and removed from the laptop when you're done.
 
I'll go out of the box and say instead of storage, just sell it on CL now. You'll implicitly lose money by storing it vs just selling it now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back