First battery charge

No you haven't damaged your battery. The batteries are designed to be unplugged, discharged, recharged, etc, a lot (hence Apple's claim they can now last 'over 1000 cycles'). Many people recommend to fully discharge and then recharge the battery approximately once a month just to keep everything flowing in the battery cells, but I've never heard of any ill effects from not fully discharging a brand new computer.

...No, maybe in the late 90s and early 2000s that would've been the case but the battery tech in Apple laptops don't really need that recalibration stuff anymore.

Relationship saved, if you shouted, you should apologise.

Also, all of this info was far more readily available than this post on Apples website.

Mingus1 said:

I looked everywhere and couldn't find it.

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Took me 30 seconds...

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1490

Mingus1 said:

I am search- and forum-challenged. What can I say? I'm just a writer. But thank you greatly for your help!

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You don't need to fully drain your battery. Read the Battery FAQ that simsaladimbamba posted.

yeah, MBA batteries come calibrated....no need to calibrate anymore, they are also chip controlled so use it however you like, you won't burn it by leaving it plugged in and you never need to drain it (actually you will decrease its life by draining it, since its life is based on finished cycles! Mine is about 6 months old and I've got 40 cycles).

gentlefury said:

yeah, MBA batteries come calibrated....no need to calibrate anymore, they are also chip controlled so use it however you like, you won't burn it by leaving it plugged in and you never need to drain it (actually you will decrease its life by draining it, since its life is based on finished cycles! Mine is about 6 months old and I've got 40 cycles).

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You do need to exercise the battery periodically, however. It's not good to leave it plugged in all the time. And it's fine to use it until it's fully drained, when AC power isn't available. There's just no need to do so just for the sake of doing it. And there's no such thing as "finished cycles". A cycle is a cycle.

GGJstudios said:

You do need to exercise the battery periodically, however. It's not good to leave it plugged in all the time. And it's fine to use it until it's fully drained, when AC power isn't available. There's just no need to do so just for the sake of doing it. And there's no such thing as "finished cycles". A cycle is a cycle.

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A cycle means going from 100% to 0%....that can happen incrementally. My MBA has drained from 100% to 0% 40 times. That is a complete cycle...regardless of the wording...I didn't realize I had to use official terminology. And no you do NOT have to "exercise" your battery....nor is it damaging to stay plugged in most of the time.

gentlefury said:

A cycle means going from 100% to 0%....that can happen incrementally. My MBA has drained from 100% to 0% 40 times. That is a complete cycle...regardless of the wording...I didn't realize I had to use official terminology.

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Read the WHAT IS A CYCLE? section of the Battery FAQ.

gentlefury said:

And no you do NOT have to "exercise" your battery....nor is it damaging to stay plugged in most of the time.

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Read the AC POWER section of the Battery FAQ.

You should read the Battery FAQ that simsaladimbamba posted, so you can learn the facts and not mislead people by posting inaccurate information.

Ever since I joined this forum I have learned that Apple users are the biggest hypochondriacs in the world.

Xikum said:

Ever since I joined this forum I have learned that Apple users are the biggest hypochondriacs in the world.

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For some, that may be true, but that's very different from learning how to properly use and care for a computer or battery, to maximize it's useful life.

GGJstudios said:

For some, that may be true, but that's very different from learning how to properly use and care for a computer or battery, to maximize it's useful life.

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There is a lot of information on the internet (including a page on Apples own website) about battery care. People just seem to cry wolf at the first thing on these forums.

Xikum said:

Ever since I joined this forum I have learned that Apple users are the biggest hypochondriacs in the world.

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amen....

"my battery is only 99%"
"my keyboard marks the screen when I sqeeze the crap outta it in my bookbag"

go outside once in a while....

glen e said:

amen....

"my battery is only 99%"
"my keyboard marks the screen when I sqeeze the crap outta it in my bookbag"

go outside once in a while....

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Exactly. I remember once reading a thread about a guy who's child touched the trackpad, and their hand had saliva on it, which got into the trackpad; he thought he was going to have to take it to the Apple store and get a whole new trackpad