Got My MBA - Am I charging it right?

anotherjoey · Aug 17, 2012

I finally got my MBA today and I couldn't be happier with it!

It was (fully?) charged when I used it for the first time, and I didn't bother plugging the charger in. I kept using it until I got the message that the computer was running on reserve battery and kept using it until it automatically went to sleep and 0% as I thought this was necessary the first time. Now it's in that mode on my bed and i'm thinking of leaving it like that until morning when I will fully charge it and use it as usual. But I just read that this procedure isnt necessary on the new macbooks, so am i in some way harming the battery? Will this count as a calibration even though i'm not sure the battery was 100% charged before I ran it down? Should i keep it in sleep mode for 5 hours before charging it for the first time OR plug it in right away?

Sorry for my paranoia, I just want to know that i'm not doing anything wrong.

GGJstudios · Aug 17, 2012

anotherjoey said:
It was (fully?) charged when I used it for the first time, and I didn't bother plugging the charger in. I kept using it until I got the message that the computer was running on reserve battery and kept using it until it automatically went to sleep and 0% as I thought this was necessary the first time.

No, it's not necessary. In fact, the documentation that came with your Mac tells you to plug it in when you first get it and fully charge it.

anotherjoey said:
Will this count as a calibration even though i'm not sure the battery was 100% charged before I ran it down?

The built-in batteries in the newer Mac unibody notebooks come pre-calibrated and do not require regular calibration like the removable batteries in older Apple notebooks.

Run on battery whenever you need to and plug it in whenever you can. You can plug or unplug at any time, regardless of the charged percentage. Just make sure you don't run on AC power all the time, as your battery needs to be used regularly to stay healthy. This should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions:

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ

Rocky244 · Aug 17, 2012

anotherjoey said:
I finally got my MBA today and I couldn't be happier with it!

It was (fully?) charged when I used it for the first time, and I didn't bother plugging the charger in. I kept using it until I got the message that the computer was running on reserve battery and kept using it until it automatically went to sleep and 0% as I thought this was necessary the first time. Now it's in that mode on my bed and i'm thinking of leaving it like that until morning when I will fully charge it and use it as usual. But I just read that this procedure isnt necessary on the new macbooks, so am i in some way harming the battery? Will this count as a calibration even though i'm not sure the battery was 100% charged before I ran it down? Should i keep it in sleep mode for 5 hours before charging it for the first time OR plug it in right away?

Sorry for my paranoia, I just want to know that i'm not doing anything wrong.

You're not doing anything wrong, but you don't need to let it sleep all night before plugging it in. The Apple website has detailed information on how the battery works if you'd like to read about it, but basically to sum it up for you, you can charge whenever you want, and use it however you want, and you won't harm your battery regardless.

The only situation where your battery could face jeopardy is if you refused to use it on battery for months at a time. As long as you use it every once in awhile on battery, which is you clear you plan on doing, you will have no worries. Charge away!

anotherjoey · Aug 17, 2012

Thanks for the tips and info! I had read some sites that didnt fully answer my questions.

So i didnt do anything right or wrong lol, just ran it down completely.. Oh well, charging it full now

GREEN4U · Aug 17, 2012

anotherjoey said:
Thanks for the tips and info! I had read some sites that didnt fully answer my questions.

So i didnt do anything right or wrong lol, just ran it down completely.. Oh well, charging it full now

Just a tip: If you let the battery go down to 80-90% don't bother to recharge it. Instead, keep using the battery and bring it all the way down to 0%. The reason is because I learned that at around 80-90%, the battery has already counted that as a cycle. So if you plug in at that point, you're getting ripped off. So my rule of thumb is 100% (or 95% or 98%) or bust (0%).

GGJstudios · Aug 17, 2012

GREEN4U said:
Just a tip: If you let the battery go down to 80-90% don't bother to recharge it. Instead, keep using the battery and bring it all the way down to 0%. The reason is because I learned that at around 80-90%, the battery has already counted that as a cycle. So if you plug in at that point, you're getting ripped off. So my rule of thumb is 100% (or 95% or 98%) or bust (0%).

That is completely false and bad advice. It is not necessary or recommended to fully discharge the battery and that's not how cycles work. Read WHAT IS A CYCLE? in the Battery FAQ that I posted.

GREEN4U · Aug 17, 2012

GGJstudios said:
That is completely false and bad advice. Read WHAT IS A CYCLE? in the Battery FAQ that I posted.

How is it false? I've had my laptop for 11 days. In that time I've had 4 cycle counts according to my System Profiler, 3 times of which I went down to only 85%. This last time I brought it all the way down to 0% and that makes 4 cycle counts. So how is this false? Are you calling me a liar? Are you saying System Profiler lies?

GGJstudios · Aug 17, 2012

GREEN4U said:
How is it false? I've had my laptop for 11 days. In that time I've had 4 cycle counts, 3 times of which I went down to only 85%. This last time I brought it all the way down to 0% and that makes 4 cycle counts. So how is this false? Are you calling me a liar?

Read the WHAT IS A CYCLE? section of the Battery FAQ to understand how cycles work and how they are counted. I'm saying your post is completely false.

GREEN4U · Aug 17, 2012

GGJstudios said:
Read the WHAT IS A CYCLE? section of the Battery FAQ to understand how cycles work and how they are counted. I'm saying your post is completely false.

I know what a Cycle Count is. I was surprised to see my Cycles at 1,2, and then 3 too when I had only drained the battery a little each time. But that's how it is. That's why I'm giving my advice to the OP. That's what this forum is for. Not spitting out the same articles/threads over and over. Why are you so stubborn?

AppleDApp · Aug 17, 2012

I use my mac as a door stopper. Am I using it right?

andrewmcd11 · Aug 18, 2012

GGJstudios said:
Post deleted by moderator

I love what you do around here. You spread a lot of knowledge and help everyone out. You're information had been a great asset to many.

BUT, you should recognize the possibility that you're information is not always correct. Why is that?

-You could have transcribed it incorrectly from the original source
-The original source (Apple ("god's word")) could have misstated something
-The original source (Apple ("god's word")) could flat-out be wrong
-The source information COULD be outdated
-Your transcription could be outdated
-etc, etc.
-it's late--I'll stop

Nevertheless, thanks for everything you do around here, GGJ. Keep up the good work.

GGJstudios · Aug 18, 2012

andrewmcd11 said:
BUT, you should recognize the possibility that you're information is not always correct.

I completely agree that neither I nor Apple are infallible. That is why I frequently post exact quotes and links to my sources, so people can check for themselves if what I'm saying is accurate and current. However, the information about how battery cycles are counted is neither wrong, nor misquoted nor outdated. It is completely factual, despite the unsubstantiated claim of one poster who has cited no authoritative source for their information and a friend who's "authoritative statement" consists of "yeah something like that".

bradPiano · Aug 18, 2012

I think it's also good to know when your point is made and to let it go before it tailspins off topic and becomes more confusing for any looking for information rather than a back and forth.

dcorban · Aug 18, 2012

GREEN4U said:
Post deleted by moderator.

Having worked extensively in tech support, I can confidently state that when a user claims they "didn't do anything"*, they are either mistaken or straight up lying. Your claim that you didn't use the battery more than you say, or that there were not already cycles recorded when purchased is difficult to believe, assuming that you aren't completely mistaken from the very start.

That said, even if your situation is true, since it is obviously not the intended behaviour nor the observed behaviour of modern MacBook batteries, handing out the "advice" you have is poor form.

*I'll never forget the time a user claimed their Word documents were "disappearing". They claimed they would be typing something and come back to find the document gone and have to retype everything. It was discovered that the user was simply minimizing the window and had no idea how to restore it.

Alameda · Aug 18, 2012

I don't see why the definition of a "cycle" matters anyway. It's just an activity that increments a counter. It doesn't affect the warranty, and irrespective of whether a counter increments or not, you're still subjecting the battery to the same usage.

maflynn · Aug 18, 2012

[MOD NOTE]
Stop with the bickering and derailing the thread. I've cleaned up the thread and tried to keep the spirit of the discussion intact.

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Got My MBA - Am I charging it right?

anotherjoey

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