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Is it safe to leave my MacBook plugged in?

maccam

maccam

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Hi!

I have a couple of questions:

1: is alright if my Dad keeps his MacBook plugged in for a
long period of time while his battery is in it. Will it hurt the battery?

2: And how many cycles is the battery good for?

Thanks,
maccam
 
Yeah its fine. Might be a good idea to fully charge up and discharge it every few months though, and when you first use it.

2) Depends really. I'm gonna say around 300. If you discharge most of the way when you use it, it should last for longer.
Warranty wise, they say 1 year of use or 300 cycles, whatever comes first.
 
I read somewheres (don't ask for the link because I forgot to bookmark it) that you should let the battery go below 10% about once a month, and then juice up to the hilt the next time you have it on.
 
JG271 said:
Warranty wise, they say 1 year of use or 300 cycles, whatever comes first.
Click to expand...
Really? My 4 year old PB battery only lasts about an hour nowadays but the 3 year old replacement battery lasts 2.5-3 hours still. If my MB battery only lasts a year I'll be p*ssed 😡
 
maccam said:
Hi!

I have a couple of questions:

1: is alright if my Dad keeps his MacBook plugged in for a
long period of time while his battery is in it. Will it hurt the battery?

2: And how many cycles is the battery good for?

Thanks,
maccam
Click to expand...

1: Yes. Unlike Nickel batteries. Which I don't think are manufactured anymore.
2: I hear 500 is a good example before the battery needs to be replaced.

You can download CoconutBattery, which will tell you the health of the battery.

You should also try and calibrate the battery every few months by draining the battery completely. The computer will go into standby. Then leave it for a few hours in forced standby until the battery is completely drained. Then charge it back up.
 
Your Dad's MB will be fine. I try to keep my MBA plugged in at all times and have only 8 cycles on it since I bought it in August '08. I've actually run it down to standby mode twice and it's still running quite well...😎
 
I really hope 500 isn't a good estimate for when I'll need to replace the battery. Given, I need a battery anyways, because Apple dented my current one, but if I have to replace it around 500, I'll be getting about a year and a half of battery, and that's it. Hell, I'm less than a month past the one year mark, and I'm already at about 400.
 
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