With my 11-inch Mac Book Air 1.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, I'm in a bad habit of just putting it to sleep when I'm done for the day, instead of turning it off. I only turn it off once a week, the rest of the time it is in sleep mode or I'm working on it. What's the general thought on this, is this bad for my laptop?
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Putting my Air to Sleep
- Thread starter sleepdds
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No, it's not bad for it. Many Mac users run for months at a time without shutting down.
The only time I've shut mine down since I got it is for system updates - otherwise it's always in sleep mode when not used. Just shut the lid when you're done, and open it when you want to use it again. Same with the 2010 Air I had before that my girlfriend is using now - been doing that since 2010 and it's still working great. Shutting it down and booting up again is a lot slower, takes more battery (if not connected to a charger) and probably more wear-and-tear on the SSD.
You're fine just putting it to sleep, no need to worry.
You're fine just putting it to sleep, no need to worry.
One of the concerns to encourage one to shut off computers is that is about your only defense against the newly released RAM based viruses. They live and act in RAM thus are not detected however powering down your machine makes them go away.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/...eat-malicious-software-pc-intrusions/1933975/
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/...eat-malicious-software-pc-intrusions/1933975/
That would be true if there were any in the wild viruses that target OS-X but since there are not, and many of us do not use anti-virus software anyway it is a rather moot point based on the current environment.
Oh--btw back on topic--I hardly ever shut mine down--sleep is just fine.
Am in the camp that tools are there to make my life easier and convenient. If I have to worry about it they are not serving me.
Sleep 24x7 unless I have a specific reason to turn off/reboot.
If I sense anything wrong (at one point for some reason it created/enabled the Guess account by itself, which I have it disabled) I just simply reload from my known-to-be-good disaster image and am back in business within 15 minutes as before. No thinking. I don't even have software firewall or anti-virus, I do have a hardware firewall however, which to me easier to manage and cannot be infected.
Sleep 24x7 unless I have a specific reason to turn off/reboot.
If I sense anything wrong (at one point for some reason it created/enabled the Guess account by itself, which I have it disabled) I just simply reload from my known-to-be-good disaster image and am back in business within 15 minutes as before. No thinking. I don't even have software firewall or anti-virus, I do have a hardware firewall however, which to me easier to manage and cannot be infected.
bobr1952 is right. The malware you refer to only runs in Windows and cannot affect Mac OS X. There has never been a Mac OS X virus in the wild, and only a few trojans, which are easily avoided by practicing safe computing. Read the What security steps should I take? section of the Mac Virus/Malware FAQ for tips on practicing safe computing.
One disadvantage in always shutting down your Mac is the maintenance scripts may not run. If the Mac is in sleep mode at the scheduled time for the OS X scripts to run, they will run the next time the Mac is awake. If the Mac is shut down at the scheduled time, they will not automatically run when you startup.
Mac OS X: About background maintenance tasks
The MBA was made to be an always on Laptop. That's why there are very few moving parts. Only the fans move lol that's also ways it has a great standby time frame ~30 days if I remember right. I usually use my Air than close the lid and I have been doing this for over 1 year hardly ever turning it off. You will be fine.
Can someone please explain how putting your MBA to sleep and not shutting it down can affect the battery cycle? I'm still in the midst of understanding the term 'battery cycle' itself. Thanks!
Using sleep or shut down does not affect battery cycles at all. Read the WHAT IS A CYCLE? section of the Apple Notebook Battery FAQ.
I shut down every night before I go to bed. I like knowing that everything is starting fresh when I boot up in the morning.
