Beginner's Macbook Battery Question

Let it sleep (unplugged) for at least five hours. That should drain all the juice left in the battery.

If you want to make sure that your battery is completely drained, there should be no pulsating light. So leave it in sleep mode unplugged until the light goes out.

Use it on battery at least once in awhile (weekly).

If using battery, should deplete battery fully, and recharge fully.

Do not use it for 5 minutes and charge it! If you start using it, try to keep it on battery to drain it fully. Letting it go to sleep due to low battery is fine.

Exceptions are ok once in awhile. =)

Consultant said:

If using battery, should deplete battery fully, and recharge fully.

Do not use it for 5 minutes and charge it! If you start using it, try to keep it on battery to drain it fully. Letting it go to sleep due to low battery is fine.

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This is bad advice. It is perfectly fine to use your machine for only 5 minutes, and then plug it in.

This has been discussed a million times already. Everything you need to know can be found on this page.

aquajet said:

This is bad advice. It is perfectly fine to use your machine for only 5 minutes, and then plug it in.

This has been discussed a million times already. Everything you need to know can be found on this page.

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I agree. If you relentlessly drain your battery until it dies each time you unplug, you'll wear it out far more quickly, as you'll go through a cycle each time.

Consultant said:

Use it on battery at least once in awhile (weekly).

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This isn't necessary. As long as the battery is calibrated periodically, one doesn't need to drain it constantly.

If using battery, should deplete battery fully, and recharge fully.

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This is quite false. Thanks to the nature of Lithium batteries, cycles are not counted based on the number of charge-recharge cycles; a cycle is represented by the total amount of power the battery holds being depleted and then recharged. Thus, using 10% of the battery ten times will equal one cycle, as will using 100% of the battery one time.

Do not use it for 5 minutes and charge it!

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This isn't a concern, because the battery will not charge if it is above 95% anyways.

If you start using it, try to keep it on battery to drain it fully.

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Again, not necessary.


OP, I suggest you check out the guide on this. I think you'll find it helpful.

Then why does a 3 year old iBook (back when I still had it) still get 5 hours on battery?

I've gone through many Mac laptops since G3 and all of them have stellar battery life. It's what works for me.

Consultant said:

Then why does a 3 year old iBook (back when I still had it) still get 5 hours on battery?

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The G3/4 iBooks had perhaps the best battery lives of anything Apple's ever made. I never calibrated my G3 battery (which had 69 cycles when I got it), but I regularly exceed 5 hours of life on it (according to the time ratings) for the duration in which I kept it. I doubt many with a Macbook/Pro will still be getting 4 hours (nevermind 5) of life after 100 cycles. The batteries just aren't made to last.

Consultant said:

Then why does a 3 year old iBook (back when I still had it) still get 5 hours on battery?

I've gone through many Mac laptops since G3 and all of them have stellar battery life. It's what works for me.

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That's a very loaded question and is frankly logically horrible. The advice you prescribed is accurate for those older batteries used in cordless home phones (not mobile phones). The batteries in notebooks (not just macbooks/macbook pros) are made from an entirely different material and are quite different.

http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

aha45 said:

Today I received a macbook, my first mac as well as laptop. I'm very concerned with preserving the battery, and I am told letting the battery run to 0 percent and charging to 100 percent is the most effective way of conserving it. I let my macbook run to 0 percent (I was fooling around with iPhoto) and the laptop turned off, but there was a pulsing white light. I thought a pulsing white light meant sleep mode, but I let the macbook run until it turned off. Did it shut down entirely, and is the 0 to 100 percent charge efficient?

thanks, im sure its an obvious answer

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its pretty much 100% drained when it forces itself into sleep like that. it will not make a difference weather u plug it in when it goes to sleep or wait till it is shutdown

I leave mine plugged in whenever possible.

But, daily, I use my computer for about 2 hours on battery power. I bring it home and plug it in again.

My battery has 157 cycles and is at 100% health. I bought this in April 2008.

As someone who is very, very OCD (trying to stop) about condition of electronics/games/movies/whatever, I say this to you. Just use it, and enjoy it. If you end up buying a new battery 2 or 3 years down the line, just do it.

I just got a new Mac last week. Everything looks pretty good on it, but I am not looking for any scuffs, gaps, uneven backlighting, yellow tint, etc. I just want to enjoy it. Everyone else does, and they seem just fine.

OmahaGTP said:

Just use it, and enjoy it. If you end up buying a new battery 2 or 3 years down the line, just do it.

I just got a new Mac last week. Everything looks pretty good on it, but I am not looking for any scuffs, gaps, uneven backlighting, yellow tint, etc. I just want to enjoy it. Everyone else does, and they seem just fine.

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+1 Quality post, I try to live by this as much as possible unless I have serious issues. There are just so many other things to stress out about today, I figure my mac shouldn't be one of them since it's my place of relaxation and escape from the world