Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
How to maximize battery life? (years)
- Thread starter Dookieman
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Invest your time, go to Apple.com/support and read the wonderful info they have on battery maintenance etc.
My battery is shot also. 2011 i5 13" MBA
Batteries are one of the things I try to keep in top shape. However I've had numerous service battery messages and sudden drops to 76% health. I struggle to maintain a health higher than 82% and I've not seen higher than 84% now for a long time.
All this despite following the advice. I generally work all day with it plugged in but at night it comes off the charger. I also work occasionally just on battery, perhaps 1 day a week.
When I first got it I used the battery plenty. I would vary how much it drained. Ie I would let it drain 30% and then recharger then the next time 70% and recharge and then 50% and recharger. Generally I would not interrupt the recharge process and I would drain it fully and leave overnight and recharge fully once a month.
This i thought was a good way to treat the battery.
I know someone else who has the same laptop as me, only bought a couple of months later and they still have low 90% health and abuse the battery. It's either plugged in for days or fully discharged every single time.
Therefore I'd say regardless of how you treat it, it might just be mostly down to the battery. But I would still make sure the battery is exercised and use is varied.
Batteries are one of the things I try to keep in top shape. However I've had numerous service battery messages and sudden drops to 76% health. I struggle to maintain a health higher than 82% and I've not seen higher than 84% now for a long time.
All this despite following the advice. I generally work all day with it plugged in but at night it comes off the charger. I also work occasionally just on battery, perhaps 1 day a week.
When I first got it I used the battery plenty. I would vary how much it drained. Ie I would let it drain 30% and then recharger then the next time 70% and recharge and then 50% and recharger. Generally I would not interrupt the recharge process and I would drain it fully and leave overnight and recharge fully once a month.
This i thought was a good way to treat the battery.
I know someone else who has the same laptop as me, only bought a couple of months later and they still have low 90% health and abuse the battery. It's either plugged in for days or fully discharged every single time.
Therefore I'd say regardless of how you treat it, it might just be mostly down to the battery. But I would still make sure the battery is exercised and use is varied.
1. Don't use it as much.
2. Be on AC whenever possible.
3. Make more money so you don't care how often is replaced.
Apple does not recommend leaving your portable plugged in all the time. An ideal use would be a commuter who uses her notebook on the train, then plugs it in at the office to charge.
http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html
Last edited:
See if anything here helps
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1446
http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1446
http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html
Leaving the battery dead overnight every month for a couple years is not very good for the battery. I've had good luck with batteries by rarely going under 20% and only charging to 100% when I forget to unplug my device.
I don't even bother calibrating the meter on my iPad since the battery life is so good.
With the tremendous battery life improvements from the Haswell Airs, it should be possible to avoid having to charge more than once a day or completely draining/fully charging it.
Use it anyway you want, even discharge it completely. But once it is discharged completely, plug it back in. Never leave it discharged for long periods of times. Otherwise, run it on battery or plugged in as much as you want. The newer style lithium polymers last a lot longer then the older lithium ions. Even if you need a replacement, it's only around $150 every 5 years.
your battery should last 3-5 years. replacement is $100-$150
at worst that's $50 a year... me i usually buy them online. i have learned the hard way that it's best to buy authentic rather than knock-off. but even still i think the point is that you don't really need to worry about this too much in my opinion. just a peripheral knowledge of how your battery functions and how to care for it is really all i've ever needed and the Apple support pages provide just that. Most of it is common sense really... ultimately, the more you use it and the harder you use it the quicker it will die, but tiptoeing around it will really only give you nominal savings and the opportunity cost of battery fretting isn't worth it to me personally.
at worst that's $50 a year... me i usually buy them online. i have learned the hard way that it's best to buy authentic rather than knock-off. but even still i think the point is that you don't really need to worry about this too much in my opinion. just a peripheral knowledge of how your battery functions and how to care for it is really all i've ever needed and the Apple support pages provide just that. Most of it is common sense really... ultimately, the more you use it and the harder you use it the quicker it will die, but tiptoeing around it will really only give you nominal savings and the opportunity cost of battery fretting isn't worth it to me personally.
Battery Heath
Hello i am new to MacBooks
i got the new MAcbook air this week 2013
May i ask help
Were do i find or how do i find out were the heath is, Is this an app?
Hello i am new to MacBooks
i got the new MAcbook air this week 2013
May i ask help
Were do i find or how do i find out were the heath is, Is this an app?
I have 700 cycles on my 2010 15 MBP, still have 88-95% health
Download Coconut Battery
Download Coconut Battery
Last edited: