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Using my Air every day heavily-ish

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OfficiallyPB

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 2, 2013
29
0
London
Would this be ok? I use my personal laptop for my job also, I work in advertising and social media, so a lot of my work is web based and not very CPU / GPU heavy, but the odd photoshop, coding or video editing here and there...

But my concern is just having it plugged in for 8 hrs + a day in clamshell mode while im in the office. I wouldnt tend to use it after hours unless i wanted to to surf the net.

for regular use just wondering how robust the hardware is, such as battery life and other things.

stupid question, but i thought i would ask.
 
Hirakata

Hirakata

macrumors 6502
Mar 17, 2011
314
400
Burbank, CA
OfficiallyPB said:
But my concern is just having it plugged in for 8 hrs + a day in clamshell mode while im in the office. I wouldnt tend to use it after hours unless i wanted to to surf the net.

for regular use just wondering how robust the hardware is, such as battery life and other things.
Click to expand...

Using it for 8+ hours a day isn't an issue. The issue is leaving it plugged in day in and day out. This won't damage the hardware in any way, but it will degrade the life of the battery. The best thing to do for a laptop battery is to use it as a laptop. Use it as much as you normally would, but not plugged in. When the battery is low, then plug it in.
 
AXs

AXs

macrumors 6502a
Sep 7, 2009
515
2
Hirakata said:
Using it for 8+ hours a day isn't an issue. The issue is leaving it plugged in day in and day out. This won't damage the hardware in any way, but it will degrade the life of the battery. The best thing to do for a laptop battery is to use it as a laptop. Use it as much as you normally would, but not plugged in. When the battery is low, then plug it in.
Click to expand...

Really? I thought it was completely okay to leave it plug in whenever possible, and let it drain to whatever % before recharging? I read that 50% is a good amount. I have never read that forcing it to low% was advisable?

And no one better quote me that Apple Battery FAQ page, It's as ambiguous as bleep.
 
FreakinEurekan

FreakinEurekan

macrumors 603
Sep 8, 2011
5,561
2,614
AXs said:
Really? I thought it was completely okay to leave it plug in whenever possible, and let it drain to whatever % before recharging?
Click to expand...

It's not a bad idea to let it drain all the way down once every 6 weeks or so.
 
T

TheRealDamager

macrumors 65816
Jan 5, 2011
1,043
11
AXs said:
Really? I thought it was completely okay to leave it plug in whenever possible, and let it drain to whatever % before recharging? I read that 50% is a good amount. I have never read that forcing it to low% was advisable?

And no one better quote me that Apple Battery FAQ page, It's as ambiguous as bleep.
Click to expand...

I think it IS OK to leave it plugged in when you want and then use it on battery when you want.
 
Jefe's MacAir

Jefe's MacAir

macrumors 6502a
Nov 21, 2010
554
524
FreakinEurekan said:
It's not a bad idea to let it drain all the way down once every 6 weeks or so.
Click to expand...

Yes it is.

The nickel metal hydride batteries of the past are no longer being used in modern technology. Mostly lithium ion batteries now. Which act VERY differently. One of the differences is that draining it completely is NOT recommended. On/off/on/off etc. on the charger is the most convenient and serendipitously the best use of the lithium ion battery. You don't need or should let it fully discharge. You can put it on or take it off the charger at any % and not have any ill effect on the battery. And if that wasn't enough reason for lithium ion batteries, you can throw them directly into any landfill without poisoning the Earth. Although I do think recycling is still recommended.
 
D

DisplacedMic

macrumors 65816
May 1, 2009
1,411
1
Jefe's MacAir said:
Yes it is.

The nickel metal hydride batteries of the past are no longer being used in modern technology. Mostly lithium ion batteries now. Which act VERY differently. One of the differences is that draining it completely is NOT recommended. On/off/on/off etc. on the charger is the most convenient and serendipitously the best use of the lithium ion battery. You don't need or should let it fully discharge. You can put it on or take it off the charger at any % and not have any ill effect on the battery. And if that wasn't enough reason for lithium ion batteries, you can throw them directly into any landfill without poisoning the Earth. Although I do think recycling is still recommended.
Click to expand...

i think they recommend that more for calibration rather than for the health of the battery per se. Which i suspect is what Axs is talking about.

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

dtexan

macrumors newbie
Nov 29, 2012
29
3
I use my Retina MBP in clamshell mode all the time at work as do a couple of co-workers I have been doing this for 9 months with no problems. If you are doing something graphic intensive the fan might kick up, but other than that it is silent.
 
AXs

AXs

macrumors 6502a
Sep 7, 2009
515
2
8 cycles in 9 days for me... I don't carry the charger to work, nor anywhere else. It's always exclusive at my station at home.

If you think it sounds 'high'... I assure you it is not. At this rate I would use about 700 cycles in 2 years, where I'll get the battery replaced for just $100. it has already been factored into my Air costing (over a 3 years span).

I'm not going to sweat one bit. I'm going to drain it to the point that there's nothing left for Shang Tsung... and then find next (battery) to drain.

mwahahaha!
 
Boyd01

Boyd01

Moderator
Staff member
Feb 21, 2012
7,689
4,572
New Jersey Pine Barrens
I used my 2011 MBA plugged into AC power and a DVI monitor for a good 90% of the past year and a half and still get great battery life. At night I put it to sleep and leave it plugged in.

I tried clamshell mode and didn't like it. The fans kick into high quite often in clamshell and very rarely if it's open. May not be bad for the computer but I find it really annoying. ;)
 
Jefe's MacAir

Jefe's MacAir

macrumors 6502a
Nov 21, 2010
554
524
DisplacedMic said:
no - that's what i'm saying (poorly) that the calibration is for the OS battery meter. it won't improve actual performance, but it will help w/ the time left accuracy.
Click to expand...

FreakinEurekan said:
You're not calibrating the battery, you're calibrating the charge meter in OS X.
Click to expand...

And I'm saying that calibration is not needed, required, or even possible w/ a MacAir. Partly due to the lithium ion battery.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1490?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

Portables with built-in batteries
Current Apple portable computer batteries are pre-calibrated and do not require the calibration procedure outlined in this article. These computers use batteries that should be replaced only by an Apple Authorized Service Provider.

MacBook

MacBook (13-inch, Late 2009) and later
MacBook Air

MacBook Air (all models)
MacBook Pro

MacBook Pro with Retina display (all models)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2009) and later
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009) and later
MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009) and later
Click to expand...
 
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OfficiallyPB

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 2, 2013
29
0
London
Boyd01 said:
I used my 2011 MBA plugged into AC power and a DVI monitor for a good 90% of the past year and a half and still get great battery life. At night I put it to sleep and leave it plugged in.
Click to expand...

so you use the laptop as a dual monitor setup, thats what I am thinking of doing. Email in full screen on my laptop and the rest of the work on the wide screen monitor
 
Hirakata

Hirakata

macrumors 6502
Mar 17, 2011
314
400
Burbank, CA
AXs said:
Really? I thought it was completely okay to leave it plug in whenever possible, and let it drain to whatever % before recharging? I read that 50% is a good amount. I have never read that forcing it to low% was advisable?

And no one better quote me that Apple Battery FAQ page, It's as ambiguous as bleep.
Click to expand...

I didn't mean to imply that one should drain the battery purposefully to a low percentage. I was simply saying to use the Air as a laptop, and plug it in when needed. Also, as apple states, it is not a good idea to leave it plug in all of the time.
 
O

OfficiallyPB

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 2, 2013
29
0
London
Now this would be my perfect setup minus the mess! However not sure if that is a new iMac and not just a TB screen

Freelancer-Tips-Workspace.jpg
 
N

NewbieCanada

macrumors 68030
Oct 9, 2007
2,574
37
OfficiallyPB said:
Do you think this would be a good monitor to have? I dont want to get an external and it blow up the res....
Click to expand...

What do you mean by blow up the res? The MBA will support the external monitor's resolution up to 2560x1440. It doesn't take its own 1440*900 and stretch it.

(And yes, that's an iMac in the photo)
 
W

w00d

macrumors member
Sep 14, 2010
92
0
I'm not proud to say this, but when I am on a big job, 8 hours of clamshell mode is a short day at the office. Photoshop, testing in vms, compiling, whatever. These machines are made to be used. Do not worry about it.
 
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