Any software that lets me control when MBP battery charges?

[slapple]

My ThinkPad came with software that lets me specify when the battery should be charged and when it should stop charging. ThinkPad users seem to think if you're going to have it plugged in most of the time, then it's best to charge the battery only when it drops down to 20%, and then stop charging when it reaches 80%. So that's how I have the battery set up.

Is there any similar software that lets me set up the charging for the MBP battery?

[maflynn]

Originally Posted by slapple

Is there any similar software that lets me set up the charging for the MBP battery?

Nope, not that I'm aware of. Besides, draining the battery down to 20% AFAIK incurs more wear and tear on the battery then letting it be topped off by the charger.

[Kookaburra308]

If such software does exist, I have not been able to find it yet. It would be useful if users were able to specify the percentage of charge applied to the battery before charging ceased and the AC mains was then just used to power the laptop.

The fact that Apple advises users who are going to store their laptop for any extended period of time to store it with a 50% charge is good advice and very revealing in regard to this issue.

Being able to set the percentage of charge at which point the charger no longer charges the battery, but provides the laptop with power for its current needs, could, if used wisely, lead to significantly increased longevity for MBP batteries.

The 20%~80% cycle discussed above might not be the ideal. 30%~70% or 40%~60% or 45%~55% might be better. But what seems certain is that a full charge stresses Lithium Ion/Polymer batteries to some extent, and is only desirable if maximum run time away from AC mains is required.

And as most MBP's spend most of their time on a desk with AC mains available, giving users software that would allow them to reduce the stress of a 100% charge on their batteries without having to manually unplug their charger would show that the Apple Corporation is really on the side of serving its customers needs as well as conserving the planets resources.

If enough people ask Apple to provide them with this facility, then we might get a positive result. But few people know much about lithium ion polymer batteries. Most people know more about NiCad batteries, which did respond well to full discharge/full recharge cycling. But lithium ion polymer is a very different kettle of fish and responds far better to cycling in shallow charge/ shallow discharge cycles somewhere around the 50% mark.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by slapple

My ThinkPad came with software that lets me specify when the battery should be charged and when it should stop charging. ThinkPad users seem to think if you're going to have it plugged in most of the time, then it's best to charge the battery only when it drops down to 20%, and then stop charging when it reaches 80%. So that's how I have the battery set up.

Is there any similar software that lets me set up the charging for the MBP battery?

Your Mac already knows how to handle charging without needing additional software. Run on battery whenever you need to and plug it in whenever you can. You can plug or unplug any time you need to, regardless of the charged percentage, and you never need to completely drain your battery. Just make sure you don't run on AC power exclusively, as your battery needs to be used regularly to stay healthy. The link below should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions. If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend you take the time to read it.

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ

Originally Posted by Kookaburra308

The fact that Apple advises users who are going to store their laptop for any extended period of time to store it with a 50% charge is good advice and very revealing in regard to this issue.

No, it's not revealing at all, since storage of a battery is quite different than using a battery.

Originally Posted by Kookaburra308

Being able to set the percentage of charge at which point the charger no longer charges the battery, but provides the laptop with power for its current needs, could, if used wisely, lead to significantly increased longevity for MBP batteries.

That is already set by Apple and there is no need for a user to interfere with it. Your battery won't charge if you plug it in and it's already charged 93% or more.

Originally Posted by Kookaburra308

And as most MBP's spend most of their time on a desk with AC mains available,

Source for that assumption?

Originally Posted by Kookaburra308

giving users software that would allow them to reduce the stress of a 100% charge on their batteries

A 100% charge is not a stress on the battery, unless it's all the time.

Originally Posted by Kookaburra308

without having to manually unplug their charger

That takes 1 second of time and almost no effort at all.

[duncanMKZ]

Research by Sony showed that Lithium Ion batteries gradually lose their performance over time, but, if they are kept at a lower charge, the battery degradation is much slower - in fact, after a year, there was almost no decline in capacity. When I bought a Vaio a few years back, it included a new "Battery Care" application with their laptops that would stop charging after the battery had reached a user-set level (eg, 50%). Since then, similar apps have appeared on laptops from other manufacturers. Apple is a notable exception, despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that their batteries are more expensive to replace than those of other brands.

If you mainly use your Mac laptop on battery power, there's probably no advantage to reducing the charge, but if it spends much of its time plugged in, I'd guess the battery is degrading faster than it would if it were kept half-charged. Hopefully someone will figure out a way to do this with software, or with a modified charger. (I'd buy one!)

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

Your Mac already knows how to handle charging without needing additional software. Run on battery whenever you need to and plug it in whenever you can. You can plug or unplug any time you need to, regardless of the charged percentage, and you never need to completely drain your battery. Just make sure you don't run on AC power exclusively, as your battery needs to be used regularly to stay healthy. The link below should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions. If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend you take the time to read it.

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ

No, it's not revealing at all, since storage of a battery is quite different than using a battery.

That is already set by Apple and there is no need for a user to interfere with it. Your battery won't charge if you plug it in and it's already charged 93% or more.

Source for that assumption?

A 100% charge is not a stress on the battery, unless it's all the time.

That takes 1 second of time and almost no effort at all.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by duncanMKZ

Research by Sony ...

For information about Apple batteries, the most reliable source is Apple itself, as neither Sony nor sites such as batteryuniversity.com have information specific to the battery/charging technology employed by Apple in its Mac notebooks, much of which is proprietary.

There is no need to modify the way your Mac manages its battery/charging functions. Simply run on battery power regularly to keep electrons moving.

[gnasher729]

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

For information about Apple batteries, the most reliable source is Apple itself, as neither Sony nor sites such as batteryuniversity.com have information specific to the battery/charging technology employed by Apple in its Mac notebooks, much of which is proprietary.

There is no need to modify the way your Mac manages its battery/charging functions. Simply run on battery power regularly to keep electrons moving.

"Regularly" means maybe once a month if your MacBook is otherwise permanently connected to power. (Saying that because we had one guy posting who _regularly_ discharged his MacBook battery overnight, every single night, plus using it on battery in the day, and couldn't figure out why the battery didn't last).

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by gnasher729

"Regularly" means maybe once a month if your MacBook is otherwise permanently connected to power.

I'd recommend more often than that. More like 2 or 3 times a week. Not necessarily full cycles, but at least a few hours each time.

[major major]

There's quite a bit of evidence out there that lithium batteries are degraded by
1. Use
2. Full Charging
3. Full Discharging
4. Heat

See http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/a...ased_batteries

Interestingly, Lithium based batteries do not benefit from cycling, so there is no advantage from
"regular" battery use. Of course monthly cycling (like Apple recommends) probably won't hurt.

Software could certainly double or triple the battery life by only charging to 90% of design capacity, and it would be easy to tell it to fully charge when
you plan on traveling.

I try to plug it in when I can, and I never discharge below 20%. I wish I could tell it to stop charging at 90% when I'm not traveling.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by major major

Interestingly, Lithium based batteries to not benefit from cycling, so there is no advantage from
"regular" battery use; The less often the better.

That is false, and it's not advisable to rely on generic information from sites like batteryuniversity.com, which doesn't address the specific battery/charging technology employed by Apple in its notebooks. Apple specifically recommends regular use to keep its batteries healthy. See post #6.

Originally Posted by major major

Of course monthly cycling (like Apple recommends) probably won't hurt.

Apple doesn't recommend monthly cycling for Mac notebooks that are in regular use. They recommend a minimum of a cycle per month for notebooks that are infrequently used.

If on the other hand, you use a desktop computer at work, and save a notebook for infrequent travel, Apple recommends charging and discharging its battery at least once per month.