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How often do you run your Macbook on its battery?

  • Everyday

    Votes: 69 50.0%
  • Every few days

    Votes: 30 21.7%
  • Once a week

    Votes: 13 9.4%
  • Every few weeks

    Votes: 9 6.5%
  • Once a month or so

    Votes: 6 4.3%
  • Almost never.

    Votes: 11 8.0%

  • Total voters
    138

Prof.

macrumors 603
Aug 17, 2007
5,305
2,016
Chicagoland
1.52 charge cycles a week... :D

That being said, I run my MBP on battery every day, however I don't drain it to zero every day. More often than not, the battery is at 70-ish percent when I get home and plug it in after being in class.
 

T5BRICK

macrumors G3
Aug 3, 2006
8,313
2,387
Oregon
I use my battery whenever I can't plug my laptop in.

I've got about 500 cycles on it and it's a little over 3 years old. I guess that's about 3 cycles a week. Sometimes it stays plugged in for a week or two at a time and other times I have to charge it more than once in a day.
 

Mrbobb

macrumors 603
Aug 27, 2012
5,009
209
if you are collecting data for commercial purposes I want a piece of the action.

If you are asking for personal, why do you need to know what others are doing? Do what YOU need.
 

Shaunyac

macrumors regular
Jun 22, 2012
103
0
South Wales, UK
Apparently mine is 4.4 months old and I've done 112 cycles, I don't really think about how I use it, I plug it in if it's like sub 30% normally and use the battery once it's fully charged again.
 

Macman45

macrumors G5
Jul 29, 2011
13,197
135
Somewhere Back In The Long Ago
Once a month is about the norm for me....I'm rarely in a situation where I don't have access to power. I like to drain the battery all the way down, so I do it when I'm using my MBP for non critical tasks...Web browsing listening to music etc.
 

mannyo1221

macrumors member
Sep 21, 2011
90
4
Blandford, UK.
Mine is used plugged in at work during the day, and in the evening at home its run on the battery. Usually the battery is down to less than 10% the following day before going back on the charger.
 

Sital

macrumors 68020
May 31, 2012
2,098
843
New England
Most of the time I'm working at my desk at home where it is plugged in, but every so often I need a change of scenery and take it to a sofa. So I voted for every few days.
 

Just A Box

macrumors newbie
Sep 20, 2012
5
0
Well, I've heard that the older batteries had a memory, and eventually failed to charge all the way up, eventually becoming useless. With the new batteries, they way it's pretty much a thing of the past but, however, unless I'm gaming I let it run right down to under 10% and then charge it up and eventually remove the power within 24 hours and let it run down again.
 

wonderspark

macrumors 68040
Feb 4, 2010
3,048
102
Oregon
Aren't we all running on the battery, and plugging it in is merely keeping the battery topped up?

That said, I plug it in when it's dead or nearly dead, and unplug it when the charge light goes from orange to green. I may be wrong, but I subscribe to the belief that it's best to keep the electrons moving, either in a charging or discharging state, to prolong the battery life, as well as the charger's life.

My friend believes that it's best to try to keep it plugged in as much as possible, and she's had numerous failures of both the battery and her charger (2006 MacBook Pro). I don't suppose it matters, though, since the Apple Store just gives her new batteries and chargers every time they stop working. Not sure how that works now that AppleCare is over, though. I seem to recall they still gave her a new battery last time, even though it was out of warranty.
 

zainiak

macrumors regular
Aug 1, 2012
109
1
I only use the battery during non intensive stuff. movie watching, internet browsing and reading is the usual. I only run to about 65% - 75% a day. Ive had my RMBP since early august, and have run 44 cycles.
 

michial

macrumors 6502a
Sep 15, 2009
769
424
I just got my 2012 cMBP this week. Can I run the battery everyday? I like the convenience of being untethered if doing light surfing etc.and moving around the house and all.
How long will it last using it everyday. As long as I can get 5 years out of it Im happy. Or if it only costs 100 bucks in three yrs to get a new battery its all good and worth it.
 

Braniff747SP

macrumors 6502
May 30, 2010
259
3
Los Angeles, California, USA
Whenever I need it. I don't watch cycles; when it dies, it dies, having been used as it needed to be. It is rather often, even around the house; I'm not always at my desk. When I can plug in, though, I make sure to do so.
 

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,545
943
Just wondering how often people run their Macbooks on its battery.
Whenever I need to. 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.
 

T5BRICK

macrumors G3
Aug 3, 2006
8,313
2,387
Oregon
I just got my 2012 cMBP this week. Can I run the battery everyday? I like the convenience of being untethered if doing light surfing etc.and moving around the house and all.
How long will it last using it everyday. As long as I can get 5 years out of it Im happy. Or if it only costs 100 bucks in three yrs to get a new battery its all good and worth it.

A full cycle a day will probably have your battery at 80% in a year and a half.

Too many. 1058 Cycles since Feb. 2011

Damn, that's like 2 cycles a day.
 

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,545
943
That's not true for current Mac notebooks. That only applied to older Macs with removable batteries, which retained up to 80% health for 300 cycles. New built-in batteries are designed to retain up to 80% health for up to 1000 cycles.

What constitutes a "full"cycle? Are they considered half cycles if you only run it down halfway before plugging back in?
Read the WHAT IS A CYCLE? section of the Battery FAQ I linked in my last post.
 

skippymac

macrumors 6502a
Jun 9, 2010
592
3
Hampshire, UK
thought you were asking how often I run the battery down to 0% so said every few days, but I run on battery nearly every day. Only times I don't is if I have a long day at work and don't use the laptop when I get home or if I'm not at home on a weekend and don't take my mbp wherever I'm going.

I either plug in at about 10-20% or if I'm feeling lazy whilst surfing the web in front of the tv I'll just let it go down to 0%. But more often than not I just forget the thingy popped up 5 mins ago and it just dies on me :p
 

LeeM

macrumors 6502a
Jan 1, 2012
603
0
Mines never plugged in until it gets to below 10% then unplugged when it's fully charged. 2012 version though so battery should be fine
 
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