Bad for my MacBook?

[sdubois92]

Is it bad to keep my macbook plugged in all the time. If I do this, should i take the battery out.

also, im thinking of getting a Dell monitor and use it with my mac, mainly because i use my macbook on my desk for the most part and having a larger screen is always nice.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Always on power, is it harmful?

 

[sdubois92]

So from what i get from that article, it isnt a good idea to leave it plugged in, correct?

 

[aquajet]

Yep, this has been discussed many times before. It's best to actually use your battery on a regular basis. If not, then what's the point?

 

[sdubois92]

So let it charge, then un plug it, when it gets down to about 20% plug it back in?

 

[JHacker]

So let it charge, then un plug it, when it gets down to about 20% plug it back in?

No. If you constantly do this, you're going to wear down your battery for no reason. Then when you actually do need it, it will have lost a good amount of capacity.

Maybe run down the battery every few weeks or something like that and don't let it sit for months at a time without using the battery. But don't constantly let it run down.

If you run it down to 50% and then charge it, and then run it down to 50% and charge it, this constitutes 1 cycle (according to Apple). Therefore, to conserve cycles, don't let it run down all the way.

 

[sdubois92]

so how long should i keep it plugged in at one time?

 

[aquajet]

I wouldn't worry too much about following a specific battery cycle regimen. The important thing is to cycle the battery on a regular basis, in whatever fashion is convenient for you.

With my PowerBook, I would use the battery whenever I wasn't at my desk (often depleting it near 0%), and use AC when I was. After about two years and 300 cycles, my battery still had 89% capacity. This jives with Apple's assertion that a properly maintained battery should have at least 80% of its original capacity after 300 cycles.