Hi, please could I get some advice on how to keep my battery healthy? I've heard it's best to keep it between 40 and 70% (or something like that) and never let it drain to 0 (maybe once a month?), but I've also heard that if you keep it plugged in then that will prolong the battery life because you will be taking power from the power adapter and not the battery= less cycle counts. I'm a uni student so will definitely be using the battery, but is it best to keep it plugged in where I can? I know you can't keep the batteries running forever and it would be a waste of time to baby it too much, but I'd like to keep it running as well as I can. I seem to have ruined my iPhone 6's battery (it barely holds a charge and often dies at high percentages), and my current MBP is a 2010 so the battery is past it now anyway. I'm getting my new MBP (nTB 13 inch) next week so I'd like to get into good habits from the start, just confused on what the best thing to do for it is. And any other tips/tricks/things NOT to do. Also, can I use it straight out the box?
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Battery advice?
- Thread starter k2743
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Okay this one comes up around once a week maybe?
Simple answer, use your computer. If it needs a charge then plug the charger in. It's not the 1970s and the computer will not in any way blow up from being plugged in all day.
Any battery should last around 2 years with pretty substantial use, and hold around 80% charge. At that point it'll sit there quite nicely for around 5 years. It may swell, but chances are you'll replace the device long before anything like that happens.
So don't worry, don't listen to random conspiracy or 'tips', as none of it will make any empirical difference on the life of the battery. Just enjoy your device!
Simple answer, use your computer. If it needs a charge then plug the charger in. It's not the 1970s and the computer will not in any way blow up from being plugged in all day.
Any battery should last around 2 years with pretty substantial use, and hold around 80% charge. At that point it'll sit there quite nicely for around 5 years. It may swell, but chances are you'll replace the device long before anything like that happens.
So don't worry, don't listen to random conspiracy or 'tips', as none of it will make any empirical difference on the life of the battery. Just enjoy your device!
An iPhone 6 battery is much much smaller, so a percentage loss in health is far more noticeable. Also, iPhones by nature are used in much harsher conditions than a laptop. When was the last time you used your MacBook Pro outside when it was 12 degrees outside or in full sunshine with 100% humidity and 95 degrees? You also tend to use an iPhone far more on battery than a MacBook Pro. Usage will degrade a battery, usage in extreme conditions will degrade it faster. That being said, use the computer as you normally do. Don't leave it a 0% charge for days as that is the worst, but feel free to leave it charged for days at a time. Enjoy the computer. Just don't leave it overnight in cars when it is freezing or in direct sunlight when it is hot.
I don't feel like any of my questions have been answered. Should I leave it plugged in when it reaches 100%, or should I unplug and let it drain before charging it. As I've heard it's best to keep it between 40 and 80 percent so that would contradict this. Please answer my actual questions
I did answer your questions. You can keep your battery plugged in at 100% as it will cease charging and move to trickle charging. You hearing it is best to keep a battery at 40 to 80% is very dated information and based on old battery chemistry. Just your your laptop as you see fit. If you do keep it plugged in 24/7 then you should still exercise the battery at least once a month and if you are storing it for a long period of time, you want to store it with the battery at 50%, these are the only times you need to even think about your battery. There is not really much you can do to prevent a battery from aging. Occasionally you may get a bad battery that ages rapidly, but AppleCare does cover that, and I stress there is nothing you can do to prevent this.
Also: http://www.apple.com/batteries/maximizing-performance/
The previous posters have good advice.
Want to keep your battery running well? Keep it out of direct sunlight for long periods of time, try to keep it from heating up too much, and don't get it wet. Heat is the #1 killer of Lithium Ion Batteries.
Even keeping the phone plugged in, the battery will go down to 5% and then charge again - it is always using charge cycles. So don't worry about that too much. Yes, keeping the battery between 40% and 80% can extend the life but over the course of 2 years, it won't really matter much. Over the course of 5 years, it might make a noticeable difference but most people don't keep phones that long.
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_care_for_the_battery
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
Some small tips: Just use it. Turn off the % and enjoy it. Avoid heat at all costs. Try not to leave it plugged in for months at a time without unplugging it - exercising the battery is not a bad thing. Cycles will be used. Use Certified cables and chargers ONLY. According to BatteryUniversity - the battery will get better with age up to 100 or so cycles then start to age.
My iPhone 6+ had 260 cycles and 99% life left when I sold it. My wife uses her iPhone far more harshly than I do and her % was within 2 points of mine (97%) when we sold her 6+.
Apple makes these devices fairly idiot proof so you don't have to worry about harming the battery with regular usage.
My Macbook Air 11 spends most of its life near 100% and it has most of its life left after a year+ of usage.
The advice to keep the battery between 40% and 80% is actually for long-term storage, when the battery will see NO activity.
I keep my 2012 15" MBP on the charger much of the time, Coconut Battery reports a 6284 mAh full charge ability with a design capacity of 6900 mAh, 91.1% health after seeing only 356 charge cycles over 4 1/2 years.
I keep my 2012 15" MBP on the charger much of the time, Coconut Battery reports a 6284 mAh full charge ability with a design capacity of 6900 mAh, 91.1% health after seeing only 356 charge cycles over 4 1/2 years.