Battery care and plugging in

[Forkjulle]

My rMBP is on order and I want to know what are some good battery practices.

My plan is to keep it plugged in for most of the day, every day. It will be my primary computer on my desk, and there is no reason for me to use the battery (unless I go out).

Is that acceptable? Will that damage the battery? Will I still need to let the battery go flat every so often?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Can the following help?

______________________________________________________
This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions:
Apple Notebook Battery FAQ by GGJstudios
The F.A.Q. includes the following topics:

• BATTERY INFORMATION
• BATTERY LIFE FROM A CHARGE
• AC POWER
• CALIBRATION
• BATTERY LIFESPAN
• CHECKING STATUS AND HEALTH
• CHARGING
• WHAT IS A CYCLE?
• BATTERIES ARE NOT COVERED
• BULGING OR SWELLING BATTERY

______________________________________________________​

In less words, it is okay to use your MacBook Pro with Retina Display with AC adapter in, just use it on battery every once in a while to keep the electrons in the battery exercised.

 

[Forkjulle]

Oh, that's very helpful, thanks. Brilliant.

Now I'm worried.

Should I rather charge my laptop over night, and then work on battery during the day (until the battery dies, or nearly dies)?

In other words, working at a desk all day, what is the best or most recommended way to work?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Oh, that's very helpful, thanks. Brilliant.

Now I'm worried.

Should I rather charge my laptop over night, and then work on battery during the day (until the battery dies, or nearly dies)?

In other words, working at a desk all day, what is the best or most recommended way to work?

Read the FAQ, it explains that too. In less words again, use your Mac however you like, on battery, on AC power, on steroids. No need to drain the battery daily, it is not good for the battery. Just use it on AC power during the day and every once in a while (which is not daily) use it on battery power. The FAQ goes into more detail about this.

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Maybe have a look at Advanced Search or MRoogle to find thousands of similar threads:

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[xAgustinx]

Here are some comments

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1430634

 

[Forkjulle]

Okay thanks. All very helpful - appreciated.

I've read through the post. I might have missed this, but is it advisable to let the battery run low when using it on battery life? Is it safe to regularly use it for a few hours and then charge it again?

Also, the rMBP has a soldered battery; does this mean that I'll never be able to buy a new battery when this one is shot?

 

[sweetbrat]

Okay thanks. All very helpful - appreciated.

I've read through the post. I might have missed this, but is it advisable to let the battery run low when using it on battery life? Is it safe to regularly use it for a few hours and then charge it again?

Also, the rMBP has a soldered battery; does this mean that I'll never be able to buy a new battery when this one is shot?

You can use it for a few hours, then charge it. There's no need to run the battery low before recharging.

As for the retina MBP, the battery is glued, not soldered. You won't be able to replace the battery yourself, but Apple offers this service for $199.

 

[Forkjulle]

You can use it for a few hours, then charge it. There's no need to run the battery low before recharging.

As for the retina MBP, the battery is glued, not soldered. You won't be able to replace the battery yourself, but Apple offers this service for $199.

Ah, that's fine then. Back to Apple it will have to go (after a few years at least, hopefully...).

 

[CASLondon]

If you want to automate your battery maximising activity, you can use this app, called Watts, which I use and is dead easy and useful.

http://www.binarytricks.com/

 

[Eliz]

Was unaware

Hi all, I only recently came to know about needing to run the mac on battery every now and then. I've been using my mac plugged in for the past 3 months or so. Only rarely have I unplugged it. Now, although everything seems OK, I am worried about my mac. Will my battery swell-up or will its health deteriorate?
Of course, I am going to run the mac on battery from time to time from now on. But will my prior ignorance lead to any problems with my mac?
Any help here will be deeply appreciated.

 

[EwanMcTeagle]

Hi all, I only recently came to know about needing to run the mac on battery every now and then. I've been using my mac plugged in for the past 3 months or so. Only rarely have I unplugged it. Now, although everything seems OK, I am worried about my mac. Will my battery swell-up or will its health deteriorate?
Of course, I am going to run the mac on battery from time to time from now on. But will my prior ignorance lead to any problems with my mac?
Any help here will be deeply appreciated.

I wouldn't worry if I were you. If you had used your mac the other way around - mostly on battery, then battery health would've dropped. From my experience - using Mac on A/C doesn't harm the battery in any noticeable way.
When I got my 13" MBP I would use it on battery (until it'd dropped to 40%, 50%) and then charge to full. I also drained it to calibrate (which was unnecessary) once a month. And that didn't do me any good, quite the opposite. Battery health dropped to 88% - I've been able to get it up to almost 91%, by using it mostly on A/C, but it seems that it won't go any higher. I truly deserve a face palm - because the MBP is less than 6 months with circa 50 cycles and the battery lost 10% of its original juice - all because of my stupidity and reading too many Battery Health FAQs incorrectly I regret even more because I need to use it "outside"=on battery sometimes and I would like to have all the battery hours that I can get. But what's done is done.
On the other hand I have a 15" MBP - it's almost 1 year old. Bought it used a month ago. It wasn't used too heavily by the previous owner, actually it'd spend a lot of time unused on the desk or plugged in while it was used. It had 93% battery health and around 60 cycles when I got it. It now serves as my desktop and I use it on A/C 99% of the time, I unplug it once a week for 10-15 minutes and let the battery charge drop to around 90%. During that time the battery health increased to 97% and stabilized on that level.

 

[takeshi74]

Again, in addition to GGJ's guide and the countless prior battery threads:
http://www.apple.com/batteries/

Keep in mind that "ideal" and "best for you" aren't necessarily the same thing and it's up to you to determine where you're going to compromise.

 

[Dark Void]

It is acceptable, just let it discharge every once in a while.

 

[afinch1992]

let it run down on battery once a week or more and youll have a happy battery

 

[GGJstudios]

Now, although everything seems OK, I am worried about my mac. Will my battery swell-up or will its health deteriorate?

Your prior use shouldn't be a problem if you use the battery properly from now on. However, your battery's health will deteriorate, because batteries are consumable items and the health will decline over time. Proper use of the battery will prolong its life, but all batteries die eventually.

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.

Again, in addition to GGJ's guide and the countless prior battery threads:
http://www.apple.com/batteries/

FYI, that link is the first link included in the Battery FAQ.

 

[Eliz]

I wouldn't worry if I were you. If you had used your mac the other way around - mostly on battery, then battery health would've dropped. From my experience - using Mac on A/C doesn't harm the battery in any noticeable way.
When I got my 13" MBP I would use it on battery (until it'd dropped to 40%, 50%) and then charge to full. I also drained it to calibrate (which was unnecessary) once a month. And that didn't do me any good, quite the opposite. Battery health dropped to 88% - I've been able to get it up to almost 91%, by using it mostly on A/C, but it seems that it won't go any higher. I truly deserve a face palm - because the MBP is less than 6 months with circa 50 cycles and the battery lost 10% of its original juice - all because of my stupidity and reading too many Battery Health FAQs incorrectly I regret even more because I need to use it "outside"=on battery sometimes and I would like to have all the battery hours that I can get. But what's done is done.
On the other hand I have a 15" MBP - it's almost 1 year old. Bought it used a month ago. It wasn't used too heavily by the previous owner, actually it'd spend a lot of time unused on the desk or plugged in while it was used. It had 93% battery health and around 60 cycles when I got it. It now serves as my desktop and I use it on A/C 99% of the time, I unplug it once a week for 10-15 minutes and let the battery charge drop to around 90%. During that time the battery health increased to 97% and stabilized on that level.

Thanx a lot. Reading this made me feel much better. Btw, my battery health is 89% but i guess that's alright because my mac is almost 2 years old now.. but, yes, like u said, i did notice that running on AC increases the battery health reading.. dunno how but it does..

 

[EwanMcTeagle]

Thanx a lot. Reading this made me feel much better. Btw, my battery health is 89% but i guess that's alright because my mac is almost 2 years old now.. but, yes, like u said, i did notice that running on AC increases the battery health reading.. dunno how but it does..

Not at all 89% on a 2 years old machine is a good "score". I wouldn't worry. About the battery health - I think it makes sense that the more you use the battery the more it's getting weak. You just need to unplug from time to time to keep the "juices" flowing, but apart from that... simply use and enjoy. Battery is going to die one day anyway, so it's not worth stressing about it too much

Take care.