Battery Question from New Air Owner

[eddx]

Just purchased my 2012 Air and after my bad experiences going through batteries on the old 2006 MacBook Pro I worry about battery health.

The Air came on Thursday about 80% charged and I drained it till it wouldn't turn on anymore. Now I plugged it in this morning at it is fully charged. I plan to drain it 100% every month at least but is it OK to leave the Air plugged in when in use? I am interested to know how much experienced Air owners use the computer plugged in versus on the battery?

Thanks in advance

 

[KPOM]

There is no need to drain it. I keep mine plugged in most of the time, but have never had an issue with the battery except on my very first MacBook Air, which needed a replacement for a defective battery cell after about 6 months. Every one since then has been fine.

 

[aristobrat]

FWIW, these are Apple's recommendations for notebook batteries:

For proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. Apple does not recommend leaving your portable plugged in all the time. An ideal use would be a commuter who uses her notebook on the train, then plugs it in at the office to charge. This keeps the battery juices flowing. 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.

http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

Having said that, mine's plugged in 99.9% of the time, and I'm pretty bad about remembering to drain it once a month. My Air is coming up on a year old, and iStat reports the battery health at 95%, with 18 cycles.