I just got my first Mac (Macbook Air) today and I'm loving it so far. Just a simple question... I've been getting conflicting advice regarding battery life, and so I was wondering, is it good to keep the battery in the charger? One person tells me this would kill the battery life, another person tells me with the new batteries it would actually save you when it comes to the charge cycles. Do any of you have any actual experience regarding this and the Macbook Air?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Battery Question...
- Thread starter otherguy5
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
To get the best life out of your battery it's best to remove the charger once fully charged and let it get down to about 10% before recharging
Keep the MacBook plugged in whenever it's convenient.
If the battery is full, or close to full, it won't charge even if its plugged in. So you don't have to worry about constantly charging or overcharging or whatever.
There is no proven benefit to running your battery down, regularly or not. Even Apple stopped recommending this a while ago.
I keep my MBA plugged in almost all the time and its battery life/health is excellent. The MBA I sold last year was 4 years old and still had 90% battery health.
You should follow the advice of our resident battery expert--GGJStudios:
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/9875442/
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/9875442/
THIS IS SO WRONG!
If you are near a power source while using your Air, plug it in to avoid additional cycles.
Ignore any and all advice about discharging, charging once every so often, not charging, avoiding cycles, not avoiding cycles, or whatever.
Use the darn computer in any way that you find comfortable, but be aware that the MBA will be able to run faster when connected to the charger, so do that when you need the extra "oomph" (games, CPU intensive tasks etc).
Otherwise just use it and do not worry. This is what I have done with all of my Macs from Macbooks to MBAs. The proof is in the pudding (for example, my 2012 rMBP has 96% battery capacity after two and a half years of daily use).
Do not become one of the paranoid users that constantly frets. In my opinion this will spoil the ownership experience.
Use the darn computer in any way that you find comfortable, but be aware that the MBA will be able to run faster when connected to the charger, so do that when you need the extra "oomph" (games, CPU intensive tasks etc).
Otherwise just use it and do not worry. This is what I have done with all of my Macs from Macbooks to MBAs. The proof is in the pudding (for example, my 2012 rMBP has 96% battery capacity after two and a half years of daily use).
Do not become one of the paranoid users that constantly frets. In my opinion this will spoil the ownership experience.
Last edited:
Good advice. Although I would also suggest, don't be one of those users who sits on the couch and uses the laptop for HOURS on battery power even though the charger is literally inches away and you can't be bothered to plug it in.
The more you plug in the laptop, the less wear there will be on the battery.
Definitely capable to go about 8-11 hours on a full 100% charge. This is amazingly better than previous 2-3 hours. It's important that your CYCLES are low for resale and beating your battery to death. I've got a MacBook Pro 2.5GhZ and it has less than 30 cycles and it's a 2009 model...
Thanks guys.
It's been a few days now and I'm absolutely loving my new Mac (first time I ever used one) and I think it's safe to say that it's alright if I let it recycle, say, once a month.
And very good advice here:
Will definitely try not to obsess over it. Given what I've read in many places, this will most likely last me for years to come.
It's been a few days now and I'm absolutely loving my new Mac (first time I ever used one) and I think it's safe to say that it's alright if I let it recycle, say, once a month.
And very good advice here:
theSeb said:
Will definitely try not to obsess over it. Given what I've read in many places, this will most likely last me for years to come.
If you need to recycle just so you feel better, try to do it only once a year
It is just not required but part of ownership is doing as you wish! Best advice is to just use it and enjoy and forget about trying to take care of the battery! If power is close by use it, if not no worries. Charge when ever you want.
No need to cycle or do anything special once per month, or at any other interval.
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.
The link below should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions, including tips for maximizing battery performance. If you haven’t already done so, I highly recommend you take the time to read it.
This is completely unnecessary and Apple never recommends such action. Too many people are making up their own procedures and "rules" for battery care.