Best way to elongate battery life (avoid cycles)

[pjk]

I owned an older Macbook Pro, and just recently bought a newer on (from late 2011). I work from home so most of the time I am sitting at my desk with my laptop open, and plugged in. I was reading in once place that this is bad for the battery. I was told to remove the battery, but it doesn't seem to be easily accessible compared to my older Macbook Pro.

Is removing the battery the best option here to avoid ruining my battery?

Thanks!

 

[xShane]

I owned an older Macbook Pro, and just recently bought a newer on (from late 2011). I work from home so most of the time I am sitting at my desk with my laptop open, and plugged in. I was reading in once place that this is bad for the battery. I was told to remove the battery, but it doesn't seem to be easily accessible compared to my older Macbook Pro.

Is removing the battery the best option here to avoid ruining my battery?

Thanks!

Apple's support article (on battery care):

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

 

[pjk]

Apple's support article (on battery care):

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

So it says don't keep it plugged in all the time, let it discharge once a month. So that means I leave it plugged in all the time, except once a month?

That sounds like a bad way. I have already noticed in the last month my battery life going way down.

Any other tips? Thanks in advance!

 

[xShane]

So it says don't keep it plugged in all the time, let it discharge once a month. So that means I leave it plugged in all the time, except once a month?

That sounds like a bad way. I have already noticed in the last month my battery life going way down.

Any other tips? Thanks in advance!

You could try using it unplugged every now and then to "simulate" using it on the go.

 

[mykem]

I would also look no further than here: http://guides.macrumors.com/Laptop_Battery_Guide

Basically, if you get a laptop, the best way to go is to treat it as you would a laptop and not use it necessarily as a desktop (or a desktop replacement).

 

[dusk007]

If you could actually live with having the battery removed, why do you even care about battery life.
In general it will loose charge no matter what you do. In no small part the heat of the notebook is bad. Ergo it would help to store the notebook somewhere cool and dry and never turn it on.
A running notebook heats up. That is bad for the battery.
Just never use your notebook. Don't run any high loads for a long time so it stays cool. ...

Seriously just use it however you need it. Pretty regardless how you do it, the battery should survive some 3 years and 4 with some lost charge (unless it is a broken one to begin with). At that point replacing the notebook is going to be a good idea anyway. You can also just replace the battery.
Nothing you do will significantly change anything in one direction or another. There is also quite the spread in battery quality. Some die way too quickly with similar use as others that seemingly don't loose any charge at all.
Heat, quality are probably the worst problems and you cannot do anything about them.

 

[Isamilis]

If you don't use it *and* the battery already fully charged then just unplug the chord. That will avoid unnecessary stress of the battery when you actually not using it.

So it says don't keep it plugged in all the time, let it discharge once a month. So that means I leave it plugged in all the time, except once a month?

That sounds like a bad way. I have already noticed in the last month my battery life going way down.

Any other tips? Thanks in advance!

 

[GGJstudios]

I owned an older Macbook Pro, and just recently bought a newer on (from late 2011). I work from home so most of the time I am sitting at my desk with my laptop open, and plugged in. I was reading in once place that this is bad for the battery. I was told to remove the battery, but it doesn't seem to be easily accessible compared to my older Macbook Pro.

Is removing the battery the best option here to avoid ruining my battery?

Thanks!

You should not run your Mac on AC power without the battery installed. 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. The link below should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions. If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend you take the time to read it.

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

So it says don't keep it plugged in all the time, let it discharge once a month. So that means I leave it plugged in all the time, except once a month?

No, that's not what it says.