How best to charge my Mac?

[sultanoflondon]

Hi all,

I currently use a 2017 MacBook Pro.

What is the optimum way of charging my Mac? As I understand it, the best way to charge an iPhone 6s Plus is to charge it to 90% and then let the iPhone drain to 80% and then charge it back up to 90%. As this is fairly difficult in practice, 90% to 50% and back to 90% is also fairly healthy for the battery. 100% to 0% is not necessary better than 90% to 50%.

What is best for my Mac's battery?

Thank you!

 

[Falhófnir]

Just using it as you see fit without worrying about the battery as a very broad tip, trying to keep it as close to 50% as possible and not worrying if you do occasionally charge it to 100% or let it drop to 0% (indeed this is recommended now and again for calibration purposes) if you spend most of your time in the zone between 20 and 80 percent, that’s the most ideal charge range, but in practice it’ll make very little difference to overall lifespan.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Yep just forget about it and use it as you wish it will need a new battery in 4-5 years whatever you do so why not just use it as the portable it is and charge when you can and use in battery when you need to. My 2013 rMBP is still absolutely fine at 4 years old and I never even think about it.

 

[Jimios]

Lithium-ion batteries do not have memory effect and do not require any kind of calibration. You never need to worry about the best way to charge.
You only need to remember one thing: you should avoid letting it drain all the way to 0%. Otherwise, charge as often as you want and as much as you want.

For reference, the almost 8 year old battery inside my 2010 MBP still works absolutely fine (granted, it only has a few charge cycles).

 

[eddjedi]

Lithium-ion batteries do not have memory effect and do not require any kind of calibration. You never need to worry about the best way to charge.
You only need to remember one thing: you should avoid letting it drain all the way to 0%. Otherwise, charge as often as you want and as much as you want.

As above. Battery conditioning has not been required for years. You'll probably find loads of recommendations online but they are either years out of date or ill-informed.

 

[robvas]

What is the optimum way of charging my Mac? As I understand it, the best way to charge an iPhone 6s Plus is to charge it to 90% and then let the iPhone drain to 80% and then charge it back up to 90%.

Where'd you hear that?

 

[Isamilis]

I might be wrong, but from my experience, discharging up to below 20% will drop battery health more than charging up to 100% (as long as the macbook temperature is normal / cold). Also, callibrating the battery unfortunately decrease battery health (I have tried it twice on different laptops). From what I read, the ideal is to keep between 30-40% to 80% whenever possible.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

I might be wrong, but from my experience, discharging up to below 20% will drop battery health more than charging up to 100% (as long as the macbook temperature is normal / cold). Also, callibrating the battery unfortunately decrease battery health (I have tried it twice on different laptops). From what I read, the ideal is to keep between 30-40% to 80% whenever possible.

Out of date information honestly it will make little difference with modern batteries, the only thing to avoid if possible is discharging to 0%.