How to extend the Battery overall life

[maddawg46]

When I got my first MacBook Pro I always left it on the charger. Most of the time on sleep mode. When I upgraded my OS some kid at the Apple Store said I should have let it go down once in a while rather than always leaving on the charger.
So what's the best way to treat the laptop battery?

 

[comics addict]

He's not wrong there. Even Apple gives such advice on their battery info page. There is some technical explanation for it but it's beyond me to explain in a post. Maybe someone can chime in? Or just google it.

 

[krazirob]

http://www.apple.com/batteries/maximizing-performance/

every sunday I clear my caches on my iphone and macbook and do a power down.

I try and power down my devices once a week. Except my Mac Pro ill go a few weeks between powerdowns

 

[Weaselboy]

When I got my first MacBook Pro I always left it on the charger. Most of the time on sleep mode. When I upgraded my OS some kid at the Apple Store said I should have let it go down once in a while rather than always leaving on the charger.
So what's the best way to treat the laptop battery?

The kid at the store was wrong. There is no need to run the battery down intentionally. All that does is use charge/discharge cycles needlessly. Just use it on battery when you need to be portable, and otherwise leave it on the charger. You don't need to do anything else.

Check out these two links for Apple's official battery info.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1446

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

He's not wrong there. Even Apple gives such advice on their battery info page. There is some technical explanation for it but it's beyond me to explain in a post. Maybe someone can chime in? Or just google it.

Apple's old battery info pages did have some business on there abut exercising the battery, but they no longer recommend that if you check the pages I linked.

 

[comics addict]

The kid at the store was wrong. There is no need to run the battery down intentionally. All that does is use charge/discharge cycles needlessly. Just use it on battery when you need to be portable, and otherwise leave it on the charger. You don't need to do anything else.

Check out these two links for Apple's official battery info.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1446

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



Apple's old battery info pages did have some business on there abut exercising the battery, but they no longer recommend that if you check the pages I linked.

I noticed that they indeed excised it from their explanation's page.

 

[pika2000]

To put it in simple terms, just use it as a laptop.

 

[abrahamw88]

Don't leave fully charged or discharged for very long. If it will not be used for a while (more than a couple days) it's better to let it sit around 40-50% charge.
These batteries are healthiest at room temperature.
These batteries do not need to be fully discharged regularly.

These guidelines also apply to most smartphones, laptops, tablets and a lot of other gadgets with these lithium ion batteries.
Not following the above guidelines will produce a noticeable decrease in battery life and health.

 

[Boyd01]

To put it in simple terms, just use it as a laptop.

That's what I do. And after three and a half years (277 cycles), my battery run time is only slightly less than when my MBA was new. Mine is plugged into the power adaptor and used with a big screen most of the time. I almost never run the battery down below 30 to 40% even when travelling.

 

[abrahamw88]

That's what I do. And after three and a half years (277 cycles), my battery run time is only slightly less than when my MBA was new. Mine is plugged into the power adaptor and used with a big screen most of the time. I almost never run the battery down below 30 to 40% even when travelling.

Same here! I have a mid 2013 MBA that still gets about 10 hours of life with the same type of usage. My battery capacity is a little over 90% after about 300 cycles. I make sure not to download and install anything that isn't absolutely necessary.

 

[Left4DeadBoy]

hi I figure that youd have to make their screen very low brightness currently . They dont allow you to reduce power any other way currently; oh and their power cord can be mentioned too .

 

[akadafni]

It doesn't hurt to turn your device off if you're going to be away from it for extended periods of time (4 hours or more). Also turning it off overnight is fine as well unless you sleep type. Turning off the device can also help with fan and memory issues.

 

[loby]

Same here! I have a mid 2013 MBA that still gets about 10 hours of life with the same type of usage. My battery capacity is a little over 90% after about 300 cycles. I make sure not to download and install anything that isn't absolutely necessary.

What OS are you using?

 

[abrahamw88]

What OS are you using?

The most recent, Sierra. I'm generally always up to date.