iBook Power Questions

[jhomayne]

i apologise if this has been asked a plethora of times before, and no doubt it has but my searching was fruitless.

i was just wondering what the optimum conditions regarding ibook power settings.etc were.

at the moment i leave it plugged in all the time and then occasionally let it run down and charge it back up again.
at night i shutdown the ibook but leave it plugged in.

*prepares to be shouted at*

 

[vraxtus]

i apologise if this has been asked a plethora of times before, and no doubt it has but my searching was fruitless.

i was just wondering what the optimum conditions regarding ibook power settings.etc were.

at the moment i leave it plugged in all the time and then occasionally let it run down and charge it back up again.
at night i shutdown the ibook but leave it plugged in.

*prepares to be shouted at*

Well, regardless of how you cycle power, the battery will eventually decay with or without use... it's more likely actually that using the battery more will cause it to decay faster.

 

[5300cs]

You should read this: http://www.apple.com/batteries/ Someone else posted this link a few weeks back (sorry, I don't remember who.)

See if that helps.

 

[Finiksa]

(sorry, I don't remember who.)

That would be me… and about a dozen other people. I think that link should really be made a sticky by now, enough people ask the same question every week.

 

[5300cs]

Nice one, that was a good find. It should be a sticky.

 

[jhomayne]

*disclaimer* stupid post!

so.. i could shut down my ibook and unplug it and no ill-effects would occur? (i mean i'm thinking that obviously no ill-effects would arise but y'never know. i'm just trying to minimise the time that my ibook spends plugged into the mains)

apologies *first time mac AND first time laptop owner*

 

[5300cs]

It should be OK. If you unplug your machine, how long are you planning to go without using it? If it's for long periods of time, like 2-3 weeks or something, the FAQ suggests leaving the battery at 50% or so and then unplugging it and storing it away.

For just over night or a short period of time, I think you can safely leave it plugged in. I do, and my battery is still OK.