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Is it better to leave the Macbook plugged in all the time or...?
- Thread starter Colin0317
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Here I come to throw in the complete opposite.
There has been word on MR that Apple says leaving your battery plugged in all of the time is bad...
There has been word on MR that Apple says leaving your battery plugged in all of the time is bad...
Cycle it occaisionally, but don't run it down to the bottom of the battery constantly if you don't have to. Doing the equivalent of a daily battery calibration will put wear on your battery, and never cycling it isn't great either. Really just anywhere in between. 
I would say that it's probably best to just use the thing and not worry too much about the battery. Leaving it plugged in all the time might not be the best possible thing for the laptop but it's far from the worst. Actually using the thing on battery constantly is much worse for it. The best thing to do is probably just use it however you normally use it, and make sure you get at least 1 full cycle in a month. That and if you know for a fact that it's fully charged and you're not using it, unplug it as you're generating unnecessary heat, which is also bad for the battery.
No, this might not be the 100% absolute optimal way to do it, but batteries aren't THAT expensive that it would be worth your time to worry to heavily about it.
No, this might not be the 100% absolute optimal way to do it, but batteries aren't THAT expensive that it would be worth your time to worry to heavily about it.
I have had my 13" Macbook (1st gen I think), since early 2006. It stays on ALL the time; 24 hours a day, seven days a week. (It sleeps alot though!) I do unplug it and run it all the way down until I get the low battery warning, about once a month or so. Seems to be working for me.
yes, keep the electrons cycling thru your battery so its bad to keep it plugged in all the time. but it doesnt hurt the battery leaving it plugged in a few days if your going to excercise it say when you go outside. and make sure you fully discharge and then recharge, i.e. calibrate, your battery once a month.
above 95% and the battery won't charge anyway. so it doesn't make much of a difference. all of the above are quite valid though.
my mbp is probably more of a desktop right now, always plugged in on my desk (lots of days). but if i have the power unplugged by accident and start using it and it drops below about 90 say, id rather leave it unplugged til its gets lower ~30%. Kinda like calibrating but not. i calibrate once a month on top of this.. batteries are only like $100 or less though, i might get another anyway!
my 2 cents!
my mbp is probably more of a desktop right now, always plugged in on my desk (lots of days). but if i have the power unplugged by accident and start using it and it drops below about 90 say, id rather leave it unplugged til its gets lower ~30%. Kinda like calibrating but not. i calibrate once a month on top of this.. batteries are only like $100 or less though, i might get another anyway!
my 2 cents!