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Just got a MPB, is it a good idea to keep it plugged in all the time?

G

Gameaholic

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 6, 2010
51
0
Hey guys,

I know this question may have been answer several times throughout the years, but maybe things have changed since the Macbook pros themselves upgraded their hardware.

So, i have been using my macbook pro at home a lot lately and i have been using it all day. Is it good to keep my MPB plugged in/charged at all times throughout the day (except when it shuts down)? Or should i drain it down to 30% ish and then recharge and repeat the process. I'm not sure if keeping the charger on at all times will negatively impact the MPB battery or not. At all times meaning keeping the charger on for 15 hours/day. All Apples saids is that you should calibrate the battery. Thanks
 
Gameaholic said:
Hey guys,

I know this question may have been answer several times throughout the years, but maybe things have changed since the Macbook pros themselves upgraded their hardware.

So, i have been using my macbook pro at home a lot lately and i have been using it all day. Is it good to keep my MPB plugged in/charged at all times throughout the day (except when it shuts down)? Or should i drain it down to 30% ish and then recharge and repeat the process. I'm not sure if keeping the charger on at all times will negatively impact the MPB battery or not. At all times meaning keeping the charger on for 15 hours/day. All Apples saids is that you should calibrate the battery. Thanks
Click to expand...
apple has specifically designed the charging process so that it doesn’t negatively affect the battery. Calibrate the battery monthly and you should be fine.
 
I always keep mine plugged in.
Screw calibrating :eek: (I know I wont be doing that any time soon). I'm just going to use my laptop battery the way I want.

____________________________________________

Don't worry about keeping it plugged in. It will just stop charging the battery. If you keep discharging it to 30% purposely, you're just going to run through cycles much faster than the average Joe. I guess you could make sure to calibrate it to get more accurate readings.
 
I keep mine plugged in for the most part and calibrate it about once a month. After my last calibration the health dropped 2%. Didn't like that...
 
Thank you so much helping a beginner out :). It's good to know that its safe keeping my MBP plugged in for a long period of time. And spinnerlys, ill definately check out those links.
 
spinnerlys said:
No problem to keep it plugged in all the time, just remember to calibrate it once a month.

Also please take a look at the following links, especially the FAQ by GGJStudios.


Apple on notebook batteries
Apple Portable: Calibrating your computer's battery for best performance
Laptop Battery Guide



Also take a look at MRoogle, a customised search engine for MacRumors, to find solutions and answers to 95% of your questions.
Click to expand...

Spinnerlys is right, you can keep it plugged in for a maximum of a month at a time, and then you will need to unplug it and calibrate it. Also, what happened to your old avatar picture? You know, the one that says "MacRumors bewbie"...
 
AlphaDogg said:
Also, what happened to your old avatar picture? You know, the one that says "MacRumors bewbie"...
Click to expand...

It got replaced by this image, and then a composite of that image and the other image.

20090515_eos__seems_like_has_been.jpg


L_IBM-PPC603evFB200r.jpg


Bewbie was getting old, even though I like them. :)
 
MotleyGrrl said:
I keep mine plugged in for the most part and calibrate it about once a month. After my last calibration the health dropped 2%. Didn't like that...
Click to expand...

Not sure if your implying the calibration brought down the health or not. If you are, it is possible that the calibration just revealed that it lost 2% health. Perhaps ignorance is bliss though :)
 
Just use it as you wish and don't worry about charging it at specific percentages. Just don't leave it plugged in for weeks at a time.
 
I have just looked at the battery guide and I just have a question. After the battery has been fully charged and then left plugged in for a few hours, you unplug until it goes to sleep. Once it has gone to sleep can you then turn it off and plug it back in to charge? or do you have to leave it in sleep for five hours?
 
PUD the Ancient said:
I have just looked at the battery guide and I just have a question. After the battery has been fully charged and then left plugged in for a few hours, you unplug until it goes to sleep. Once it has gone to sleep can you then turn it off and plug it back in to charge? or do you have to leave it in sleep for five hours?
Click to expand...

Your answer is in the instructions, which are quite clear:
5. Turn off the computer or allow it to sleep for five hours or more.
Click to expand...
 
PUD the Ancient said:
After the battery has been fully charged and then left plugged in for a few hours, you unplug until it goes to sleep. Once it has gone to sleep can you then turn it off and plug it back in to charge? or do you have to leave it in sleep for five hours?
Click to expand...

You don't just wait for it to go to sleep (which they do by default in ~15min), you use the computer and wear down the battery until the computer forces itself into sleep mode. Then you wait 5+ hours while the battery drains even more and dies completely. THEN you plug it back in and fully charge it.

In summary here is the full calibration procedure that Apple specifies:

demonsavatar said:
  1. Fully charge battery (ideally while not using the computer)
  2. Leave plugged in and fully charged for ~2 hours (can use computer during this time)
  3. Unplug from power and use computer until battery life is low enough that it goes to sleep automatically
  4. Leave in sleep state for 5+ hours (basically until it dies completely)
  5. Fully charge battery again
Click to expand...
 
If it is always plugged in, I would just make sure you have a surge protector. It's common sense for most people, but a lot of people overlook it. It evens out spikes in the current to prevent unnecessary wear on your power adapter and battery (or so it was explained to me).
 
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