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macbook battery
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Apple's advice is to give it a deeper discharge (i.e. use it on battery) say once a month to retain the battery capacity.
Run on battery whenever you need to and plug it in whenever you can. You can plug or unplug any time you need to, regardless of the charged percentage, and you never need to completely drain your battery. Just make sure you don't run on AC power exclusively, as your battery needs to be used regularly to stay healthy.
The link below should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions. If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend you take the time to read it. Apple doesn't recommend a deep discharge. The monthly cycle is recommended for a notebook that isn't in regular use. That cycle can be accomplished by twice discharging to 50% and recharging, or 4 times discharging to 25% and recharging, etc.
No, not different meanings. Apple doesn't recommend discharging to any particular level. The once-a-month cycle doesn't refer to notebooks in regular use. It's not subject to different interpretations.
The monthly cycle is just that, a deeper than normal discharge. I agree that doesn't mean a deep near-100% discharge, but the Apple recommendation has to be interpreted as deeper than normal (for those not seeing regular battery use), otherwise it makes no sense.
So deeper than normal doesn't mean deep.
No, it doesn't need to be a discharge to any particular level, as long as it's cycled. Read the WHAT IS A CYCLE? section of the Battery FAQ.
http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html
"Apple recommends charging and discharging its battery at least once per month"
I'm not at all sure that equates to 1 cycle in the terms that you quote (yes I know what a cycle is). That page doesn't state a cycle is what they mean. It would appear to just refer to getting it out of the normal adaptive charging (i.e. 95-100%) range, on a monthly basis. This is also easier for most users to understand so seems likely. Indeed the Applecare quote from your own page states:
"AppleCare support recommends that if you leave your Mac plugged in most of the time, unplug it every few days and run on battery for several hours, then plug it back in. That keeps the electrons moving."
That is exactly the deeper discharge I was referring to - and doesn't quote any need to achieve a cycle.
I think a "deeper discharge" than adaptive charging obtains is what Apple mean and their documentation supports that.
People frequently take that quote out of context, as you have done. The full statement is this:
That charging and discharging equals one cycle, which can be shallower discharges, as stated earlier. No where does Apple state that you should fully or even deeply discharge your battery.
Fully discharging an Apple battery is not good for it, and is not necessary. Doing so will not save any cycles.
Where is that stated? I can't find it and that is a big assumption.
Full and/or dangerous discharge isn't possible with the battery installed, the MBP will sleep before that occurs (at which point the discharge virtually stops, it will further shutdown from sleep, again before a dangerous threshold is reached.
From the Battery FAQ in the WHAT IS A CYCLE? section that I previously recommended reading:
Mac notebooks: Determining battery cycle count
I know what a cycle is, I mean where do Apple state the monthly activity for notebooks not used on battery is a "cycle", all I can see is they recommend a discharge and charge, you then argue emphatically that this should not be a full discharge (no argument there), but that it should be a 4x0.25 or 3x0.33 definition of a "cycle" - I can't see anywhere Apple states that, only that it should be a deeper discharge.....
If you use all of the battery's power, that counts as a cycle, whether you use it with one complete discharge or 2 half discharges or 4 quarter discharges, etc. Also, the monthly discharge referred to in the link you posted is not for a notebook not used on battery, but for a notebook that is not used frequently.
Please provide a link and a quote where Apple states "deeper discharge". They don't.
The monthly discharge HAS to be "deeper" than the adaptive charging discharge - otherwise there is no point to it. I just can't see anywhere that it states it has to be precisely 1 cycle, as far as I can see a "monthly deeper discharge" is all they seem to need, so down to 50% and back up would seem to fulfill Apple's definition.
It's only your opinion that the discharge needs to be a "deep discharge". Apple does not specify that anywhere in their documentation. You're overthinking this. If someone, like the OP, is using their notebook on battery power on a fairly regular basis, the monthly discharge/recharge Apple refers to does not apply, since the battery is already being exercised. If someone infrequently uses a notebook, as the article states, it should be used enough to discharge and charge it at least monthly. There is no specification or implication that such discharge needs to be at any particular level; only that the battery gets some exercise. It doesn't say precisely one cycle, but if you discharge/recharge enough to use all the battery's power, that automatically equates to a cycle. The world isn't coming to an end if you happen to put 2 or 3 cycles on the battery. The point is to exercise the battery at least monthly. More than that is preferable. It's really not that difficult to understand.
Nope, I just said "deeper" than the normal adaptive charging range. You chimed in insisting it had to be a full cycle. I can't see any reference to it having to be a full cycle, but obviously it has to be a deeper discharge than just the approx 5% due to the charger's adaptive cycling.
I think we are agreed
The charger doesn't do adaptive cycling. I didn't insist it had to be a full cycle. The fact is that discharging all of a battery's power and recharging it does constitute one cycle.Nope, I just said "deeper" than the normal adaptive charging range. You chimed in insisting it had to be a full cycle. I can't see any reference to it having to be a full cycle, but obviously it has to be a deeper discharge than just the approx 5% due to the charger's adaptive cycling.
I think we are agreed
OFFS Post #5 "The monthly cycle is recommended for a notebook that isn't in regular use. That cycle can be accomplished by...."
Anyhow the OP lost interest long ago, you can go by your slightly obsessive definition of a simple monthly usage cycle (small "c") that Apple actually refer to and try and make your Battery FAQ a necessary support of it if you wish. We can all see what Apple actually put and it is much more straightforward - as with many things some use is good, no use is bad. Users worrying about achieving 1 Cycle (large "C"), per month isn't at all necessary by Apple's advise.
Anyhow the OP lost interest long ago, you can go by your slightly obsessive definition of a simple monthly usage cycle (small "c") that Apple actually refer to and try and make your Battery FAQ a necessary support of it if you wish. We can all see what Apple actually put and it is much more straightforward - as with many things some use is good, no use is bad. Users worrying about achieving 1 Cycle (large "C"), per month isn't at all necessary by Apple's advise.
That makes no sense. A cycle is a cycle, whether it's capitalized or not. The fact remains that Apple recommends discharging and recharging a battery at least one per month on a notebook that's not in regular use. There is no stipulation by Apple as to how deeply the battery must be discharged, which is the misinformation stated in your original post. There also is no such thing as adaptive cycling with regard to Apple charging technology.