Optimal Battery Charging

[bigaudiofanatic]

As of right now I am on day 6 of owning my new macbook pro. First thing I did when I bought it was charge the battery fully and let it drain all the way down until it went to standby than charged fully backup. I go to school and stay there pretty much the whole day. Today was the first day of it. When I got home it still had 2 hours left of life. So I let it run down and am now charging it fully again.

I do not want to fatigue the battery but I doubt I will. I just want to know is there a good way to charge and keep the battery at it's max quality. "the original battery in my powerbook g4 lasted 5 1/2 years and still held a 30 min charge at the end."

I just want to get the best life short term and long.

Also I did a search for battery life and nothing came up that pertained to my question.

 

[MacModMachine]

i find what has worked for me...and some will disagree...

i never let it get down past %15 before recharging it.

i will drain it once a month, then use it normally throughout the month.

my batteries have always lasted for 2+ years of heavy use.

 

[techound1]

Have a lookie at apple's own suggestions: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1490

 

[bigaudiofanatic]

Yes but all that does is tell me how to calibrate the battery it does not tell me how I should charge and use the battery for max life.

 

[miles01110]

Yes but all that does is tell me how to calibrate the battery it does not tell me how I should charge and use the battery for max life.

Use it however you want. "Maximizing life" equates to maybe a half hour over the course of a few years.

 

[Hellishness]

there was a HUGE thread on this...after i think a few hundred pages, the general consensus was that charging it up, letting it die, and repeating, however bad it may seem, is the best way that you can keep you battery working well. (hundreds of cycles and still in the 90%'s)